A full day, starting at Marlow Common

As David and Alison are joining The Bottom Line on New Years Day at The Dog and Badger, we thought it might be good  to practice together before the event and arranged it for early Saturday afternoon. That just about gave the four of us time or a decent-length walk nearby.

I choose one just under 7 miles long, heading North from Marlow Common from The Handbook of Chiltern Hill Walks that we've had for ages - some of the walks are annotated with 1987 dates. It's not actually a great book - the descriptions are sometimes hard to follow and not much effort was spent on design. However, it certainly has hills.

After a 'shall we, shan't we' conversation prompted by some sleet, we went ahead ahead and had a lovely walk, albeit with some gratuitous ascent and descent.

We got back in time for an excellent practice. It was clearly a long day because I fell asleep sitting up in an armchair in the evening.

View From Marlow Common in a larger map

Bloom Wood & Cold Moorholm before dark

The forecast was for sun today and showers tomorrow. We had a Bottom Line practice this morning, so had to hurry to fit in a walk today. We needed a nearby shortish walk and chose one that we've done many times. We originally found it in the Rambling for Pleasure in East Berkshire book that our friend Liz gave us when we first moved to Marlow Bottom.

We chose this walk partly because it started close to Phil Bowditch butchers where we were able to buy salt beef (a family favourite) last week. We went there before the walk to stock up with more for the freezer and got a very good deal! Guess what we're eating on Xmas Eve.

We did the walk in the opposite direction to the one recommended by the book, and at a cracking pace, to avoid getting caught in the wood in the dark. As it happened, we got back to the car just  in time.


View Bloom Wood & Coldmoor Holm in a larger map

A late start for West Wycombe and Hughenden

We'd been to London on Saturday to see the excellent One Man, Two Guvnors and so had had a late night and a lie-in. We therefore started this walk later than we had planned.

Another excellent route from Adventurous Pub Walks in the Chilterns but, in this case, without a pub visit. We started from Bradenham, went up to and along the West Wycombe ridge to the village, up to Downley, down to Hughenden (resisting the temptation of the tea room) and then through the woods on a very muddy bridleway back to the car. I wouldn't like to walk along that bridleway after a wet autumn.

View Bradenham and West Wycombe in a larger map

The Stonor Valley in the sunshine

Alison had bought the Adventurous Pub Walks in the Chilterns book for David as an anniversary present so we had two copies for this walk. As the book says, at around seven miles, this walk around the Stonor Valley is one of its shortest, but it made up for it with ascents and descents.

Although we'd had a rain shower when driving to the start, we had glorious sunshine for most of the walk enabling us to make the most of the typical Chiltern views, with plenty of Red Kites on show.

Nice soup/sandwich lunch at The Crown at Pishill. Great to see a good selection of beers on draught: Rebellion, Brakspear and West Berkshire Brewery. Even better to sample a couple of excellent pints from WBB (the first one must have evaporated).

View The Stonor Valley in a larger map

A new route in the Hambleden Valley

Another walk from our new book that took us on unfamiliar paths in a very familiar area. It started at Hambleden, where we were surprised to see that the Stag & Huntsman closed for refurbishment and covered in scaffolding

After a later than usual and misty start, the sun came out to reveal lovely views through the trees over the valley.

We had a late lunch at The Frog at Skirmett (Skirmett's The Frog - geddit). It took over half an hour to bring us a couple of baguettes, so it was even later than it might have been. The baguettes were large and good, which is what you'd expect for £6.95 each. Well kept Rebellion.

Frieth

Skirmett

View The Hambleden Valley in a larger map

Parakeets and fungi at Burnham Beeches

At this time of year, we usually walk from Littleworth Common to Burnham Beeches using a route of that Rosie devised.. This year we took a longer route from our new book. At over 9 miles, this was longer and took more advantage of the maze of paths amongst the trees.

Not only did we see a some interesting fungi but, near the start of the walk, there were lots of green parakeets.


View Littleworth Common ad Burnham Beeches in a larger map

Fingest, Ibstone and Turville with autumn colour and three pubs

This was another walk from our new book that covered a lot of familiar ground, but joined it together nicely for this walk with David and Alison. It had the extra advantage of having three pubs on the route.

With our fairly early start, we were too early for the Fox at Ibstone, but only just in time to get a table (as long as we were finished in 45 minutes!) at The Bull & Butcher at Turville. Failing that, we'd have settled for The Chequers at Fingest.

After a 'wish I'd brought a scarf'  start, it brightened up for Rosie to take some nice autumn photos.

