TheRidgewayBlog: walking England's oldest path

Weather-watching once more

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 17:20:58 +0200

Yup, back at that game again. Oh the joys of early summer in England! My feeling is that we should go for it, despite the Met Office's threatened light showers. I mean, hey, what's a light shower between friends?

I'll take a printout of the weather forecast to the pub tonight and see what the concensus is.

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Stage 3: Lower Cadsden to Crowell

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 14:49:52 +0200

Dateline: Saturday 2nd June, 2007

No need to rush getting up this time. S was working in Oxford until midday, so we were meeting at junction 6 of the M40 a little after 12.30. A lazy get up, slice of toast for breakfast and pack a larger picnic than normal since this was intended to be a proper lunch rather than a take-the-edge-off-hunger snack. Two sets of liquid refreshments, one for lunch and the other for a half-time break, plenty of suncream and water (it promised to be a hot one) and we were ready.

Called in for P and the dogs, opened the estate car boot, and Dilly surprised no-one by jumping in the back, bouncing over the back of the rear seat and then into the driver's seat. That dog has a yen to drive, methinks! After encouraging her back out of the car, we got her and Sage back in the boot with P in the back seat to try to keep them there. They quickly settled once we were en route. The drive to our meeting point seemed to take no time at all, and we waited for all of five minutes or so for S to join us. From there, it was but a short drive to Crowell, and a right turn up past the Shepherd's Crook took us to a track that went up towards the Ridgeway and our intended end. Coward that I am, I only drove our estate as far as the point where the old railway line crosses the track; the road was very potholed and the car doesn't have much clearance. S&P's truck didn't even notice.

Ate lunch while admiring red kites. For some reason we'd seen more of these fantastic creatures than usual, slowly wheeling on unseen currents of air. After we'd pigged out on rolls (choice of cheese or paté), quiche, scotch eggs, pork pies &c., we packed up, piled into the truck and drove back to The Plough at Cadsden. This time the pub had a more welcoming look, with a small gazebo and umberellas on the outside tables. We decided not to stop and test it out, this was only the start of the walk after all!

We walked through the car park and followed the Ridgeway up through woodland towards Whiteleaf Hill. The path got incredibly steep as we ground our way up the scarp slope and it was a relief to reach the top. Once there, we took a slight detour to go and look at the chalk figure we'd seen as we drove towards Cadsden. P suggested it was Clint Eastwood as The Man with No Name (spaghetti western), but it was actually Whiteleaf Cross. A huge amount of work has been done up here, both conservation and research, and there's a set of boards giving the history of the place and telling you what you can see and their distances. It's thoughtfully provided in braille too, and there's good access for the disabled.

We left the cross behind and wakled along the ridge on a well-made path to the road and a car park. We crossed the road, all on easy-access ramps down to the road and back up the other side, and continued on past woodland and an odd hut/refuge. We thought perhaps it might be used by Boy Scouts or someone as a camp. We left the wood behind and walked towards Kop Hill, where we turned right and started to head down towards Princes Risborough. As we walked on we were afforded a fantastic view out over the town, and towards the bottom we could look back at Whiteleaf Cross. A left turn at the bottom took us along a tree-lined track around the southern edge of Princes Risborough. This part of the Ridgeway coincides with the Icknield Way, crossing Brimmers Road and then following the A4140 south before turning right at Shootacre Corner and skirting south at Hemley Hill. The two Ways diverge here, with the Icknield Way following the minor road west and the Ridgeway continuing south through a field planted with wheat. Dilly kept rushing off down the furrows and then jumping up to see where we were as we headed towards the railway lines. We crossed the bridge over the first one, then headed downhill towards the second and walked over on a crossing, looking carefully both ways before venturing across with both dogs very firmly on leads.

We followed a hedge-lined path through Princes Risborough golf course, stopping to admire the view at a water hazard. (Don't tell anyone, but Dilly and Sage were hot so they went for a quick swim. It was some distance from fairway or green or whatever they call it, so no harm done I hope.) From there it was a gentle uphill until we came to the edge of the nature reserve on Lodge Hill, where it turned into another serious uphill grind. We stopped in the shade on the edge for a bit before tackling the steep slope, and promised ourselves a half-time break in the shade at the top.

