Pete's Walks- Circular walk from Amersham Old Town (page 2 of 6)
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.
Just a short distance down the lane, I went through a gate on the right, where two footpaths started. I'd intended to take the left-most one, which goes in a straight line to Beamond End, but on the spur of the moment I chose to take the other path simply because I'd never walked it before (the other path I've used on many previous walks). The path followed the hedge round the right of the field, switching to the other side of the hedge at some point. It continued beside the hedge until a corner where the hedge briefly turned left, where path went half-right across the field to a metal kissing-gate on the other side. I don't know quite what agricultural practice was going on in this field, but it was flat earth, with bits of last years grass poking through in places, as if it had been ploughed and then rollered. Whatever it was, it had attracted a number of Red Kites and Buzzards, which took off as I approached the field - presumably they'd found lots of worms there. I then turned left along Toby's Lane (like Mop End Lane, now a hedge-lined bridleway) but only for a couple of hundred yards or so until the direct path to Beamond End crossed it. I turned right, following the path across a large meadow (with a small section currently being ploughed), then continued past some residences in Beamond End to reach Beamond End Lane. Here I turned left, soon going straight on at a junction where the lane ended, and a few yards further on reached the A404.
The path I took from Mop End to Beamond End (you can see the direct path I usually take going through the crop on the left of the photo)
The path from Mop End to Beamond End
Not a great shot, but it gives an indication of the differences between a Red Kite, on the left, and a Common Buzzard. The Kites wings are longer but thinner than the Buzzard's, and the Kite's tail is forked (not very clear here) whereas the Buzzard's is shorter and rounded. It's not at all unusual to see the two birds together in the sky like this.
Toby's Lane
The path from Mop End to Beamond End (back on the direct path)
Beamond End (approaching the end of Beamond End Lane)
Across the main road I entered Penn Wood. I soon came to a junction where the path split into three (left, half-left and straight on), and again I made a spur of the moment decision to alter my plans and walk a path I'd not done before, so I turned left (I'd walked both the other a paths a few times before). This was a very pleasant woodland path, despite the noise from the main road a short distance to my left. After a while I crossed a track (not shown on the OS map) where looking to my left I could see the end of Toby's Lane across the A404 - I could use this as a way of missing out Beamond End on future walks perhaps (all of Penn Wood is an open access area, so this would be perfectly legal). The footpath was now surfaced, but this didn't really detract from its pleasantness as it passed between a mixture of coniferous and deciduous trees - the latter were particularly attractive with their bright green, fresh young leaves. The path then turned right and, after I went straight on where another path forked half-right, I passed Penn Street church on my left.
Penn Wood
Penn Wood
Penn Wood
Penn Wood
Penn Wood
Penn Wood (just after the path turned right)
Penn Wood
Penn Street Church