Long walk October 2nd led by Jeane Richards
A 7.5 mile round walk, starting from The Russell Arms at Butler Cross. With the weather a little overcast but warm for October, 4 walkers set off at 9.30 in the direction of Ellesborough Church. Once we reached the church we crossed the road, went down the lane and across the harvested field to the edge of Coombe Hill. Staying mostly on the woodland path, we headed to Buckmoorend, then curved up through Chisley Wood till we reached Little Hampden Common. Taking a left, we continued to Scrub Wood and the anticipated steep hill, which we took slowly so didn’t seem too arduous. Then onto Dunsmore village for our well earned coffee break, sitting on a couple of handy benches by the village pond.
From Dunsmore, feeling relaxed and replenished, we pressed on along the lane and through more woods. It was getting a bit muddy under foot, so decided to take a slight detour and walked along the road to the National Trust car park. By the time we reached Coombe Hill Monument the sun was trying to shine through, so we were rewarded with great views over Aylesbury Vale. We took the longer route down the assent of the hill and then crossed the road to Ellesborough Golf Club. The foot path has a well defined route through part of the golf course that leads to the only stile on this walk. From there, a short walk on the edge of fields, circling back to the road and finishing back at The Russell Arms.
The menu was a little limiting, not serving sandwiches, but the food was tasty and we all enjoyed what we ordered. Overall it was a good day and lucky with the weather as it only started raining while we were eating our lunch.
Strollers October 14th – cancelled due to exceedingly wet conditions
Medium walk October 18th led by Corinne Symonds
In the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness we set off in the fog to explore some of the 600 acres of Burnham Beeches, the world’s largest collection of ancient beech. After crossing Littleworth Common and walking through farmland we entered the Beeches eventually walking up Mendelsohn slope where the composer had the inspiration for Puck and Oberon’s incidental music for Midsummer Night’s Dream. We passed Sevenways Plain, the site of one of many Chiltern iron age hill forts dating from 8-5C BC, an area which was also used in WW2 to conceal vehicles from spotter planes during the DD landings. We then made a short detour to see the 800 year old Druid Oak then proceeded to Middle Pond and crossed some of the boardwalks before stopping for sustenance at the café and information centre. We returned past Hartley Court Moat which dates from the 12th and 14th centuries, through Whitespark and Staplefurze Woods and along the lanes.
Unfortunately we were a bit early for the autumn colour but at least the sun came out for the second half of the walk and we enjoyed our lunch at the Blackwood Arms.