Dunstable Downs and Ivinghoe Beacon

Saturday 22nd April 2023

I love woodland flowers so every spring I am keen to get out for a walk as often as possible and last April, despite an overcast weather forecast, I was determined to go for a walk. Having considered the Peak District I decided to head south instead to the Chilterns, which I had not visited for a couple of years and after a quick look around the OS Maps app I found a walk entitled ‘Dunstable Down – Ashridge Beacon Loop’ that seemed a good choice, mainly because the starting point was not far from the M1 motorway. I parked at the National Trust property of Dunstable Downs which sits on the northern edge of the Chiltern escarpment and so should have provided me with extensive views but fog prevented that and initially I ignored my walk to explore the downs wandering north over grasslands decorated with cowslip in amongst grass that glistened with water droplets. Cowslip dominate these chalk escarpments at this time of the year so this was not the only time I would see these small yellow flowers, but they were a welcome sight before I’d even started my walk. After rounding the northern tip of Dunstable Downs I returned to the visitor centre and finally began the prescribed walk as shown on the OS Maps app, which sent me along the top of the escarpment following the route of the Icknield Way Trail.

As the fog slowly began to clear I moved away from the escarpment and along a muddy path, ignoring the point where the Icknield Way Trail turned left so I could keep straight ahead and reach the B4540 road, soon rejoining the trial, which had diverted to visit Whipsnade Tree Cathedral, and I wish I had seen that now. Instead I obeyed the app and headed down Studham Lane and around Whipsnade Zoo, which I wasn’t interested in, but on the other side of the path I was delighted to find young bluebells. I hadn’t been hopeful to find bluebells on this walk and most were still in bud, but it was great to see bluebells for the first time this year. The path around Whipsnade Zoo eventually brought me to Whipsnade Park Golf Club, which I crossed as quickly as possible to avoid the dangers inherent in such places. My route continued to follow the Icknield Way Trail through the village of Dagnall and along Hog Hall Lane slowly climbing until I reached the National Trust’s Ashridge Estate where I joined the route of the Ashridge Estate boundary trail, which I had done in 2021. Soon, I was confronted by the gorgeous smell of wild garlic as I descended steeply into the Coombe, though foul smelling dog’s mercury became more dominant lower down and later the walk continued past many other woodland flowers that delighted me, including celandines and violets, until eventually I emerged onto the grassy Ivinghoe Hills.

I now seriously considered turning into south the heart of the Ashridge Estate and abandoning the prescribed walk to see more wildflowers, but eventually I kept to the route passing many cowslips while heading up to Ivinghoe Beacon where the Ridgeway trail ends. With many people at the viewpoint I immediately turned east to head back down the hill and towards Dunstable on a bridleway beside a tall fence that seemed to be protecting only a grassy field. On reaching a road I headed back into the village of Dagnall and my outward route where the walk on the OS Map app would have had me retrace my steps across the golf course and around Whipsnade Zoo. Since I didn’t want to do that, when I reached Dagnall I turned left onto Dunstable Road to head straight back, but soon I found that this was not a good idea as it is a busy road and there was nowhere to walk away from the oncoming cars. However, I pinned my safety on access land not far ahead where a lion has been marked out in white chalk on the side of the hill, but when I got there I found tall metal fences barring me from entering the access land so I had to keep going beside the dangerous road. Eventually, after turning right at a junction, I was finally able to enter the access land of Dunstable Downs and slowly climb the escarpment in a groove past many beautiful cowslips until I finally returned to my car after a good walk through the Chiltern Hills.