After the break we came out of the scrubby woodland into the open and along the ridge before a gentle descent towards Wigan's Lane. After crossing the lane we walked through a large field with a notice telling us to beware of the bull; sure enough, there was a huge black bull, sitting in the middle of the field surrounded by similarly-coloured cows and calves. (Beef stock rather than dairy?) We carefully kept to the edge of the field making sure we never came between the bull and one of his calves, and acheived the far side without incident.

After that a track wound around the edge of The Cop and Wain Hill, in or on the edge of woodland, before turning into the straight that runs past Chinnor. Once over the B4445 we were in amongst the disused chalk pits, huge, immensely deep diggings that were the source of raw materials for the defunct cement works. The picture really does not do the pits justice; steep-sided and (we estimated) about a hundred metres deep with water only at the very bottom, if you fell in you'd never get out unassisted. Sobering thought.

We carried on in an almost-straight line, between the various pits, until we came to the track where the estate car was parked. With farewell to the Ridgeway until next time, we headed back towards Crowell and the car. From there, we (lazily) drove to the Shepherd's Crook in Crowell, a lovely little pub with a pleasant green and a fabulous-looking fish menu. One drink as a refresher, and we were on our way home with a promise to ourselves we'd be back for some fish one night soon.

Walk statistics: We started from Lower Cadsden at about 1.30pm and reached Crowell (or rather, the car) at about 4.45pm, with a 15 minute break for beers at about 3.15pm.
Total walk time was about 3 hours and covered just under 8 miles, including a quarter of a mile from the Ridgeway to the car.

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Rain, rain, go away...

Thu, 31 May 2007 09:54:34 +0200

A suggestion from one of the walking crew: let's try for Saturday (2nd June) instead of Sunday. I have to admit, the weather looks more promising, and apart from S working until midday we have nothing else on. If we start walking by about 1pm, we should be finished by 5pm allowing for a mid-walk break. Just nicely timed for a quick beer in Crowell before heading back.

If anyone out there in blogland is in touch with any weather gods, I'd really appreciate you putting in a good word for us!

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Weather watching

Wed, 30 May 2007 10:28:46 +0200

I know us Brits are famous for watching the weather carefully, but I think I may be taking it to extremes. I find I'm checking the Met Office's web site twice daily to see what level of precipitation to expect this weekend - if I'm not very, very careful, someone will have me labelled up as obsessive-compulsive before I know where I am.

Casting concerns about my mental state aside for the moment, it looks as though this dire weather may brighten just in time for Stage 3. This far ahead, it's difficult to say exactly when but the Met Office seem to think we'll have rain first thing Sunday and then it should clear. Fingers crossed, eh?!

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Whither the weather?

Fri, 25 May 2007 19:24:58 +0200

I was right, the forecast did change! Sadly for the worse rather than better, as the Met Office are now suggesting heavy rain for pretty much the duration (and location) of our Stage 3 walk. Drat!

However, it isn't yet set in stone. I'll check the forecast again tomorrow, and if it looks more promising, some discussion with the rest of the crew will be in order. I'm not holding my breath though, this is a bank holiday in Britain we're talking about!

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Stage 4 reality check

Wed, 23 May 2007 11:22:45 +0200

Hm, weather for Sunday not looking all that promising. From the Met Office web site:
Outlook for Friday to Sunday: Bright or sunny spells on Friday but some showers may occur during the afternoon. Dry with sunny spells on Saturday. Cloud and rain spreading east on Sunday. Becoming much cooler.

Of course, there's plenty of time for it to change between now and then...

The real purpose of this post is to tell you that I've been thinking deeply over the way I've broken up the route. In most cases, I've included walks to/from the cars, a couple of stages are 10 miles of Ridgeway and the final stage is only 4.5 miles. In a Spockian moment I realised this was on the daft side of logical; 8 miles is a comfortable walk so 87 miles of path could be broken down into 11 more-or-less 8 miles stretches. And we've been finding that it's not all that difficult to park much closer to (and in some cases at) the start and end of the Ridgeway section rather than walking extra mileage to and from the cars. So I spent some time with my trusty piece of string and an OS Explorer map (171 if you must know).

Stage 3 is fine as it is. We can park at the start, and I'm fairly certain we can park at the end, and it's already an 8 mile section of Ridgeway. No, it's Stage 4 that's been worrying me; 10 miles of Ridgeway, and from what information I can find the pub at the end is now more of a trendy bistro-type restaurant than a drinking establishment for weary travellers. Don't get me wrong, I'm as fond of eating in trendy bistro-type restaurants as the next foodie, but it's not really appropriate to the circumstances. So the logical thing to do is cut a couple of miles off the planned walk and then (having parked at least one car at walk's end) drive to a nearby pub-type pub. Instead of walking all the way to Nuffield Common, I'm proposing we walk as far as the entrance to Swyncombe House (grid ref SU 683 904) and then go find a drink, probably in the Five Horseshoes in Maidensgrove.

