To Barton-le-Clay from Pegsdon

Walked by Sally and Richard, 1st December 2019

About 5.4 miles (2 hours 50 minutes, including lunch break), about 5 miles on route of Chiltern Way Northern Extension

For photographs taken on this walk click here

It is only a 2.5 mile drive along the B655 from our parking place outside Ramsey Manor Lower School in Barton-le-Clay (TL086308) to the dead-end road by the junction in Pegsdon by the road to Shillington (TL118303), even if in driving between the two you start out in Bedfordshire before going into Hertfordshire then back to Bedfordshire. The walk between the two parking spots on the Northern Extension of the Chiltern Way is more than twice as far; a very appropriate walk walk for a winter Sunday after a drive over from Norfolk, leaving time after the walk to drive back to Milton Keynes, go shopping and do some work. It was a glorious walk, especially the hilly parts at the edge of the Chilterns (the Barton Hills and the Pegsdon Hills), if a little muddy. The weather forecast was for a dry but cloudy day, so it was an added bonus when the sun came out.

We'd had a good drive over from Norfolk after I'd packed up for what was to be two weeks away, and we were walking shortly after 10am. There were several other cars in the conveniently placed dead-end road at Pegsdon, with a group of men - apparently fell-runners - gathering. They set off shortly after us and we had expected them to take our route and overtake us soon, but they took a different route. We crossed the B655 and immediately climbed steadily, up and through the Pegsdon Hills and Hoo Bit Nature Reserve. This section of the Chiltern Way Extension repeatedly crosses and shares sections with the Icknield Way Path and the John Bunyan Trail, but this route up the edge of the Chilterns is - as far as we could tell - unique to the Chiltern Way Extension. However this was one of the best bit of the Chilterns we've encountered. In addition to enjoying Bunyan's "delectable mountains", there were some interesting information boards to read, explaining what was happening on the grassland, including an "arable weed trial". This amused us but it is serious stuff, recognising that many arable weeds are important chalkland species.

Towards the top of Telegraph Hill we reached a track, the route of the Icknield Way. We said hello to a fell-runner who appeared to be waiting for someone or something (perhaps this was one of the three men we had seen back at the parking place in Pegsdon?). We turned right onto a section that we walked in November 2011, with the route of the Icknield Way Path and the Chiltern Way extension diverging slightly around Hoo Bit, and then re-joining. The photo is shown looking back along the Icknield Way, just after the sun came out. We passed a little flurry of dog-walkers, then continued onto a road and off it again, still on the ancient route of the Icknield Way. We were close to Lilley here; Richard had recognised the section when driving to an from Lilley when we were walking the main Chiltern Way.

At a clump of trees called Maulden Firs we turned right, now just a field away from where we had been walking on 4th August on the main Chiltern Way. It was slightly less interesting walking, and after turning left onto a road and right off it again, past another dog walker, we found ourselves on a really rather boring track, now parallel to route of the John Bunyan Trail that we had walked on Easter Monday 2017.

The track brought us to the Barton Hills National Nature Reserve. Rather than walking around the nature reserve, as we had done on the John Bunyan Trail, today's route took us onto the reserve and round the heads of the characteristic steep valleys. It was the wrong time for pasque flowers and chalkhill blue butterflies, but it was still lovely, with well-positioned benches. We sat on one of these to eat our lunch.

The Barton Hills National Nature Reserve is immediately above Barton-le-Clay, but the descent was muddy and extremely slippery, unsurprisingly given all the rain we have had. Richard slid to the ground rather gracefully on one occasion, and a fell-runner who we stopped to talk to reported that he too had fallen over. There were however good views down to the Church and we passed a number of grazing fell ponies.

We managed to descend to Barton-le-Clay without further incident. Last time we were here it was their Remembrance Day service at the War Memorial; today we were in the village for the Church's Christmas Tree Festival, with a little flurry of visitors as we walked past.

Following leg