Pete's Walks - Cowleaze Wood and Turville Heath (page 3 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.
(I used Alternative 1 as shown on the map)
I followed the lane for about a hundred yards before turning left by a junction onto a bridleway. I followed the bridleway a short distance through Turville Heath - on the far side of the heath I saw that the Barn Cafe was doing a good trade, with at least 12 walkers sat at its outside tables. I continued down a bridleway that started a little to the left of the cafe, following a track which was soon dropping steeply downhill through Idlecombe Wood. Near the bottom of the slope it turned right for one or two hundred yards before turning left, leaving the wood and continuing between hedgerows until it reached Holloway Lane.
The start of the short bridleway through Turville Heath
The start of the bridleway from Turville Heath to Holloway Lane
The bridleway from Turville Heath to Holloway Lane, in Idlecomb Wood
The bridleway from Turville Heath to Holloway Lane, in Idlecomb Wood
View right from the bridleway from Turville Heath to Holloway Lane
Approaching Holloway Lane
Across Holloway Lane, I took a footpath going straight on, dropping gently downhill through an empty pasture or meadow in part of the Wormsley Valley. After crossing one of the drives on the Wormsley Estate, the path ran through a narrow bit of woodland, then climbed uphill across another empty pasture. Over a stile, the path continued through a small bit of scrub land to reach a bridleway, where I turned left. This rose fairly gently uphill, soon passing some nice Beech trees on the left. At the end of the bridleway I continued straight on along a lane into Ibstone - just after passing Hell Corner farm on the right I saw my first Cuckoo-flower of the year. As I reached the large common I turned left along a bridleway, immediately going right from it and following the left edge of the common. After crossing a drive, I diverted from my route by walking over to a bench to the right, where I sat and watched a few overs of village cricket as I ate my packed lunch.
The path across the Wormsley Valley
View left along the Wormsley Valley
The path across the Wormsley Valley
The bridleway up to Ibstone
The bridleway up to Ibstone
The lane at Ibstone
Path along the edge of Ibstone Common
Cricket at Ibstone
I then continued round the left edge of Ibstone Common, until I reached the wooded northern end of the common. Here I went on a few yards into the trees, then turned left through a gate. A bridleway led between hedges for a short way, then started to gradually descend through Commonhill Wood back down into the Wormsley Valley. After a while the bridleway was a chalky rut cut into the hillside. I continued straight on where the Chiltern Way went left, the gradient then easing as the bridleway curved right.
Ibstone Common
The bridleway from Ibstone down to the Wormsley Valley
The bridleway from Ibstone down to the Wormsley Valley
The bridleway from Ibstone down to the Wormsley Valley
The bridleway from Ibstone down to the Wormsley Valley
The bridleway from Ibstone down to the Wormsley Valley