So when we're all settled with a drink after Stage 3, I'll put this proposal to the rest of the crew and see what they think about it. If they agree, I'll update the plan and have a look at the next stage while I'm at it.

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Update on Stage 3

Sat, 19 May 2007 12:33:44 +0200

Since S is working tomorrow and MrBlogger was supposed to be sailing with his father this weekend, we'd planned to do the next stage next Sunday (27th, and a bank holiday weekend). Well, the weather in Wales (the planned sailing venue) is so atrocous that not even MrBlogger's father, an intrepid sailor if I ever met one, is keen to get that boat out onto open water. And I can tell you now that if he isn't sailing because of the weather, we sure aren't walking....!

So, stick with plan A, and walk next weekend.

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Rained off!

Mon, 14 May 2007 10:19:38 +0200

That's precisely what happened to yesterday's walk. I realised just after 8am that we probably wouldn't be going, for the simple reason that our cat came in and jumped on the bed, and when I cuddled him he was damp around the edges.

S phoned around 10.30 just to say that she'd also realised the same thing. I nearly called back not long after midday to talk about where we'd have got to when it started coming down in stair-rods. Walking in that kind of rain is definitely not a fun thing to do.

Fair-weather walkers? Yup, you betcha!

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Maybe, might be, possibly...

Fri, 11 May 2007 08:56:06 +0200

So the plan is to do stage 3 this Sunday. However, I've just heard the weather forecast and it sounds, er, incompatible with a pleasant walk. I'll post updates as and when I can, but please don't expect too much as I'm out most of today and I'm on a daytrip to Calais tomorrow.

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Stage 2: Northill Wood to Lower Cadsden

Tue, 08 May 2007 20:24:19 +0200

Dateline: Sunday 6th May, 2007

Up early again - at least, up early for a Sunday. So early that the hot water hadn’t come on and neither MrBlogger nor I remembered to put it on when he went to get our customary cup of tea in bed. So it was a chill-to-cold shower to start the day followed by a hot bacon buttie and another hot cup of tea to try to warm through. This week’s picnic consisted of an onion and cheese tart, spicy chicken wings and small rolls with cheddar, roast Hereford beef and gammon ham. I added in some bottled beer and a hip flask, and this time a small flask of Bacardi and coke for S, who doesn’t really drink beer. Water bottle, sun hat, sun cream and...waterproof jacket. It had been raining the night before. The weather forecast had promised that it was unlikely to rain but I wasn’t sure I believed it, especially when I looked out at the leaden sky.

S & P turned up in the truck and we set off toward Princes Risborough to park up the Audi. We managed not to get separated through Wallingford this time, and arrived at the walk’s end together. After some discussion, rather than parking in the lay-by type affair at the top of the hill (and in the middle of nowhere), we decided to park at the end of the lay-by where the Ridgeway crosses Cadsdean Road. As chance would have it, there was a pub at the bottom of the lay-by called the Plough at Cadsden, more of which later. Then we all piled in the truck and I spent another journey sitting under Dilly while we made our way to Northill Wood. We found the start of the walk and parked on the verge right next to it, all piled out and sorted out bags, boots and leads.

The first part of the walk went through a meadow towards Hengrove Wood. At the entrance to Hengrove Wood, a sign proclaimed it was 2.7 miles to Wendover. After Hengrove Wood we cut through the edge of Wendover Wood and over the road into Hale Wood, where the bluebells carpeted the ground under the trees. We were pleasantly surprised to find a drift of ramsoms (wild garlic), and picked a couple of leaves to chew at while we walked. After that it was on through Barn Wood and onto Hogtrough Lane at the very edge of Wendover, from where we could see a large building with a truly amazing array of solar panels. Hogtrough Lane brought us to Church Lane and the back of St. Mary’s, a mostly 14th-century building with a simple and pleasing design. The lych-gate was particularly lovely and my photograph doesn’t do it justice, which is why you won’t be seeing it here.

