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After admiring the views from the top of Whiteleaf Hill, I left the Ridgeway path and followed a bridleway that ran just inside the edge of a wood with a field on my right. On eventually reaching a point by the next field corner, I turned right, still just inside the wood and close to the same field. After a short distance I turned left, on a good path between Sergeant's Wood on my left and a field of what I think was Flax on my right. Again I had to turn right along the far edge of the field. I then had to pass through a garden to reach a road, seeing a female Muntjac on a lawn as I did so. I turned left along the road for maybe a quarter of a mile, before taking a path on the right, again between a wood on my left and a field of Flax. I then entereed the wood, and turned left, following a broad bridleway through the trees to reach the hamlet of Parslow's Hillock.
Path beside Sergeant's Wood
The path to Parslow's Hillock
I took Lily Bottom Lane, starting next to the famous Pink and Lily pub, and then bore left into Monkton Wood where I immediately spotted what turned out to be a Riband Wave moth. There was a lengthy section of walking through beech trees, with paddoks or meadows close by on my right, before I turned left and followed a path beside a fence through the wood. Here I spotted what I'm fairly sure was a White Admiral butterfly, but it gave me no chance to take a photo. After going diagonally over a crossroads, I followed another woodland path to reach the village of Hampden Common by its Cricket ground.
Lily Bottom Lane
The path through Monkton Wood, heading towards Hampden Common
Path across the crossroads beyond Monkton Wood, close to the cricket ground at Hampden Common
From Hampden Common I continued along a very pleasant path to Great Hampden, reaching it by the churchyard. As I passed in front of Hampden House, I managed to trip up and fall quite heavily, the first time I've ever done so on any of these walks, as far as I can remember. I had my camera in my hand at the time and put most of my weight on it as I landed, but apart from some mud embedded in a couple of places it seems to have survived the experience. My own fault, of course, I should have been looking where I was going instead of thinking about where I could best photograph the house and its Ha-ha.
The path from Hampden Common to Great Hampden
The path from Hampden Common to Great Hampden - lots of lovely Field Pansies here
Approaching Great Hampden church
Not a very good shot of the Ha-ha at Hampden house
Hampden House
My route continued on through Lady Hampden's Wood, now following part of the Chiltern Way, and then through a large cornfield to reach a minor road (the one I'd crossed near Chequers earlier) running through the valley of Hampden Bottom. On the other side, a path ran gently up the other side of the valley through a narrow woodland strip called Coach Hedgerow. I then crossed a small corn field and a meadow to reach a carved wooden seat by a wood, my lunch spot. As well as the usual fine view back over Hampden Bottom, I saw several Ringlet and Marbled White Butterflies as I ate, and there were more Pyramidal Orchids in the long grass beside me.
The path through Lady Hampden's Wood
The path across Hampden Bottom
The path through Coach Hedgerow
Path from Coach Hedgerow towards Little Hampden (my lunch spot was where the path meets the trees)
I continued on the short distance to Little Hampden, turning left along the only lane to its termination by the Rising Sun pub. A long bridleway then went half-left through more wood, eventually descending to another valley bottom before turning half right and going up the other side of the valley. At the top of the hillside, I turned left, the path soon becoming a surfaced track leading into the isolated hamlet of Dunsmore.
Bridleway from Little Hampden towards Dunsmore
Track leading into Dunsmore
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