The Ridgeway: Wendover Woods

Saturday 29th April 2017

All my walks seem to be either to the north or west of where I live, so bearing this in mind I have been looking south to see if there are any walks there that may be interesting. However, it has to be said that the best walking in Britain is not in the south but in the north, or west, in Wales, the Lake District or in Scotland as these are the only places in Britain that contain mountains. Eventually my eye turned towards the Ridgeway National Trail which runs through the Chiltern Hills and the North Wessex Downs not far from London, so I headed there on the May Day Bank Holiday weekend last year when the bluebells that are renowned in the Chiltern Hills should be in bloom. I drove down the M1 motorway and across to the town of Wendover where I parked and set off along a walk that I had found on the chilternsaonb.org website titled “Views of the Vale Walks”. These walks are based around the Ridgeway and it immediately took me along the trail out of the town on a lovely path that was lined with cow parsley following a stream uphill. Even though it was overcast with a lingering chill from a recent cold-snap, it was still great to be outdoors walking through the great British countryside.

The trail soon climbed towards the Wendover Woods and upon entering the woods I left the clear track to take a narrower path up through the woodland past gorgeous wild flowers and it wasn’t long before the eagerly awaited bluebells began to appear. As I climbed higher and higher the bluebells grew thicker and more numerous constantly thrilling me even though without the sun shining they were not being seen at their best. I had been afraid that the bluebells would not be out yet, but I was relieved to see many of them in bloom although many were still in bud so I hoped there was still several weeks of bluebell watching to go. However, with hindsight I now know that wasn’t the case as very hot weather soon followed this walk sending most of the bluebells to seed very quickly and shortening the season considerably. The very special sight of bluebells covering an English wood is notoriously short-lived and must be enjoyed whenever it can be seen. I was rather disappointed with the display in the Wendover Woods which was rather sparse of bluebells especially after all that I had heard about the magnificent bluebell displays in the Chiltern Hills.

Other wild flowers compensated for the reduced bluebells with wood anemones particularly enthusing me until eventually I descended into a deeply sunken green lane that looked ancient. The route of the Ridgeway is based on old trackways including the Ridgeway itself, which at five thousand years old is possibly the oldest road in Britain, if not in Europe. This old road that I was on is part of the Icknield Way, which extends from the Ridgeway all the way to the Norfolk coast, and must be almost as old. It was spooky standing on a track that has been used by people for thousands of years and seen the traffic of everybody from the ancient Celts and Romans to the Anglo-Saxons and, of course, modern long-distance walkers. At this point the Ridgeway turns right, but I turned left for forty metres before turning right to climb uphill. The directions at this point were very confusing and seemed to be leading me round in circles. In the end I struck to my own route and found my way onto the “marked horse track” that I should have been on and this took me all the way to the main car park for Wendover Woods.

There were no bluebells in this area so I quickly passed through and turned towards the south following the directions that took me along the edge of the escarpment looking out over the Vale of Aylesbury. The clear track took me around the remains of Boddington Hill Fort slowly descending past some lovely gardens, one full of cowslips, and eventually brought me back to Wendover. After passing through the town I started the second walk on the leaflet from the chilternsaonb.org website taking a path south past some lovely forget-me-nots, across a couple of fields and up a lane. I got really confused with the directions at this point and got completely lost. I’ve noticed that the directions on the almost identical leaflet from the nationaltrail.co.uk website are different and possibly better, and might not have led me astray. I kept to the path I was on for a kilometre gradually gaining height through woodland until I reached a clear track with bluebells on the other side. Turning right I followed this track past a large enclosure and into what I now know is the National Trust woodland of Coombe Hill. Bluebells were now appearing in sparse clumps, but these did little to reassure me as I was literally wandering aimlessly.

I had forgotten to take a map with me and all I had was the helpless leaflet, so I had no idea where I was or where I should be going. I knew I was heading in a north-westerly direction and I trusted that if I continued on that heading I would eventually reach the Ridgeway on the edge of the escarpment. It was an interesting feeling knowing that I didn’t have a map and blindly following a path, but I was not worried and eventually I did come out of the woodland and back into civilisation. A sign proclaimed that I was in the Coombe Hill National Trust property, which was actually a bit of a surprise as it was Coombe Hill that I was supposed to have been heading for so despite feeling completely lost I had actually not gone too far off the path. Coming out of the wood onto the edge of the escarpment I found extensive views over the valley and sitting at the top of the hill was a tall monument to the men of Buckinghamshire who had lost their lives in the Boer War. This is Coombe Hill, one of the highest points in the Chiltern Hills. I was now back on the Ridgeway so turning around I headed along the trail and back into Wendover. Wildflowers accompanied me through the chalk grasslands with the cowslips proving to be irresistible and prompted me to take some pictures.

On my first walk in the Chilterns my interested had been wetted. I had never done any walking in this area before and I was now keen to come back and I even had an idea of walking the whole length of the Ridgeway National Trail. It had stayed overcast all day but it had warmed up enough to enable me to enjoy the walk. I had come to look at bluebells but I had not been too impressed as I have seen better displays in Leicestershire. It was the escarpment on the northern edge of the Chiltern Hills that most captured my interest and promised to draw me back to this fabulous area.