Church Lane led into Heron Path, a delightful walk away from the road along a beautiful mill stream. Whilst Dilly and Sage took advantage of the easy access to nice, clean drinking water, we watched the uplifting sight of a moorhen leading her chicks across Hamden Pond on the other side of the path. A heron was fishing off the island in the middle, but he was too far away to catch with a camera. Walking up Heron Path brought us to the High Street in Wendover, a road with several excellent pubs. In fact, you’d have to work quite hard to find a poor pub in Wendover, but we did it. Instead of stopping at the Red Lion (an ancient coaching inn full of character) or the White Swan (Fuller’s, yum), we kept going to the top of the hill and the Shoulder of Mutton. I’m sure it used to be a good pub, but it’s now a Chef and Brewer so is mostly chain-pub-grub with very little space for drinking. In its favour there is a very well kept garden perfectly suited to walkers, but had the weather been colder or wetter, sitting indoors would have been awkward. Having got that far, we stopped for a quick refresher anyway and then moved swiftly on.

After the stop, the path followed the road until it turned to the right, where the Ridgeway went to the left and on up Bacombe Hill, a chalky scrubland outcrop. S and I were less than impressed with the lack of chairlift up the steepest bit and swore we’d never come to this ski resort again. MrBlogger and P (and Dilly and Sage) didn’t seem to think it was a problem, and were miles ahead by the time we’d managed the steep slope. We were rewarded at the top with a fabulous (albeit slightly hazy) view out over the Aylesbury Hundreds. From there it was a gentle but continuous grind upward toward Coombe Hill and the monument. The monument is dedicated to those who lost their lives in the Boer War (1899-1902). Just past the monument was a convenient bench, so we stopped for a halftime beer (or Bacardi and coke) and a breather. P claimed he could see Didcot power station, but despite screwing my eyes up and staring hard, I couldn’t make it out. We could, however, see right down into Chequers, a Jacobean manor given to the nation by Arthur and Ruth Lee in 1921 for the serving Prime Minister to use as a country retreat.

Suitably rested we walked up Lodge Hill and into Linton’s Wood and a huge patch of ramsoms. Linton’s Wood gave way to Goodmerhill Wood, where we spotted some seriously interesting fungi on fallen tree trunks, probably birch polypore and king Alfred’s cakes but I’m no expert. Around a corner we walked past a slew of bluebells including some that had grown in an old tree stump, making a very pretty sight. From there we walked down and crossed the road at Buckmoorend and walked almost right past Chequers. Quite literally: the Ridgeway goes through part of the estate and crosses the driveway up to the house.There’s a sweet little gatehouse at the end, lots of cameras and sinister signs warning folk to stay away. Apart from a stopping to take a couple of pictures (how could we not?), we kept on until we reached the edge of Maple Wood. The path winds around the edge of the wood, affording the occasional further glimpse of Chequers as you go, until it swings around the end of Maple Wood and onto Cradle Footpath. This took us through some more scrubland, where Dilly scented a water trough and made a beeline for it. After a couple of sips she decided to simply jump in, much to our startlement! Sage, an altogether more sedate girl, drank daintily from the edge of the trough.

Cradle Footpath took us past Great Kimble Warren and Chequers Knap and on into Butts, from where even I could see Didcot power station in the far, far distance. Coming down from Pulpit Hill, a very startled rabbit shot across the path as if it was flying, but neither of the girls were even bothered by it. Cowslips were scattered prettily across the sward to either side, a lovely sight. On down towards Cadsdean Road and we stumbled on a rash of forget-me-nots shortly before reaching the road and the Plough.

I promised more about this. We had intended to go to the Red Lion at Whiteleaf as I had been unable to find any recent information about the Plough and thought it might have been closed down. Let’s face it, the rate of pub closures in this country is frightening, and even if you can find information less than a few weeks old you’re still not guaranteed that the hostelry in question will be open. However, it was clearly very open and had a lovely garden area with wooden benches and a butler sink (with plug and tap) for dogs. So we went there for a couple of beers (Greene King, sadly) and a sit down in the sun. Then it was back to the car, a quick picnic and on to collect the truck. Dilly tried hard not to fall asleep in the back of the car and very nearly managed.

Truck duly collected we wended our way back, slowly and carefully as we were all quite tired. We stopped off at our local for a couple of drinks, threw mountain bikes in the back of the truck and went on to S & P’s for a very lovely dinner a la plancha. Before we fell asleep, MrBlogger and I got on our bikes and slowly drifted down the hill to home and (a very welcome) bed.

