Bluebells in the Chilterns

Monday 6th May 2019

During the May Day weekend in 2017 I made my first visit to the Chiltern Hills, which I loved so much I came back the week after and the following Easter I came back for a whole week to finish the Ridgeway trail. I still have a lot of affection for the Chiltern Hills so on the May Day Bank Holiday Monday last year I eagerly returned to Wendover, which had been the scene of my first visit to the area. However, I didn’t have a plan for the walk so initially I just copied the route I had taken two years previously walking along the Ridgeway on the Heron Path beside a crystal clear stream gently climbing out of Wendover and up to the Chiltern escarpment along the wide track of Hogtrough Lane. On entering the Wendover Woods the gradient steepened, though with no sign of bluebells at this point, but I knew from my previous visit that I just had to be patient and as I neared the top of Cock’s Hill the bluebells began to appear. The hot weather over the Easter weekend appeared to have stressed the bluebells so that even at this early date many of them had already started to go to seed. It was still great to see so many examples of this fabulous flower that produces gorgeous displays and carpets many of our ancient woods in a sea of blue flowers that never fails to enliven the spirit.

After crossing a road I cut a corner rather than sticking to the Ridgeway and was rewarded by another gorgeous display of bluebells that were significantly more dense than those I had seen earlier. However, this treat was short-lived as the Ridgeway then crosses two roads with a couple of cow-filled fields in between, but then it took me into a tremendous display of bluebells in Pavis Wood. There were bluebells everywhere I looked with extensive coverings that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see and was more than enough to satisfy my desire for another year. When I had started the walk there were blue skies overhead, which was a surprise as it was forecast to be cold and overcast, but the sunshine was welcome until before too long the promised, poor weather appeared so by the time I reached the bluebells there were dull skies overhead, which was a shame as the bluebells would have looked so much better through dappled sunlight. It was still lovely to walk through the stunning displays of bluebells in Pavis Wood and with nowhere planned to go I lingered in the area soaking up the sights and smells while slowly making my way along the path.

When the Ridgeway reached a road I parted company with it and turned north to stay in the woodland, but as I began to descend the escarpment the bluebells disappeared. I was not too bothered by this and explored Grove Wood heading into Stubbing’s Wood taking any path that looked interesting just so I could see where it went. When I reached the exit of the wood I didn’t want to leave so I turned back to prolong the delights even longer and eventually reached the northern tip of the wood where I had to turn around and circled back through the wood finally leaving to walk along some lovely byways. These wooded lanes are part of what makes the Chilterns so delightful and are great for walking even if they are not in a wood, and this time of the year they were full of wild flowers. These lanes brought me to the foot of Aston Hill where a deeply grooved path led me steeply uphill until eventually I reached the top of the hill and entered the complex visitor attraction of Wendover Woods. The main car park was very crowded, which did not make me very comfortable, so once I had decided on the right direction to go I quickly headed away from the bank holiday crowds.

Following a path marked “footpath only – no cycles” I headed off through woods that seemed full of people with the shouts of children spoiling the beautiful scenery. After a while of blindly following this path I wasn’t sure where I was or where this path was leading me, though at a guess, looking at the map, I assume I was on the Firecrest Trail, or close to it, until at some point I came off the trail to continue heading south and eventually I found myself at the Hale on the Icknield Way. Following the road and trail back towards Wendover I passed a lot of cow parsley scattered beside the road that added to the delight as the walk finally came to an end and eventually I was back where I had started. This was a great bank holiday walk through the delightful woods of the Chilterns where I saw many lovely wild flowers, and although there had been a lot of undulation on the walk, which had been somewhat exhausting, it was very satisfying. I had seen a lot of bluebells two days previously while walking through the Charnwood Forest in better weather, but as good as they are, there is nowhere in Leicestershire that has as extensive a display of bluebells as can be seen in the Chiltern Hills. I know I will be returning again this year.

St Cuthbert’s Way to Wooler

Saturday 27th April 2019

Ten years after starting the Pennine Way, last Easter I finally managed to complete the full course of this most definitive long distance trail in Britain and I was in the small village of Kirk Yetholm, just a mile or two from the border between England and Scotland. On the last day of my holiday I now turned my attention to heading home, but there is no bus service from Kirk Yetholm directly to a railway station so I would have needed to change buses in Kelso, however an alternative that would enable me to get a walk in first was to head towards a place that does have a bus service to the nearest railway station. Fortunately there is a long distance trail called St. Cuthbert’s Way that follows a sixty-two mile route between Montrose Abbey, where St Cuthbert began his religious life, and Lindisfarne on Holy Island, where he was initially buried. It passes through Kirk Yetholm and on its third day crosses the border to reach the small town of Wooler in Northumberland where there is a bus service to Berwick-upon-Tweed. Therefore the morning after I had come down off the Cheviot Hills on the Pennine Way I retraced my steps back along the trail climbing all the way up to the border. By the time I reached the English border I was exhausted, but still amused to see the sign that proclaims “Welcome to England” with the sign in the opposite direction proclaiming “Welcome to Scotland”.

Waving goodbye to Scotland I strode into England slowly descending into a shallow valley under grey skies that, like the forecast, promised rain, which had prompted me to put on my waterproofs, but what rain ultimately came was light and didn’t last very long. On reaching the Elsdon Burn a farmer’s road enabled me to maintain a fast pace while the promised rain fell, but I was still able to appreciate the beauty of this quiet valley where gorse bushes thick with yellow flowers decorated the surroundings. Soon I turned into the spectacular College Valley that is well-known for its wild beauty and tranquillity, so I was disappointed that I would not be spending more time in the valley exploring its delights. I crossed the College Burn near Hethpool Mill where the gorse beside the river produced a lovely scene, but I had to turn my back on that beauty and continue east passing a stream in a shallow wooded gorge that had me in rapturous delight while young bluebells decorated the far bank. The terrain now deteriorated as the College Burn swung north and I climbed over the low grassy hillside passing between West Hill and Easter Tor while vast heather moorland covered the slopes to my right.

When I glanced at my map I realised St Cuthbert’s Way was about to head steeply uphill into the moorland so with grim foreboding I turned right and toiled up onto the heather moor. This was a very depressing place as it is clearly managed for grouse shooting which produces a monoculture environment of heather where cowardly men with big guns hide behind a grouse butt from small birds. I was in no mood to linger so I hurried across the moor without taking any pictures and eventually reached the far side descending into the valley beside Humbleton Burn not far from the town of Wooler, however St Cuthbert’s Way had other plans. Rather than turning left towards Wooler I turned right to go up to the top of the wooded Kenterdale Hill before finally heading down into the small market town. This was a varied little walk with a moorland crossing that was a little too reminiscent of the Pennines, but the earlier valley walks were delightful and the final descent into Wooler was a pleasant end to the walk. After a week’s walking along the Pennine Way I was rather tired so I was glad that the walking was now coming to an end as I strolled into Wooler to catch a bus that would begin my journey home.