Pete's Walks - Old Amersham and Beaconsfield (page 3 of 4)
I followed the path into the wood, soon leaving the garden fences behind. At a path junction I turned right, now heading south roughly following the boundary between Netherlands Wood and Brown's Wood. On reaching garden fences once more, I went on ahead for a few yards before taking a path going left. I was soon in a pleasant area of beech wood (where the path on the ground seemed to stay a little left of the white arrows on the trees). On leaving Brown's Wood, the path followed a hedge on the left past a green corn field (I spotted my first Small Tortoiseshell butterfly of 2012 here). In the field corner I went a few yards left then turned right along the drive from a large house called The Grange. By the lodge at the end (or start) of the drive I went through a gate to reach the A335 (the main road south from Amersham to Beaconsfield).
The path going south from Netherlands Wood to Brown's Wood
The path going east through Brown's Wood
The path from Brown's Wood continuing eastwards
The drive from The Grange leading to the A355
Safely across the road, a path led on between fences through a wood called Birchen Spring. I continued across an empty paddock or meadow, then following the path gently downhill through Blue Close Wood (where I spotted my first Wood Sorrel of the year). At the bottom of a small valley I turned left along a bridleway, which immediately left Blue Close Wood and ran between a hedge and a fence (I spotted a Jay a couple of times here) to reach Bottom Wood.
The path through Birchen Spring
The path between Birchen Spring and Blue Close Wood
The path in Blue Close Wood
The bridleway from Blue Close Wood to Bottom Wood
The bridleway continued through Bottom Wood, and then at a junction I turned right on another bridleway that headed uphill and out of the wood, continuing between hedgerows for about a quarter of a mile to reach Bottom Lane. Here I turned left and followed the lane to a sharp right bend, where I went straight on into the extensive Hodgemoor Woods (where I soon saw some more Wood Sorrel).
The bridleway going east to leave Bottom Wood
The Bridleway going east from Bottom Wood to Bottom Lane
The Bridleway going east from Bottom Wood to Bottom Lane
Entering Hodgemoor Woods from Bottom Lane
The path almost immediately forked slightly right from a track going on ahead, then at a path junction I turned right. After having my lunch sat on a convenient log, I continued south-eastwards along this path until I reached another bend in Bottom Lane. Here the path continued round two sides of a paddock and passed through a stable yard, continuing north-eastwards just inside another part of Hodgemoor Woods. Here I was lucky enough to see and photograph an Orange Underwing moth, only the second one I've identified (the first was on the edge of Hangar Wood near Fingest).
The path through Hodgemoor Woods, approaching the lane again
The path going northeast just inside the edge of Hodgemoor Woods
Orange Underwing moth, Hodgemoor Woods