RB

Walk statistics: We started from Northill Wood at about 11.30 and stopped at about 1pm in Wendover for 30 minutes. We stopped at Coombe Hill at about 2pm for fifteen minutes or so and reached the car at 15.45pm. Total walk time was about 3.5 hours and covered around 8.5 miles.

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All set!

Sat, 05 May 2007 16:18:12 +0200

Provided the fair weather holds, we're doing stage 2 tomorrow (6th May). We start at Northill Wood where we left off last week and walk as far as Lower Cadsden, just outside Princes Risborough, and a self-congratulatory pint at the Red Lion in Whiteleaf. Followed by another couple at our local and barbecue dinner at S & P's with L & TC. D'you know, I'm not sure I can think of a nicer way of spending a bank holiday Sunday!

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Sorry...

Thu, 03 May 2007 11:22:00 +0200

I've heard from various people that they're having difficulty commenting on my posts. If that includes you, then a thousand apologies. I definitely haven't restricted commenting ability, I went back and double-checked, but it seems that unregistered users are having difficulty with the validation process. This is the process, put in place by this web site's developers, that stops spammers filling up my blog with unwanted ads for viagra (not something I really need), ringtones (that I can't use as my phone isn't ringtone enabled) and hallucinogens (sorry, alcohol is my drug of choice).

There is a workaround. As a registered user you don't have to go through the validation process (I think), and you can register without having to have a blog. So, if you don't mind going the extra mile to register, I'd be glad to have your comments!

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Stage 1 photographs

Tue, 01 May 2007 14:44:07 +0200

In case anyone wants to see the photographs from last weekend's walk as a slideshow, rather than flicking back and forth between the blog entry and each picture, click here and choose View as Slideshow.

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Stage 1: Ivinghoe Beacon to Northill Wood

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 19:25:39 +0200

Dateline: Sunday 29th April, 2007

So it was up bright and early, so early that Radio 4 was still god-bothering and had to be turned off. It seemed strange getting up and ready with no noise in the house except us, the radio is usually on from the time we get up (before, actually) to the time we go to bed. By the time MrBlogger and I sat down to humungous bacon sarnies (half a ciabatta each with several rashers of dry-cured smoked streaky bacon and - of course - Heinz ketchup) the radio was back on again and life seemed more normal. I packed up a small picnic of miniature Melton Mowbray pork pies, picnic eggs and small panini rolls filled with cheddar, cambozola or pâté. I added a small coolbag of bottled St Omer beer and a hipflask filled with sloe gin to keep us going. Found the suncream, my sunhat and a water bottle, and we were all set.

S & P turned up in good time, just as I was finishing packing the picnic. In fact, they were early by my reckoning... After a quick discussion about the best way to get to the end point to leave one car, we set off under misty, almost overcast skies. Of course, going through the middle of Wallingford had its disadvantages: MrBlogger and I were caught by the traffic lights at the crossroads and then again at the bridge, where S & P had sailed through right in front of us. Rats and double rats! By the time we got to Wendover we'd caught up, only to sail past the road that led to the pub! Thank goodness for mobile phones... A quick call to S & P, and we'd turned around and headed back towards Hale Lane (which just happens to be part of the Icknield Way). Then came the difficulty of navigating the country lanes. I was driving, MrB was navigating sans reading glasses and we'd failed to set up the GPS because we knew where we were going. With hindsight, that possibly wasn't the most sensible plan. A couple of U-turns later, and we were barrelling down a lane and almost went straight past the pub as it's tucked away in a sharp left-then-right. I just managed to turn in, followed by S & P. We chucked comfy shoes in the back of our car and all piled into S & P's truck, and headed off for Ivinghoe. I spent most of the journey sitting under Dilly; Sage spent the journey in the front passenger footwell under S's feet.

As we approached Ivinghoe, P commented that he thought there used to be a windmill thereabouts. As he spoke, said windmill hove into view: "oooh, it'll be that one in the field to the left then?" we asked mischievously. At the car park, we decanted and followed the signs to the start of our walk.

