Pete's Walks - Chenies, Chipperfield Common, Ley Hill (page 2 of 5)
I followed a path through the churchyard (going left of the church) to a stile (I think there was both a stile and a gate), and continued northwards across a very large open pasture, with a few cattle to my right. I was now briefly on the route of the Chiltern Way, and so I remembered the good views northwest from here to the section of the Chess Valley I'd just walked and beyond. On the far side of the pasture I crossed a drive and left the Chiltern Way (but not before seeing that the 'stone circle' was still in the gardens of the house just to the left). The new path led between fences, with Sandland Wood on my left, and then followed a right-hand hedgerow through a series of paddocks or meadows to reach the village of Sarratt. I'd not been to Sarratt before (apart from the satellite hamlet of Church End), but had read a bit about it (I think it featured in the Chiltern Society magazine fairly recently) and was looking forward to seeing it. I wasn't disappointed, it did appear to be a pleasant village with a very large green and a sizable duck pond.
The Chiltern Way, immediately north of Sarratt church
View northwards to the Chess Valley, from just north of Sarratt Church
The path past Sanfield Wood, heading northeast to Sarratt
The path to Sarratt
Sarratt
Duck Pond in Sarratt
Having followed a road a short distance right, I turned left on a path going northeast. This followed a drive or road to a sports field, then continued between garden fences and a tall hedgerow on the right with the car park for the playing fields on the far side. Further on I passed a plantation of Christmas trees on my right. The path then followed a right-hand hedge downhill through a meadow to reach Bottom Lane, by a junction. I took the lane straight ahead, which ran through Commonwood Common (which would probably be better named Commonwood Wood!)
The path north from Sarratt
The path north from Sarratt
The path north from Sarratt, nearing Commonwood Common
The lane through Commonwood Common
At the northern edge of the wood, I reached a junction where I continued northwards through the village of Commonwood. When the road turned right, I carried straight on along a public byway. When this turned left, a path (clearly recently resurfaced) went on northwards between fences, and then between a fence and a tall hedge on the right. The path ended when it reached a bridleway running along the edge of Chipperfield Common (again more a wood than a common!), close to Apostles Pond (named after 12 Lime trees that were planted round the pond in 1714).
The road north through Commonwood
The path from Commonwood to Chipperfield Common
The path approaching Chipperfield Common
Apostles Pond, Chipperfield Common