Whipsnade to Ivinghoe Beacon and Tring Station

Today was our final day of walking on the Icknield Way Path. However, the end point (Ivinghoe Beacon), is not exactly convenient for public transport, so we carried on walking along the Ridgeway path to Tring Station. It was another misty but sunny day.

We started at Old Hunters Lodge in Whipsnade Village. We'd slept well (though my cold woke me early) and a lady we hadn't met previously cooked us a lovely breakfast - we went to town a bit because we thought (rightly!) that lunch might be late. We left Old Hunters Lodge around 9.15 and started off by photographing the lovely thatched building. Whipsnade is a most attractive village altogether.

We took a path to the south of Whipsnade Village and for the next mile or so followed the Whipsnade Zoo boundary fence. Somewhat to our surprise we could see some animals - mostly wallabies and deer like creatures, grazing in long grass (nice to see them in such a natural environment, but difficult to photograph). I was just trying to photograph a baby something or other through the double fence when a lady walked past with an equally photogenic 12-week old dalmation puppy. We followed her to the adjacent Whipsnade Park Golf Club where she turned back - she felt that the temptation of chasing golf balls might be just too much for the puppy! We crossed the golf course then descended on an attractive path through woodland, to the village of Dagnell.

From Dagnell there were excellent views back to the ridge we had followed (the Dunstable Downs) and also to the higher land ahead, including the Ivinghoe Hills. We took a track which climbed to Hog Hall then skirted round the house and continued to climb, past woodland that was most atmospheric in the mist, to Ward's Hurst Farm.

Having climbed to around 250 metres, we almost immediately descended through woodland - after carrying my walking poles for most of the length of the Icknield Way Path, I actually got them out at this point, just a couple of kilometres from the end! We continued through woodland, then emerged onto access land and suddenly the end was in sight. We climbed slightly to an Icknield Way milepost, then turned right and climbed up to the trig point at the top of Ivinghoe Beacon. There's an information board describing the Ridgeway, but no mention of the Icknield Way Path, which was a bit disappointing - but we knew we'd done it! It was misty, so the views were not easy to photograph, but it was suitably atmospheric.

Icknield Way Path done, we turned our attention to the first few miles of the Ridgeway. There were some descents and ascents, but we mostly followed the western edge of the escarpment, with views to the villages of Ivinghoe and Pitsone (with churches in Ivinghoe and Church End, and the Pitstone Windmill also visible). Later on, the views were to chalk pits! We were amused by a line of sheep, apparently following the Ridgeway path.