It felt cooler than it had done previously, the visibility was reduced by a fine haze and the Sun was hiding behind a layer of thin, high cloud. In fact it almost looked as though it might rain, which could have been a slight problem as I'd decided not to bring a waterproof. Once at Ivinghoe Beacon itself, the wind felt a touch too keen to stay up there for long, so we set off down the hill towards the road. At the road, another signpost reassuringly told us the we'd already walked 0.3 miles and had a mere 87 to walk to the end of the Ridgeway. More comfortingly, Tring station was only 3.2 miles and that was almost halfway along our planned walk for the day. Once we'd crossed the road it was up Steps Hill through chalk scrubland to Incombe Hole, which is a curious-looking cleft in the escarpment. I'd love to know what geological processes happened to create it, but I'm no Earth scientist so I can only guess at maybe glaciation.

From Incombe Hole, you could see the Ridgeway tracking down and straight across the Icknield Way and back up Pitstone Hill the other side. We followed on down to the Icknield Way, Dilly and Sage running free until the road. A short dog-leg left along the Icknield Way and then right again saw us heading up to Pitstone Hill. At the top there would have been a breathtaking view if it hadn't been for the haze; you could see the chalk pit at Folly Farm, and as the ridge turned to the left you could see a clay pigeon shoot down off the hill. As we turned, a pair of ducks flew overhead and Dilly got all excited: she's a trained gun dog, and suddenly thought she was working. We breathed a sigh of relief as they circled away, then gasped with disbelief as the ducks, frightened by the gunfire in the valley, circled back again. As they flew down below the ridgeline Dilly stood up on her back legs to track where they were going and was off to collect them before P managed to call her back!

We then found that the route of the path seems to have been moved. Aldbury Nowers is, I think, part of the National Trust's Ashridge Estate. The path as marked on the map continues to follow the ridge almost all the way through the Nowers, but the path to which we were directed is much lower and close to the fenceline along Northfield Grange. If it is the National Trust, then I assume the path has been moved for conservation reasons; I certainly hope that's what it's about. By this time we were quite warm, so it was a relief to get into the woods and out of the now-hazy sunshine. As we were walking through we spotted a wild flower none of us had ever seen before: it looked like a dead nettle, with dark green glossy leaves and bright yellow flowers. (I now know it's yellow archangel.) After a quick stop for tot of sloe gin and a brief rest, we carried on through the woods of Aldbury Nowers.

Once we'd left the woods behind we trekked along a path lined by shrubs and small trees past Westland Farm and came out on the road that runs past Tring Station (strangely enough called Station Road). We followed the road across the railway line and the canal, where we looked for somewhere to stop but couldn't really find anywhere so we carried on towards past Pendley Farm and (briefly) along an all-weather gallop. We said hello to several beautiful horses who looked as though they might make use of the gallop, and carried on towards Akeman Street (a Roman road) and across the A41. After the (relative) peace of woodlands, even with the hum of traffic in the distance, the two-lane dual carriageway was incredibly noisy almost to the point of being painful. As we came off the footbridge and to the edge of the road's cutting, the noise reduced to a bearable background level again. We found oursleves in a beautiful parkland meadow graced by several stately horse chestnuts, and stopped for a sit-down and a beer before pressing on once more.

As the Ridgeway skirted Wiggington, it passed another triangulation point from which we could look back at Pitstone hill, now far distant, and beyond it the very tip of Ivinghoe Beacon. The misty visibility added to the welcome illusion that we'd travelled far! After Wiggington we rejoined the Icknield Way briefly as the Ridgeway went through Bull's Wood and Tring Park. We noticed several benches on the right-hand side of the path, and a quick peer showed us a fantastic vista across the park to what I suppose must be Tring House. The path at this point was wide and went, straight as a die, between a huge variety of tall trees. After we left the Park, it was on through Bishop's Wood and out onto the road. We found a footpath that went through a rape field alongside the road rather than walking the road itself, and came out at Hastoe Cross. From there, a short walk along the road between Hastoe House and Hastoe farm took us past an elegant but abandoned house; no "For Sale" sign and no sign that anyone was looking after it, the poor thing was starting to gently fall into disrepair with wasps buzzing in and out of at least two gaps in the shingles. Very, very sad.

Pavis Wood and Northill Wood are mostly beech trees on chalk, so this time of year the bluebells are rife and a fantastic sight with the dappled sun on them. Again, the shade of the trees was very welcome as by this time the sun was almost fully out and the day had warmed considerably from the rather brisk wind at the start of our walk. At the end of Northill Wood where it meets the road, we left the Ridgeway for the time being and trudged down towards St. Leonards, comparing aches as we went. We followed straight along Bottom Road to a footpath to the right that cut across to the road parallel, practically staggered around the corner to the White Lion and collapsed gratefully into the nearest available seats outside. After a minute or two we managed to fetch some drinks and we sat resting, drinking and generally chilling for a bit. Once those drinks had gone down we fetched another round and the people running the pub kindly let us eat our picnic in their very pleasant garden.

