Pete's Walks- Hambleden, Marlow Common, Moorend Common (page 2 of 5)
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.
The path followed the valley bottom through Homefield Wood for several hundred yards. When I reached a sign for the nature reserve (and an information board about Red Kites) I turned left and spent a wonderful hour looking for orchids. I was lucky enough to meet a couple of people who knew the reserve well and showed me around. I saw the Military Orchids, which was the main reason I cam here as I'd never seen them before - they are very rare in the UK, this being one of only three sites where you can see them in this country. I also saw Greater Butterfly Orchids, Fly Orchids and a Slow Worm, amongst other things.
The path along the valley bottom in Homefield Wood
Military Orchid
Slow Worm (actually a legless lizard)
I then returned to the path and continued along it a short distance further until it ended on a lane. Here I went right for a few yards, then took a path on the other side. This initially followed a wooden fence on my left, then turned right and ran between hedges and fences along a valley bottom for several hundred yards. It then climbed steeply uphill through Pullingshill Wood to reach another lane, where I turned left (again briefly entering what was new territory for me).
The start of the path from Homefield Wood to Pullingshill Wood
The path from Homefield Wood to Pullingshill Wood
The path from Homefield Wood to Pullingshill Wood
The path continuing uphill through Pullingshill Wood
The lane to Marlow Common
When the lane came to a T-junction with another lane, I went straight on along a bridleway on a rough track, through the woods of Marlow Common. After I while I wandered off into the wood on my right to explore the common which I'd not visited before, but the paths were a bit confusing so on the map I've simply shown the line of the bridleway (which I soon rejoined anyway). After passing a cottage the track became a tarmac drive, though there was soon a narrow path to its right. At the end of the drive I turned left along Frieth Road. When this reached a long row of houses (this settlement isn't named on the OS map) and a footpath came in on the left, I was back on familiar ground once more.
Start of the bridleway on the eastern side of Marlow Common
The bridleway on the eastern side of Marlow Common
The bridleway on the eastern side of Marlow Common
The bridleway on the eastern side of Marlow Common
Frieth Road
Frieth Road