Pete's Walks - Chenies, Ley Hill, Chipperfield Common (page 3 of 5)
I turned left and followed the road gradually up Flaunden Hill. At the top of the incline the road bent right into the village of Flaunden, and I saw a Green Dragon peering over a hedgerow (obviously in the garden of the Green Dragon Pub). I passed the Victorian church (built to replace the flood-prone one in the Chess valley I'd passed earlier), and continued along the road through the village to a crossroads. Here I went straight on, and within a quarter of a mile or so I left the village behind. A couple were walking a little way ahead of me, and I would pass them a couple of times further on. At the end of the lane at a T-junction, a path continued onwards through Lower Plantation (where I saw some Small Balsam and a Southern Hawker dragonfly). The path led on to the appropriately named Holly Hedges Lane, where I turned right.
The road up Flaunden Hill to Flaunden
I was disappointed that the map didn't say 'Here be dragons' at this point!
Flaunden church (a Victorian replacement for the original church, whose site in the Chess valley I'd passed earlier)
The lane going east through Flaunden
The path through Lower Plantation (I'd meet the couple in front of me here again later on in the walk)
The path continuing from Lower Plantation to Holly Hedges Lane
After a short distance I turned left onto a broad bridleway through Woodman's Wood. This curved round in a semi-circle through the trees to reach a bridleway junction where I turned left (I could have got here quicker by continuing a little further down the lane and taking the next bridleway). The bridleway was soon running just inside the edge of the wood, and on leaving the wood it ran beside a left-hand hedge for a few hundred yards to reach the village of Belsize.
The start of the bridleway through Woodman's Wood
The bridleway through Woodman's Wood
The path through Woodman's Wood
The path from Woodman's Wood to Belsize
Approaching Belsize
I went a few yards left, then turned right on to a track (starting at a road junction) heading along the southern edge of the wooded Chipperfield Common. There were several dog walkers (including a couple with a pair of lovely 'Damnations') and a few other walkers. After several hundred yards I reached Apostles Pond (named after the 12 trees that once circled it). Here I made use of one of the convenient benches to have my lunch stop (it was only 12.20pm, but I'd started walking an hour earlier than usual). I saw many Common Blue Damselflies here plus a couple of Large Reds.
The start of the bridleway along the southern edge of Chipperfield Common
The bridleway along the southern edge of Chipperfield Common
The bridleway along the southern edge of Chipperfield Common
Apostles Pond, Chipperfield Common - there are a few benches here, making it a convenient point to stop for lunch