View Fingest, Ibstone and Turville in a larger map

Another Saturday morning stroll from home - the A404 round

No weight loss for either of us this week, despite plenty of walking and sensible eating. Boo.

We're planing a longer walk tomorrow, so walked from home again today, heading to Winchbottom. This meant that the walk was focused around the A404, so was rather noisy.  

View A404 round in a larger map

Around Great Hampden - with a book

Our walks in the Chilterns are usually made up by Rosie by looking at a map, often involving a pub half way around. As we've been doing this for more than 25 years, we've covered most of the ground near to us.  I was therefore surprised when Rosie  bought a book of Adventurous Pub Walks in the Chilterns .

As the clocks went back last night, we woke up early and had time to tackle one of those walks today. It was between 9 and 10 , and it took us places we'd never been before - namely Great and Little Hampden. We passed Hampden Hall seat of the 17th Century parliamentarian John Hampden who was a leader of the revolt against tax demands made by Charles I. Our early start had complications though - the pub on the route (The Pink and Lily) had not yet opened when we passed, so we had lunch at home.

The route itself was perfect for autumn - through plenty of woods. However, the sky was grey and we had some drizzle, so photography conditions weren't great.

The John Hampden monument

Spindle berry

Rose

View Around Great Hampden in a larger map

The Marlow Bottom Round - backwards

Rosie had done the three mile walk up and down the valley three times in the week, and me twice, so we were relieved that our Saturday morning visits to the scales showed some progress towards 'normal' weight. However, we realised that we had enough time before Saturday's Bottom Line rehearsal to do a short local walk. So we decided to do 'The Marlow Bottom Round' (the route taken by the Burford School charity walks) from the house. To make a change, we  did the road section first.

View Marlow Bottom Round (backwards) in a larger map

More autumn sunshine - Hughenden Manor and Naphill Common

After our first visit to the scales since our holiday, it was clear that we need to do plenty of walking in before the Xmas excesses. Luckily, Saturday was a lovely sunny day so were we able to to fit in quite a few miles on this lovely route, starting from Hughenden Church.
Unusually, this walk included no pub visit - we even by-passed the tea room at Hughenden Manor.
The map below was traced by Rosie because I forgot to take my phone on the walk.

View Hughenden Manor and Naphill Common in a larger map

Autumn sunshine after a week's excess

We joined David and Alison for this walk around the area of the 1963 Great Train Robbery. After our week in an all-inclusive resort in Turkey, we certainly needed some exercise so we were pleased to have a sunny day to burn a few calories. However, we did stop for lunch (an my first proper beer for a week) at the excellent Stag at Mentmore. We both chose dishes that included chips (mine by accident) - so much for losing some of that holiday weight. Back on the scales for the bad news next week.

View Grove and Mentmore in a larger map

Change of mind from Penn Street

Having decided to start our walk from Penn Street, we had discussed a couple of routes and decided to head North East towards Amersham then West towards Mop End. Having set out on this route, we realised that the only route across A413 was via the embankments. Thankfully, this at Woodrow - before making too much progress in that direction. So we reverted to our other option towards Coleshill.

The weather forecast had indicated a chance of 'light rain showers'. However, the heavens opened when we were half way around. We donned all our wet weather clothes and even sheltered behind a hedge to avoid walking directly into the rain. This didn't last long, and we were soon back to T-shirts.

View Penn Street, Coleshill and Winchmore Hill in a larger map

Ibstone and Northend in the September sunshine

It's hard to find new routes and new paths when you've been walking in the same area for 25 years, but Rosie managed it. This was a lovely Chilterns route with several ascent and descents, made better by the sunshine and there being hardly anyone about. We passed St Nicholas Church at Ibstone (yellow marker on the map), which is tiny and a hotch-potch of styles - including pebble-dash. It dates from the early 12th century but had 'restoration' in 1870. Read more about it here.
Having parked outside The Fox, it was only natural to pop in for a light lunch of well-kept Rebellion beer  and decent home-made soup (but not as good as Rosie's).

View Ibstone and Northend in a larger map

Salthouse and the shingle ridge

Carolyn and Gerry recommended this walk from Salthouse and even supplied the cutting from the Eastern Daily Press. Like them, we found the directions in the cutting less than precise and were glad to have a real map.

Rain was forecast between 10:00 and 13:00. We arrived at the start of the walk just after 10, and light rain duly arrived as we pulled into our parking space. We donned rainwear and headed up hill (yes there are some here) towards the church. It wasn't long before the rain stopped, it brightened up and T-shirts were order of the day. 

