Pete's Walks - Hambleden, Medmenham, Colstrope (page 5 of 6)
If you are considering walking this route yourself, please see my disclaimer. You may also like to see these notes about the maps and GPX files.
As I followed the lane through the hamlet of Pheasants I soon passed a pond on my left. I stayed on the lane when a footpath went right (initially along a gravel driveway), then a hundred yards or so further on I took a second footpath that forked half-right from the lane. It followed an old metal fence on my right then, after passing through a small area of bushes, it turned left along a track running between a hedge and fence on my left and another old metal fence to my right. The track was heading gently downhill towards the Hambleden Valley, so there was a nice view ahead of me. After I while the fence on my right ended, and in the next field corner the path turned right. In the next corner it went straight on through a wood called Bagmoor Shaw. I soon reached a track on the other side of the wood, by a property named The Hyde on the OS map, where I turned left. I followed the track as far as where a footpath crossed it, where I again turned left, back on more familiar territory now as I briefly rejoined the route of the Chiltern Way. I followed the path southwards through the Hambleden Valley for about half a mile to reach Colstrope, where I continued along the lane through the hamlet.
Near the start of the path after I forked right from the lane through Pheasants
Further along the path, now descending towards the Hambleden Valley
Further along the path
The path continuing after it went right
The path continuing through Bagmoor Shaw
The lane near The Hyde
Start of the section along the Chiltern Way, heading to Colstrope
The Chiltern Way, approaching Colstrope
Immediately after the lane turned right, I left my Hambleden, Medmenham, Colstrope, Fawley route by going through a gate on the left to continue along the Chiltern Way as it made its way down the Hambleden valley. The path ran between fences or hedge either side for several hundred yards. It then entered a pasture, where I followed the hedge on my left and soon entered Pheasants. The path continued straight on, rather unusually dividing a number of gardens in half. The path then ran along the right edge of a small paddock, passed through a belt of conifers, and continued through a couple of large empty pastures. In the second pasture it eventually curved right to reach a lane in Hambleden, where I turned left to return to my car.
The path heading south from Colstrope
The path now approaching the Pheasant's Hill
The path continuing between gardens at Pheasant's hill
The man-eating hedge at Pheasant's Hill
The path continuing from Pheasant's Hill to Hambleden
Approaching Hambleden
Approaching Hambleden
The early Spring weather has been superb this year, and I have been trying to make the most of it! This was another fine walk, and was just right for me today. I'm not fit enough to comfortably walk 14-15 miles as I used to, so shortening such a walk to 11 or so miles is a very sensible option for me. In this case, the shortcut was very simple, just cutting out the loop west of the Hambleden valley to Fawley, and it meant walking a short stretch of the Chiltern Way that I'd not walked for at least 10 years.