Pete's Walks- Coombe Hill, Bacombe Hill, Little Hampden (page 4 of 4)
On reaching a path crossroads in the valley bottom, I turned left along a bridleway, running beside a tall fence on my left. Just after reaching a concrete drive at Dunsmore Old Farm, I took a footpath on the right (I'd passed another footpath on that side a little earlier), that ran between fences as it passed a garden on my left. It then went uphill across part of a pasture (the only steep uphill of the walk) and went over a stile, continuing beside a left-hand fence through a meadow of long grass. At the end of the path, I turned right along a lane in the hamlet of Dunsmore. Near the chapel and pond in the centre of the hamlet, I sat on a seat to eat my lunch, before continuing down Fox Lane (so turning left from the lane I'd been on).
The bridleway after I turned left, approaching Old Dunsmore Farm
The path from Old Dunsmore Farm to Dunsmore
The path from Old Dunsmore Farm to Dunsmore
The path from Old Dunsmore Farm to Dunsmore
Duck pond, Dunsmore
Seat in Dunsmore
The Church of the Resurrection, Dunsmore (built in 1897 as a 'chapel of ease' to the parish church of St Peter and Paul at Ellesborough)
At the end of the lane I took the left-most of two bridleways starting there (a footpath had just gone further left), and followed it through a wood called High Scrubs, with fences on either side of me. After about a third of a mile I went straight on where a footpath went left and a bridleway went right. A bit further on a bridleway went left, and around this point the wood became Low Scrubs. I went straight on, along a footpath next to a fence on my left, with a parallel bridleway to my right. I soon came to a waymark post, where I turned left onto a footpath. I followed this path until it ended at a path T-junction, where I turned right. At the next path junction, after a few hundred yards I turned left. This path soon brought me back to the Coombe Hill car park near its entrance.
The bridleway through High Scrubs
The bridleway through High Scrubs
Reaching Low Scrubs, where a bridleway and footpath run side by side (I took the footpath, next to the fence)
The footpath in Low Scrubs (parallel to a bridleway to its left)
The path after I turned right in Low Scrubs (after having turned left from the bridleway/footpath in Low Scrubs)
Further along the same path
Further along the same path
The path after I turned left, heading back to the car park on Coombe Hill
Further along the same path
This was an enjoyable shorter walk that was very undemanding, with no steep downhills and only a short steepish uphill at Dunsmore, near the end. It was a shame about the grey conditions, which rather limited the views from Coombe Hill and Bacombe Hill. Apart from the start, most of the walk is in woodland, so it would be a good choice for a hot day where it would be best to stay in the shade as much as possible.