Pete's Walks- Bledlow and Radnage (page 2 of 4)
If you are considering walking this route yourself, please see my disclaimer. You may also like to see these notes about the maps and GPX files.
When I reached a path junction towards the bottom of the hill, I turned right onto a bridleway, Initially this ran through an area of grass and bushes, where I saw lots of lovely yellow Common Toadflax, one of my favourite wildflowers. Further on, the bridleway ran along the right edge of a very large ploughed field. In the corner of this field I turned left, following the hedge on my right. Shortly after the hedge turned right, I reached the surfaced drive of Lodge Hill Farm. I turned right here, along the drive, until I reached a waymark sign indicating where a footpath went left.
The bridleway across the eastern side of Lodge Hill
The bridleway across the eastern side of Lodge Hill - I would turn left along the hedgerow to reach Lodge Hill Farm
The bridleway after I turned left
I'm not sure that this path matches what is shown on the OS map, but it was easy enough to follow it as it ran beside a fence-line on my right (another path went right just after I started along it). After a few hundred yards, at the far end of a small line of conifers, the path turned right through a metal kissing-gate and went steeply uphill through an empty meadow or pasture - this was the steepest bit of the walk. In a corner of the field near the top of the slope, I went through another metal-kissing gate and followed a hedge on my left through a much smaller field, the slope now levelling off. In the field corner I went over a stile and turned left onto another path (I rejoined the Chiltern Way here, which I would be following for the next mile or so to just after Radnage church). The path soon joined a drive, and led past houses to the road through Bledlow Ridge.
The path from Lodge Hill Farm
The path from Lodge Hill Farm
The path from Lodge Hill Farm, now going steeply uphill towards Bledlow Ridge
Looking back, Lodge Hill is on the left
The path now approaching Bledlow Ridge
The path into Bledlow Ridge, after I turned left (onto another section of the Chiltern Way)
I crossed the road and continued down another footpath. This ran between a fence on my left and a tall hedge on my right. After a while there were views to my left along a valley, part of the parish of Radnage. At a path junction I took the right fork, following the path through some trees and then starting to descend steeply through an area of rough grass and wildflowers. The path turned right to go through a narrow gap through a wood (I met a party of walkers coming the other way here) to reach a gate (there was a nice view of a scrub-covered hillside here).
Near the start of the path from Bledlow Ridge, going southwest
Looking left, over part of the parish of Radnage
The path continuing through trees
The path now descending steeply
The path now descending steeply
Looking right from the path