Pete's Walks - Kensworth and Ivinghoe (page 2 of 5)
I did not get as far as the castle today, turning left along a path that led down through trees and then alongside fences to the road through Totternhoe, almost opposite the Cross Keys pub. I turned left for a few yards, then took a path on the right, which soon ran through a small meadow. Across a small bridge over a stream, I had to shoo a cow out of the way as I turned left for a few yards through a small pasture. Over a stile, the path followed a tall hedge on my left, then went half-left across a cornfield, before following the right edge of another cornfield to reach the end of School Lane, Eaton Bray.
The path down to Totternhoe
The small meadow, Totternhoe
The path from Totternhoe to Eaton Bray (Ivinghoe Beacon in the distance)
The path from Totternhoe to Eaton Bray
The path from Totternhoe to Eaton Bray
I followed School Lane to the main road through the village, where I crossed over and continued down The Meads. A path continued from its end, along the left edge of another corn field - somewhere near here I must have passed from Bedfordshire into Buckinghamshire. Across another small stream I turned left, with the ugly fences of some industrial area on my right, then I turned right through a small meadow on the edge of Edlesborough. A hedge-lined track continued past allotments to a residential lane, Cow Lane, where I turned left to reach the main road through the village, opposite a large playing field. Here I turned right, and followed the road for a good distance until it ended at a junction, opposite the prominent Edlesborough Church.
The path from Eaton Bray to Edlesborough (I must have crossed from Beds to Bucks somewhere along here, as the villages are in different counties)
The path continuing between a stream on the left and some small industrial premises
A meadow on the edge of Edlesborough
The main road through Edlesborough
I continued along a lengthy gravel track that started to the left of the churchyard. I could soon see Ivinghoe Beacon, ahead and slightly to the left. The field on my left had already been harvested and ploughed, while there were sheep pastures across the hedgerow on my right. I crossed a bridge over another small stream, and photographed the memorial stone for Bridget Elizabeth Talbot (who campaigned for the nearby Ashridge Estate to be donated to the National Trust). The gravel track continued on some way further, to bring me to the road into Ivinghoe Aston.
Edlesborough church
The long gravel track from Edlesborough church to Ivinghoe Aston
Memorial stone for Bridget Elizabeth Talbot (who, amongst other accomplishments, campaigned for the Ashridge Estate to be donated to the National Trust, something that I for one am very grateful for) - her ashes were scattered at this spot, by a footbridge over a small stream. I looked out for this memorial stone, having read about it in the Chiltern Society magazine.
The track continuing towards Ivinghoe Aston
Looking back towards Edlesborough church, Dunstable Downs in the background