Pete's Walks - Dunstable Downs and Markyate (page 2 of 4)
Valley Road dropped down into a valley (appropriately enough!), where I took a footpath on the left. This followed a hedge along the valley bottom, eventually passing Studham School on my left and then reaching Studham Common. I continued ahead on a grassy track for a short distance before taking a path forking right up into the trees and bushes that cover this section of the common. Across one of the two minor roads that divide the common into three, I carried on along a path at the edge of the common which went gently downhill on my left. This section of the common was grassland, heavily dotted with the whites, yellows and purples of various wildflowers. I even saw a couple of Common Spotted Orchids here. Across the next minor road, it was noticeable that the grass was longer in this most easterly section of the common and and there seemed to be far fewer flowers.
The path from Valley Road to Studham Common
The path in the westernmost third of Studham Common
The middle section of Studham Common
The easternmost section of Studham Common
Looking back across the common to Studham
On reaching the corner of the common, I turned right along a path beside a left hand hedge row, which led on to the edge of Great Bradwin's Wood. Here a path went left into the wood, where I spotted numerous Foxgloves. Further on, the path joined a surfaced track through what was now Gravelpit Wood, where I spotted some Creeping Cinquefoil. The track continued on past Beechwood Home Farm, where I saw my second herd of goats of the day, in the field on my right. At a track crossroad I turned left, the track soon descending beside another part of Gravelpit Wood and then rising uphill to reach the end of the surfaced section of Roe End Lane.
The path from Studham Common approaching Great Bradwin's Wood
Great Bradwin's Wood
Great Bradwin's Wood
Gravelpit Wood
The track past Beechwood Home Farm, approaching the track crossroads where I turned left
The track from Beechwood Home Farm to Roe End
The track from Beechwood Home Farm to Roe End
I followed the lane right, through the hamlet of Roe End, then turned left onto a footpath which started shortly after I passed Roe End Farm. The path followed a hedgerow on my right, with a corn field between me and Roe End Farm on my left. After some distance I went through a gate in the hedge, from where I continued on the leftmost of two paths, following the line of what was initially an intermittent hedge. This angled gently down the hillside, with Markyate soon clearly in view ahead. After several hundred yards, the path reached the edge of the village, where it turned left and dropped downhill to reach Buckwood Road.
The path from Roe End to Markyate
The path from Roe End to Markyate
The path from Roe End to Markyate