Pete's Walks - Hambleden, Fawley, Stonor (page 4 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.
I followed the path through Paradise Wood, which stayed quite close to a field to my right. I saw more butterflies, including my first Peacock of 2019, as well as my first Primroses of the year - Spring has definitely sprung! On leaving the wood, the path followed a hedge on my left, which soon turned left. From the next field corner the path continued along a track that ran between a hedgerow and a slight embankment on my right. This was very pleasant, the track running near the top of a hillside with views along the Stonor valley on my left (I could see the woods around Maidensgrove on the far side). This is one of my favourite paths in the Chilterns, and I really enjoyed walking it in today's wonderful weather conditions, even though I was doing it in the slightly uphill direction.
The path through Paradise Wood
Primroses in Paradise Wood, my first of 2019
The path continuing from Paradise Wood
The path continuing from Paradise Wood
The path continuing to Coxlease Farm
View across the Stonor valley towards Maidensgrove
The path continuing to Coxlease Farm
The path approaching Coxlease Farm
About a mile from Paradise Wood I reached Coxlease Farm where the track turned right. There was a gate across the track here, then I went through a gate on the left and immediately turned left (doubling back on myself) to walk through the rather mucky farmyard, passing the back of the farmhouse, and continuing along a short track that soon entered Almshill Wood. As usual, white arrows guided me through the wood, the path dropping quite steeply downhill through the trees. On leaving the wood the path continued downhill, along the right edge of a cattle pasture, to reach the road through the valley as it entered Stonor from the south. As I turned right I was delighted to find a seat (I must have walked past it a few times, but I'd totally forgotten about it) where I sat and ate my packed lunch (my lunchtime reveries were disturbed by the clatter of a cyclist falling off his bike about a hundred yards to my left, fortunately he was OK and was soon on his way again). I then continued along the road through the village for about half a mile, until a path on the right entered the Deer Park at Stonor House.
Path through the farmyard at Cowlease Farm
The path between Cowlease Farm and Almshill Wood
The path descending through Almshill Wood
The path descending through Almshill Wood
The path descending through Almshill Wood
The path descending through Almshill Wood
The path as it reaches Stonor
The road through Stonor
The road through Stonor