The first section of the walk led us to Muckleburgh Hill (only docile cows here) - a good viewpoint for the rest of the route. We descended to the shore line, which has a  beach, a shingle ridge and then  salt marshes.  You can walk along the top of the ridge, but its very hard work so we took the path at the landward side.

Off to lunch at The George at Cley - also recommended! Then off to Cromer for Rosie to have a dip (but not quite a swim) in the sea.

These looked like the beach hut equivalents of council houses

This house used to be The Whalebone Tearooms. We stayed here when we did the Norfolk Coast path pre-kids. The moulding is made of horse knuckle bones.

View Salthouse in a larger map

Fleet Dyke, The River Bure and The Fur and Feathers

After yesterday's coastal walk, it seemed appropriate to do a Broadland walk today. Rosie devised this circuit, starting near South Walsham Broad, heading along Fleet Dyke, South along The River Bure and then back cross-country.  We say lots of Broads cruisers, a few lovely sailing boats (certainly the way to travel here) and several windpumps in various states or repair. A lovely sunny start, but getting cloudier towards the end.

Entirely uncoincidentally, we were close to the Fur and Feathers, the pub attached to The Woodfordes Brewery.  Naturally, a couple of excellent pints were sampled (Rosie was the designated driver).  We also ate there - the portions were very large, especially Dave's Steak & Kidney Pudding. We certainly didn't need any dinner. Recommended.

I had only taken one pair of trousers to The Lake District so had to buy another pair. This holiday, I didn't bring a fleece. I am now the owner of a Woodfordes Brewery fleece.




View Fleet Dyke and The River Bure in a larger map

Happisburgh, Ostend and Ridlington and then a paddle and some vertical exploration

We decided to walk North West along the coast from the Happisburgh and got as far as Ostend, which is a 'Coastal Community'. This seem to be code for 'will be in the sea soon' as coastal erosion takes its toll. We then headed inland towards Ridlington and then back to Happisburgh.

On Sunday, we'd passed a lot of ripe backberries and Rosie had repeatedly wished that we'd brought a box. She'd remembered one today, so we duly picked enough for several pies. Not that we're going to be baking anytime soon.

We passed several fields that had sunflowers planted in a corner or at the end.  Rosie's theory is that they're cover for game birds.

Carolyn and Gerry joined us for the afternoon that involved a swim for Rosie and Gerry (who pronounced the water 'boiling'), a visit to the Happisburgh Village Fete (didn't take long!) and a climb to the top of Happisburgh Lighthouse.

The lighthouse is the only privately run one in England, and is managed by a local trust that recently raised £25K for a re-paint. Although parts of Happisburgh are falling into the sea, the lighthouse is thought to be safe for 100 years yet.

View Happisburgh, Walcott and Ridlington in a larger map


I forgot to track this walk on my phone. Rosie was kind enough to trace it using the Google Maps editor.

Wet underfoot at the North Walsham and Dilham Canal - with added cattle

We're on our annual holiday in Norfolk, staying at a cottage in Happisburgh (pronounced Haisbro), accompanied for the first part of the week by our friend Dave.

It rained on Saturday night, so we should have known better than to choose a walk along the North Walsham and Dilham Canal, with an elevation of around 2 metres above sea level.

A lot of the route was squidgy underfoot. Some of it was ankle deep and wading was unavoidable. The diversion to see the weir was worse than that, and we opted out from that.

As we got close to the end, and were looking forward to putting on dry shoes, the public path crossed an enclosure containing a large number of cows with young calves. Several of the cows were bellowing aggressively. Anyone who's walked with me will know that I'm not a great fan of livestock. There was no way I was going to walk through these cows. Rosie and Dave took no persuading to indulge in a mild trespass and skirt that enclosure. However, it did involve climbing a barbed wire fence that wasn't much fun.


View North Walsham and Dilham Canal in a larger map

Pewsey to Bedwyn - the final stretch of the Kennett and Avon - with a bonus

Although Pewsey and Bedwyn are on the same line, there are no trains between them at the weekend, so we drove to Bedwyn and took a taxi to Pewsey. This was not much more expensive than two single train tickets.

The forecast had been 'dry with white cloud', so the rain that started just as we started walking was not welcome. It didn't last long, but the low cloud lingered for a while, making it a humid morning. we made good progress on this quiet stretch.

The main feature of the morning was the Bruce Tunnel at the very summit of the canal. It's quite short, but has no towpath so walkers follow a public path over it. The original canal boats were horse-drawn - the horses were led over the path and the barges were propelled through the tunnel by the bargeman lying on their backs and 'walking' the barge along with their feet on the roof of the tunnel.