After refuelling, it was back into our car and a drive back to Ivinghoe ("oooh, look, there's a windmill!") and a very quiet drive back to our local, where we managed to keep awake long enough for another couple of drinks, before staggering off home to supper and a very early bed!

Walk statistics: We started from Ivinghoe car park at about 11.40 and arrived at the White Lion at about 15.40 having walked about ten miles. P's knee, although painful, held up very well; S and I both have sore hips one day later. The current plan is to do the next stage next weekend, the bank holiday Sunday, but I'll keep you posted!

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Cautiously optimistic...

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 15:08:42 +0200

Well, looks like this could be it. D & J aren't able to make it, but encouraged us to go ahead anyway, so it's me, MrBlogger, S, P and S & P's two lovely spaniels. The current plan (to be confirmed) is that we're leaving here about 10am, and we'll get to Ivinghoe for about 11.30 ish. We walk to Northill Wood than come off the Ridgeway and go on to the White Lion in St Leonard's, where we'll probably arrive after they finish serving food so I'll take a small picnic as we'll be starving by then.

One fly in the ointment: P came off his bike last week and sprained his knee. And he overdid the work thing yesterday. I just hope he's got his leg up today and is resting it, otherwise we'll have to carry him...!

Wish us luck!

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So not this weekend then

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 14:16:35 +0200

Just heard that J & D are off to a wedding in Yorkshire this weekend, so they're not able to make it. We're postponing until next weekend.

The trouble is, at this rate we'll never do it all this summer. Perhaps I have to be firmer about dates? That feels a tad unfriendly, though, especially after all the enthusiasm shown by everyone. But I *do* really want to do this, and bearing in mind how exposed the Ridgeway is, I think we need to be finished in September/October.

I'm really torn about this dilemma.

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Getting closer!

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 15:52:44 +0200

We might be on for stage 1 this weekend....watch this space!

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A handful of photographs

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:28:43 +0200

Here's a small selection of photographs taken during and after the walk:
Picture #1
Picture #2
Picture #3

Enjoy!

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What a lovely day!

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 11:41:24 +0200

I don't think it could have gone any better. Woke up on Sunday to a wonderful blue sky, and already warm when we set off at about half past ten. Up to the Lynch Way, through Prospect Farm, over the disused (and now being filled in) railway and left towards Blewbury Down, join the Ridgeway for a short while and then....ooops! I insisted we should have left the Ridgeway already, when in fact we should have stayed on it for a little while longer. Off down to Crows Foot and then back up towards Starveall Farm. The GPS was of no help whatsoever as most of the footpaths/bridleways/tracks aren't on its maps, so apart from heading towards Aldworth, it didn't tell us much. So anyway, I managed to add about three-quarters of a mile to the trip out, so by the time we got to the Bell we'd done seven miles or thereabouts through a gently undulating landscape. Poor S had blisters and J was definitely feeling she'd done enough, so when L & TC arrived by car, we three cadged a lift back.

We sat in the garden at the Bell for about two hours, drinking the very splendid West Berkshire beer and eating hot rolls with slabs of cheese, salt beef, ham, crab... The only thing I would warn others about is that they close on a Sunday at 3pm, mitigated in part by their willingness to sell beer by the 4-pint jug. We sat in the sun, watching a large, black-and-red chicken pecking about under everyone's feet - bliss!

Then we left: L & TC, me, J and S by car; and MrBlogger, D and P on foot. We sat in J&D's garden drinking chilled dry white while the 'boys' walked back, then went down the local to meet them for a brief one before heading back to J&D's for a huge roast joint of pork with all the trimmings, and far more wine than was really good for us. And then MrBlogger and I cycled home, which was perhaps not the most sensible thing we'd done all day. Nevertheless, we survived the experience, and we're all still up for the Ridgeway walk. In fact, more than a few of us are up for walking to the Bell again, or possibly even cycling - now there's a sign of success!

One or two pictures were taken, and I'll endeavour to post them up at some point in time so you can see the merry crew in action. We've yet to set a date for the first Ridgeway section, but it'll be soon, I'm sure.

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It's only five miles...

