Grafham Water Circuit

The title of this post should perhaps read "Grafham Water Circuit plus a bit, minus a bit". To understand the "minus a bit", it is helpful to remember that although we'd decided to walk the Three Shires Way from the Grafham Water end, we had walked a couple of legs before today's walk around the reservoir, and on the leg from Grafham Water to Spaldwick we'd already walked from the Grafham Water Visitor Centre to the village of Grafham and slightly to the north - so we didn't need to do that again. We also reduced today's distance slightly by following what is shown as a cycle route from Highfield Farm back to the Visitor Centre, because it seemed preferable to walk along the path over the dam rather than along the road, though this meant that we missed the walk through Diddington Wood too. "Plus a bit" refers to the fact that the circuit around Grafham Water used by the Three Shires Way goes more than a mile south of the reservoir in places and wiggles quite a lot. It would be possible to follow the cycle route much closer to the reservoir but, to be honest, that would be rather boring. And having once got away from the reservoir, I guess there are probably not other paths that link together, especially given the need to avoid Her Majesty's Prison Littlehey!

We parked one car at the Visitor Centre (TL165682; £3.50 for the day) and drove the other one to the point at which the route leaves the road from Grafham to Ellington, just to the north of Grafham (TL161697). There is room for a couple of cars to park here. We retraced the route we had followed when walking to Spaldwick, along a track past the Caravan Park (shut up for the winter), with good views to Ellington and the wind turbines beyond, then along the edge of West Wood. At the point where we turned right onto the byway last time we were here, we turned left today. This brought us down towards the reservoir, but before we reached it we turned right onto a former railway line, with trees on both sides, and views to Grafham Water through the trees to our left. It was getting increasingly windy and we needed to ring our daughter, so we decided to make the phone call from here, where the trees provided some shelter. Well, that's the theory; I suspect it sounded as if we were standing in the middle of a hurricane.

We eventually reached the shore of Grafham Water and here we joined the cycle route round the reservoir. We made good progress on the tarmacked surface, though we kept having to move out of the way of cyclists. We were initially separated from the reservoir by just a row of trees, but the route took us further into Savage's Spinney, then up to a footbridge at the north-western corner of the reservoir. Then we headed south, initially in woodland but then over more open land, with good views to the reservoir. We were still on the cycle route, with a fair number of cyclists and other walkers, but the path was undulating and the countryside was attractive.

The cycle path took us along the edge of Littless Wood (complete with a "Three Shires Way" signpost (somewhat in short supply!) then we left the cycle path and headed further west around Dudney Wood. There were attractive views down avenues through the wood.

To the south of the wood we took a track across more open countryside, passing some cute rare breed sheep and alpacas at Agden Hill Farm. Nearby we stopped for a snack, though there was nowhere to sit down, so we ate oat bars standing up watching the sheep and alpacas. The track from Agden Hill Farm took us to a road, a rat run between two other roads and slightly busier than would have been comfortable. However, after crossing the B661 we were on a quiet country lane through the attractive hamlet of Dillington.

We were soon back onto a track which, apart from a couple of dog-legs, took us steadily to the east. We passed a wooden pole lying on the ground and sat on this to eat our lunch. Although we were in attractive countryside, we weren't that far from the A1, and from the map we knew that HMP Littlehey was a short distance up the hill to the north, between us and Grafham Water. However, the only real sign we had that we were not in the depths of the countryside was rows of pythons marching across the landscape.

We passed Midloe Grange (an ancient site) and looked for a left-hand turn to take us back towards Grafham Water. There is a signposted track to the left, not shown on the map as a public right of way, a short distance before the correct turning, and it would be easy to be misled...the correct route is after you've passed a signposted route leading to the right and is actually a 90 degree turn in the main path rather than a junction off it.

After this turning we were heading essentially north (though again with some dog legs), back towards the reservoir. Our route was joined by National Cycle Route 12 and, still on the cycle route, we turned right past Highfield Farm, then left (at this point leaving the official route of the Three Shires Way).

We crossed the B661 and took a path towards the reservoir where we rejoined the cycle route we'd left back at Littless Wood. Very soon, and still on the round-reservoir cycle track, we turned left across the dam, with lovely views and lots of activity - people fishing, sailing, cycling and walking. We returned to the Visitor Centre where we had a drink. After rescuing the other car from its spot north of Grafham, we separated again, with Richard driving back down to Sussex whilst I went back to the Milton Keynes South West Premier Inn. It had been a pleasant walk and very much nicer that we'd expected.

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