Pete's Walks - Whiteleaf Hill and Little Hampden (page 3 of 3)
On leaving the wood I followed a hedge on my left downhill (Chequers was soon visible again away to my right). I soon had to skirt round Dirtywood Farm (on a permissive path following its garden boundary round to the right), before following its drive down to a minor road (the same one I'd crossed earlier at Buckmoorend). Across the road I continued along the tarmac drive towards Solinger House, but left it when it turned sharply left. At this point I spotted some deer a long way off across a field - as I could see five of them I assumed they were Fallow Deer,but when I took a photo and zoomed in on it on my camera, I saw that they were Roe Deer - I don't think I've seen as many as five before. A footpath now led on along a left-hand hedgerow for some distance. I passed Cross Coppice on my left, then went through two hedge gaps to continue beside another left-hand hedge.
Approaching Dirtywood Farm
The drive from Dirtwood Farm
The drive to Solinger House
A zoomed in shot of some Roe Deer - I don't think I've seen as many as that before
The path going west to Ninn Wood
TThe path going west to Ninn Wood - the wood on the left is Cross Coppice
The path going west to Ninn Wood
The path then followed what seemed to be a sunken lane or 'hollow way' for a few yards to reach a crossing bridleway where I turned left - I was now just inside the south-eastern edge of Ninn Wood. After a few hundred yards, I turned right and then immediately turned left (so effectively kept straight on) at a rather complicated path junction, now with Sergeant's Wood on my left (and Ninn Wood, or some other wood, still to my right). At a bridleway junction by the corner of a field I turned right, this bridleway running through a nice area of beech trees with The Hanging (not sure if that's the valley or the wood) just to my right. The bridleway ended back on the Ridgeway at Whiteleaf Hill, where I turned left and retraced my earlier footsteps the short distance back to the car park.
The sunken lane leading into Nim Wood
The bridleway going southwest close to the edge of Ninn Wood
The bridleway continuing through Sergeant's Wood
The footpath south of The Hangings
The bridleway south of The Hangings
The bridleway south of The Hangings
The bridleway south of The Hangings
The bridleway south of The Hangings
The Ridgeway, heading back to the Whiteleaf Hill car park
I didn't want to walk too far today as I've still got a problem with my back, plus I'm still feeling the after affects of a virus. This very pleasant 6 mile walk suited my purposes perfectly. It took me half an hour or so longer than the 2 hours 15 minutes when I walked it in 2012, but that was mainly because I was trying out a new camera. Despite the overcast and very windy conditions I really enjoyed the walk, and would happily do it again sometime. It can easily be combined with a 7-mile walk from Whiteleaf Hill to Loosley Row and back, to form an enjoyable 13-mile walk.