However the highlight of the day was Crofton Pumping Station which was built in 1812 to pump water up to the summit of the canal. It has two steam beam engines, one of which is apparently the world's oldest working beam engine in its original site, The engines are only 'in steam' a few weekends a year and this wouldn't normally have been one. However, a National Geographic film crew was on site working on a documentary,so most of the staff were on duty and both engines were in action. A great site - and a reminder of our many visits to Kew Bridge Steam Museum. You don't need to have young boys with you to enjoy these attractions - but it helps.

This was the final stretch in our project to walk the K&A between Reading and Bath. However, we're hatching a plot to extend to project to include the Avon between Bath and Bristol.




View Pewsey to Bedwyn in a larger map

Familiar ground - Hambleden and Medmenham

We had limited time for our walk with Denise and Robert today, so needed to stay close to home. Rosie had taken a fancy to the menu at The Dog & Badger while we were playing there on Wednesday, so she planned a walk from Hambleden Lock car park that happened to arrive at the D&B at lunchtime. Lunch didn't disappoint - hearty portions with nice chips. Good value and certainly  recommended.

View Hambleden and Medmenham in a larger map

Wendover and Aylesbury Arms of the Grand Union ‎

We had a late start, but we couldn't waste such a lovely day so we decided to continue our 'canals' theme and Rosie put together a walk on the Grand Union canal. There were three distinct parts of the canal:

• the Wendover Arm, which is being restored but which has a lots of overgrown area rich in wildlife
• the main line around Tring reservoirs, which is clearly a major leisure amenity and was bustling
• the Aylesbury Arm, which was narrow and quiet - the top gates of all the locks were single-span rather than than usual twin gates in a V

We'd planned to have lunch at one of the pub marked on the map. Once again, we'd chosen one that is now closed. However, the Bluebell Cafe was next door. We decided to share a cheese baguette and a cake. Both were much larger than we'd expected, and the baguette came with perfect chips. I've had Heston's famed thrice-cooked chips and these were better. Recommended.




View Wendover and Aylesbury Arms of the Grand Union in a larger map

Bath to Pewsey on the Kennet & Avon - a three-day stretch

We'd done the bits of the K&A where the canal follows the railway - these were easy to do in linear day walks using the train. But the two routes diverge at Great Bedwyn, so we needed a different approach and decided to tackle Bath to Pewsey over an extended weekend. We'd initially intended this to be Friday-Sunday, but slipped a day because of heavy showers forecast.

Saturday: Bath to Trowbridge

We drove to Pewsey and took the train Westbury. This turned out to be an HST bound for Paignton. I didn't realise that trains had personal videos screens these days. Changed at Westbury for Bath Spa, located the junction of the K&A with the Avon and followed the towpath. The canal starts with a flight of very deep locks that must be pretty scary for those whose first taste of canal boating starts here. It was a humid day and we had the hint of some drizzle in the morning.
Lunch of pasties at the Claverton Pumping Station, which pumps water from the Avon into the canal using the flow of the river to power the pump. It is very spectacular when operational (not today).
Onto Dundas Aquedect before a diversion to Limpley Stoke for a post-lunch pint, followed by a brief stop at Avoncliff for a well-deserved ice cream.
Accommodation had been hard to find near the canal at Trowbridge and we ended up in a cheap hotel that turned out to be comfortable enough, if somewhat hard to find. Nice Thai dinner at Beijing Palace.

View Bath To Trowbridge in a larger map

Sunday: Trowbridge to Devizes

Took advantage of full English breakfast (but I declined to even try the sausage) and resumed our Eastward path. Reached The Barge Inn at Seend at lunchtime and wished I'd skipped breakfast - the barbecue smelled delicious. I was consoled by a couple of excellent pints of Wadworths (6X and Henrys since you asked).

With loins duly girded, we tackled the Caen Hill flight of 15 locks. This took us an hour or so (with a stop for a cream tea), but takes boaters around four hours. Only a few boats were venturing up or down.

Our accommodation this evening was a Travelodge (it really was hard to find places at short notice). Luckily there was a decent pub close by for dinner.

View Trowbridge To Devices in a larger map

Monday: Devizes to Pewsey

Instead of the Travelodge offering breakfast, they have a built-in Subway outlet! Unfortunately, it was one without orange juice or any of the advertised croissant/muffin/pastry items. Coffee was Ok though.

I'd finished Sunday with a fairly painful blister, so followed Rosie's recommendation and applied some a Compeed plaster. This was a miracle cure - I can't recommend it more highly.

