Feet First Walking

 

Leaving Hambleden village cross the road and walk up the path into Ridge Wood.

 

The path that runs along the southern end of Ridge Wood.

 

Take a left just past the farm on Dairy Lane.

 

The view up Reservoir Hill.

 

Views to the right of Reservoir Hill.

 

The path leading up to Pullbach Hill.

 

The start of a very muddy path that leads to Roundhouse Farm.

 

Looking over in the direction of Fawley.

 

Roundhouse Farm.

 

The road leading to Lower Woodend Farm.

 

Turn right onto Dudley Lane.

 

Approaching Luxters Farm Winery and Brewery.

 

The track opposite the winery that leads into Cadmoor Wood.

 

Having left Cadmore Wood the views of the Hambleden Valley open up.

 

 

Looking back to Cadmore Wood.

 

At this junction ignore the right turn and carry straight on. Unlike I did when I approached it.

 

The view across the valley to Great Wood.

 

Walking up hill towards Beeches Farm.

 

 

The very helpful Chiltern Hills white arrows appear whenever there is a dilemma about which route to take. In this instance left is correct, against all instincts to go right and downhill.

 

As you reach the edge of the wood, Pheasant's Hill can bee seen.

 

The narrowest passageway I've had the displeasure of squeezing through.

 

Hambleden Church is in sight across the meadows.

 

All's well that ends well in the Chiltern Hills.

When I arrived back at Hambledon I searched every pocket, every nook and every cranny of my rucksack but could not find my car keys. I went to the next door pub and asked if they had been handed in. They hadn't.

I phoned the winery where I had stopped for lunch. They had a look but couldn't see them.

I phoned home and was about to arrange for a courier to drive the spare set to me at the cost of £50, when I had a moment of soul searching. I could remember taking my coat off and putting it in my rucksack, but I could only vaguely remember where that was along the route. So I set off in pursuit of my keys, before it got dark. I approached the tree stump which I thought I'd put my rucksack on when taking my coat off. There on the ground were my KEYS. It added an extra 3 miles on to the walk, but it was worth it in the end. The moral to the story is use the zip-up pocket inside your rucksack, designed especially for keys and don't get distracted, no matter how much you need the toilet.