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 17:57:35 +0200

Discussion done, decision made. We'll gather in Chilton on Sunday morning and walk to the Bell in Aldworth. Once you're as high as Chilton there's not a great deal of up-and-down, so a fairly easy (and very pleasant) walk. Except that, having got to the Bell and had a few beers (West Berkshire Brewery, one of my absolute favourites), we have to walk home again. D claimed it was only five miles each way which I was sceptical about, but kept mum as I didn't want to put anyone off. Having just measured it on my Explorer maps and an ancient Pathfinder with my trusty length of string, it's more like six-and-a-quarter each way. A total of twelve-and-a-half miles: that's two-and-a-half miles longer than I'm really capable of. Erk.

Ah well, there's always dinner at J&D's after to look forward to...

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Houston, we have a problem [beep]

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 16:38:47 +0200

The best laid plans and they've already gang agley. Or whatever they gang when it all goes t-u.

Turns out that the two lovely spaniels due to accompany us on this walk are in season. Which means that (a) it's not a good idea to take them up on the Ridgeway when the rest of the world is doing exactly the same with their dogs, it just isn't fair on canines or humans; and (b) it's probably not fair to leave the two lovely lasses on their own for several hours, which it would be if we did Ridgeway Stage #1. So either S, their owner, stays behind, or we do a different walk. I suppose we could all just slouch down the local boozer like we normally do on a Sunday, but it looks like it'll be a bank holiday that actually has good weather, so that would simply be a waste.

Anyway, the entire crew are coming over to me this evening for a conference, so I'm in the middle of pre-cooking dinner: roasted tomato soup; beef in Guinness with dumplings, mashed potato, braised red cabbage, cauliflower gratin; and vodka sultana poppyseed cheesecake. Which means I have to go put my head in the oven just now, so I'll post again after the conference. Which means tomorrow, you're not getting me online after the ruddy cheesecake!

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Welcome!

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 12:55:42 +0200

Welcome to my blog! Along with a group of friends, I'm planning to walk the Ridgeway in several stages, Ivinghoe Beacon to Overton Hill, end to end. I thought other people might be interested in our progress and our experiences, so I started this blog to share just that. I'll post up a report of each walk, our thoughts and ideas about it, and some pictures we take along the way. I'll also review the pubs we visit each time - yes, each stage ends at a pub on or near the Ridgeway path, in the best traditions of walking in Britain!

So why walk the Ridgeway? Well, one day I was out walking near home, and it struck me how much of the view from where I live is defined by the Ridgeway. If you drive south along the A34 from Oxford, the highest line of hills you can see crossing the A34 is the Ridgeway. I've walked various bits of the path at different times in my life, most recently the bits around Bury Down and as a schoolchild I visited Ivinghoe Beacon about once a year, but there are vast lengths that I've never visited. And in one of those flashes of inspiration that happen from time to time, I thought: "Wouldn't it be fun to walk the entire length?" The more I thought about it, the more it seemed a Good Idea. I suggested it to MrBlogger, and he thought it was an excellent idea. That was last year some time, and we just never got around to it. You know how it is, life gets in the way of your best ideas especially if you don't make any proper plans.

I never thought to share my mad idea with any of our friends, it simply never occurred to me to do so. Then a few weeks ago the Ridgeway came up in conversation, so it seemed natural to say that MrBlogger and I were intending to walk the length of it, not in one go but broken down into several stages. Well, I was overwhelmed at the enthusiasm and the eagerness to join in, and I was tasked with going and doing the research. Each walk was to be eight to ten miles and end at a pub for refreshment and possibly food. I spent an afternoon with the four Ordnance Survey Explorer maps that cover the Ridgway (sheets 181, 171, 170 and 157), the Ridgeway official web site, the BITE web site and a very special piece of string. "A what?" I hear you ask. A very special piece of string. No, really, it is special, you see it's knotted at both ends, one end has been marked with two colours of highlighter, and then at regular intervals there are marks in purple and orange highlighter. The orange marks are a kilometre apart on the Explorer maps and the purple ones are a mile; the marked knot is the start of the string measure. See, I told you it was special. So anyway, I drew up a plan which you can see here - see whether you can spot the mistake! The plan met with general approval, we've set a date for the first stage (Easter Sunday), I've called the White Lion and found they're doing food until 2.30 and it's a choice of Sunday roast or other main course so we're all set. Except J still has to get some walking boots and we've still to decide whether to eat at the pub or bring a picnic. Watch this space...

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