Pete's Walks - Maidensgrove, Shepherd's Green and Nuffield (page 2 of 7)
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.
On leaving Bushy Copse, the path continued across a large field of stubble to reach the A4130 main road as it passed through the village of Bix. I crossed the road, and continued straight on down a 'byway' (that looked just like a lane). After a hundred yards or so I turned left onto a footpath - as I did so, a car pulled up and the driver told me he'd just seen an escaped wallaby in the wood I was about to enter! The path ran through a wood called Hatch Copse, initially staying close to pastures just to my left. After passing some farm buildings it veered slightly right, and descended gradually downhill into a small valley, now in Earl's Wood.
The path continuing from Bushey Copse to Bix
The byway on the other side of the main road through Bix
The path through Hatch Copse
The path through Hatch Copse
The path through Hatch Copse
The path continued very pleasantly along the valley bottom for a while, with the wood on either side, then when I came to a path junction I turned left. The new path followed a track through the wood, but soon went straight on when the track went slightly left by a metal barrier. The path passed a reservoir on the left, then reached the edge of the wood, where it went over a stile. I turned left here, following the edge of a ploughed field to the next field corner. Over another stile I went right along a farm track for a few yards, before leaving it and entering a wood named Famous Copse. Another path immediately went left here, but I stayed on the path going straight on, close to the right edge of the wood. On reaching a crossing bridleway, I took a path going half-left (not shown on the OS map), with a cattle pasture just a few feet to my right.
The path through Hatch Copse
The start of the path after I turned left in Earl's Wood
The footpath from Earl's Wood to Famous Copse
The footpath through Famous Copse
The footpath through Famous Copse
I left the wood at the next path junction I came to, taking the left-most of two paths that crossed the pasture. On reaching the far corner of this field, I crossed a drive and took a path starting on the other side (a sign said 'Footpath to Greys Court'). This ran between fences and hedges for a while, going through two or three gates, then continued across an area of grass to reach the car park for the National Trust's Greys Court. Beyond the car park I continued along the drive, passing the house on my right (it has a Haha, I'm always pleased to see one of those because it's such a great name!). Not long before the drive reached a gate, the footpath forked slightly right from it, to reach Rocky Lane where I turned right.
I took the leftmost of the two path through this pasture, aiming for the gate in the corner
The footpath to Greys Court
The footpath approaching Greys Court
Greys Court
View from Greys Court
Rocky Lane