It was a sunny and warm morning - we started at 8:10 in shorts and wearing sun hats and sunglasses. In contrast to Sunday's stretch, it was completely flat - there were no locks at all between Devizes and Pewsey. However, we did get nice views of the 'Pewsey' White Horse. It was interesting to note that there were no 'hire' boats on this stretch at all, just residential ones. Indeed, along the length of the canal, there were very many more residential boats that I'd expected. In this stretch, they must have a very quiet existence. We reached Pewsey in time for a pub lunch and then drove home.


View Devices to Pewsey in a larger map

Butterflies not quite on The Test Way

Rosie and I had not walked near the River Test in Hampshire since our pre-kids walk along the Clarendon Way from Salisbury to Winchester, so we were pleased to join David and Alison in that area today

We took a wrong turning near the start of the walk (see the track below), but this was a lucky mistake. On the 'wrong' path, we saw several interesting butterflies, including White Admiral, Purple Hairstreak, a large Fritillary (probably Silver-Washed) and Marbled White.

The Test is probably the most famous fly fishing river in England and, sure enough, we saw plenty of trout today, notably from the garden of The Mayfly pub. Good lunch there and excellent local Double Drop beer from a brewery in Romsey. It was amusing to be served by a girl who modelled her looks and speech patterns on Tour Guide Barbie from Toy Story.

White Admiral	A family paddling in The Test - could be a scene from a TV show set in the 50's
Lunch stop

View Test Valley in a larger map
Battery in my phone ran out before the end of the walk!

Adelboden day six: not racing to the top

Friday was intended to be the day we got to a couple of summits, including Elsighorn. We were taken by taxi  then cable car to Elsigbach. Not far from the lift station, we came across our first Burnt Orchid - see below. We then started the long ascent.... Long and fast - because of the deadline to get the late afternoon bus back. This was too fast for Rosie, so we decided to bail out and make our own way down. So we re-traced our steps to the cable car, then used the very expensive map we'd bought to find a lovely route back to Adelboden along the side of the valley in the sunshine. The GPS track below includes the cable car descent!

Burnt Orchid

Butterwort

View Elsigbach to Adelboden in a larger map

Adelboden day five: flowers in the mist

Thursday was destined to be a day in the clouds. We all took the long cable car ride to Sillerenbühl, then walked along the Alpine Flower path to Hahnenmosspass. This path has notices each with a picture, name and description of a flower nearby.

We had break for hot chocolate at the lift station at Hahnenmosspass then set off along the ridge in the mist. Usually, this walk goes a fair way along this lovely ridge, admiring the views on both sides. This was certainly not day for views, so we cut the route short and headed for the Berlager station to get the cable car back, but not before we'd been seriously hailed upon.

Naturally, these adventures called for another visit to the cake shop.

The view we didn't see

Salamanders

Adelboden day four: unguided

HF guides get Wednesday off, so we were left to our our devices. Even though rain was expected in the afternoon, we decided to take the long cable car ride to Sillerenbühl and walk down. It started to rain soon after we departed from the top so we duly put on all the clothes we were carrying. It didn't last for long, so we had a more comfortable descent to the valley than we might have had. It was made more comfortable when we came across L'Hotel Des Alpes, which served beer and excellent asparagus soup (ordered after using google to translate the German name).  The sun came out for our walk back along the river, so we rewarded ourselves with large (and expensive) ice cream sundaes back in Adelboden.

Adelboden day three: a beautiful and somewhat scary walk to Oeschinensee

We'd heard a lot about Oeschinensee - the lake that changes colour. Our route to it involved taking the cable car to the plateau walking almost to the lake, then climbing steeply into the rocks above it so that we could 'contour along' above the lake. This involved traversing a foot-and-a-bit-wide path for a mile or so with a drop of several hundred feet immediately on our right. It's what I call a 'slip and die' path. It was a bit scary but a fantastic experience. The lake and surrounding peaks were stunning.
After lunch overlooking the lake, we descended to Elsie's mountain hut for a beer, and then started the tough descent to the lake -  this involved hanging onto metal ropes. A female yodeller accompanied our descent from the top of the cliff. Lovely.
We walked back into Kandersteg for a well-deserved ice cream sundae.

The path starts near the bottom left of this shot

This gives some idea of the drop

View Oeschinensee in a larger map

Adelboden day two : a perfect day in the mountains

Today both groups headed to the top of the local waterfalls - the second highest in Switzerland. The easier group took the gondola up. We joined the harder group that walked to the top. This was a tough climb, and was very exposed in places, but just the sort of thing I come on these holidays for. Lovely weather made for a fantastic ascent.
The harder group split into two for descent. Rosie and Dave took the gondola down, I opted to walk, largely because I am not too keen on dangling in a metal box from a wire.




View Waterfall in a larger map