Sheepridge to Hambleden

It was a joy to be back on the Chiltern Way after an enforced break of four months, and the weather and countryside were both glorious. Everyone was desperate to get out and about again and we had a feeling that the English countryside might be busy today; the changes in regulations made last Monday and that meant we could both stay in the flat (without the excuse of work on being en route to a funeral) also meant that people could stay in self-contained holiday accommodation and get food and drinks at pubs, provided they had a beer garden. Specifically, we were anxious that we might have difficulty parking, and we had a drive of an hour and a quarter from Milton Keynes, so we'd come to the flat last night and got up early this morning. As it turned out, there was plenty of space in both the car parks we used, even when we returned to them in the afternoon. However, there were indeed lots of people out enjoying the countryside and the additional freedom, and the last part of our journey to Hambleden was down minor country lanes, so we were pleased to be here ahead of the crowds.

As we drove through Hambleden we spotted cars parked wherever they could be squeezed, and bollards and no parking signs, so we realised that either the car park we were heading for no longer existed or that it was going to cost us to park. It was still there, down the road past the Church and the Stag and Huntsman pub, at SU785856, and it is a generous size, though it cost us £4 to park for up to 6 hours and Richard had a bit of a battle with the pay and display machine; fortunately a car park attendant arrived at just the right moment and was able to advise. From Hambleden it is only a short drive to the A4155 (very close to the River Thames) and we followed the main road, running parallel with the Thames, through the town of Marlow where, just after 9am, we spotted someone putting up a sign outside a pub to say they were serving breakfast in the garden. Brrrr...the morning was quite chilly, though it quickly warmed up in the sun when we were walking. For now, we continued along the A4155 and turned off for the short drive back to the Crooked Billet in Sheepridge, which is where we'd reached when last on the Chiltern Way in December. We parked the other car in the large lay-by at SU884895, opposite the pub.

Sheepridge is a small place, with some attractive old cottages near the pub, whose garden had gained a selection of tent-like gazebos since we were here last time, presumably to allow them to serve customers with some protection from the weather. Then too appeared to be serving, though it was still only 9.15am! We took a path beside the pub, which climbed through woodland to an open area, then back into woodland, on this occasion Warren Wood. We very much enjoyed the woods we walked through today, with lots of beech and silver birch and occasional displays of bluebells just coming into flower. There was also quite a lot of ascent and descent within - and between! - the woodland sites. We climbed through Warren Wood, passing a couple of dog walkers, then descended to a minor wood which we followed for a short distance before heading into Horton Wood.

We passed some quite posh houses and descended, then climbed steeply to Blount's Wood. There were attractive views back, but the walk through the wood itself was somewhat irritating because of the rather brusque signs reminding us that every path other than the route of the Chiltern Way was private. We were soon at Bovingdon Green and took advantage of a bench here for an early lunch. Bovingdon Green is pleasant enough, but nothing special.

After lunch we continued through Davenport Wood then descended steeply through Pullingshill Wood. At the bottom of the hill we encountered some mountain bikers, one of whom was determined to try to cycle up the hill. He set off confidently. I'm not sure if he made it; his two colleagues were not keen to follow him! Meanwhile we were now in open countryside, but constrained to walk on a rather narrow path. However at the end we were rewarded by a field of multicoloured sheep and lambs, reminding me of another of the usual springtime pleasures (baby lambs frolicking in the fields) that we have all but missed because of Covid. The sight of the white, black and speckled lambs was a joy and their bleating even more so.

We reached the entrance to Homefield Wood, very proud of its SSSI designation, but initially I was disappointed because the trees to our left were mostly conifers. However it was very pretty, with mixed woodland to our right, and Richard pointed out the large number of yellow butterflies. As we continued along the track through the wood and into Hatch Wood, the conifers on the left became our focus of attention, with the sunlight shining through them. We took a path up through the trees, so now had a view back down the way we had come. Lovely!

After a brief walk along a road by the wood, we cut across farmland to Rotten Row (not rotten at all!) and a final stretch through woodland brought us out above the Hamble Valley, though initially our views were to the Mill End area to the south of Hambleden, and it was only as we rounded the corner past the Manor House that we could see the village nestling around the village. We passed the cricket pitch and were soon back at the car park, though before returning to Sheepridge to rescue the other car and drive home, we walked down to the church, with its flag flying at half mast in honour of Prince Philip's funeral, later this afternoon. Hambleden was heaving with people and I don't know to what extent this was as a result of everyone celebrating the slight easing of lockdown, or whether it is like this most weekends - I suspect the latter. However it is a very pretty place; Richard described it as a classic "Midsomer Murders" landscape, and of course the series is filmed in the Chilterns.