Pete's Walks - Coombe Hill and Kingsash (with HS2 diversion) (page 2 of 6)
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 reaching a road I turned right, but very soon turned left into Hale Lane. There was then quite a long plod reasonably gently uphill towards the wooded slopes of Boddington Hill. I spotted some Meadow Cranesbill growing here. Shortly after reaching the woods on my left, I took a footpath forking left along a track, still continuing uphill through the woods. The path steepened a little, but a hundred yards or so after I went straight on where another track went left, the path more or less levelled out. There was now a more open area on my left where part of the wood had been felled. After a while the track turned slightly left, another track and then a path coming in on the right.
Hale Lane
The path up Boddington Hill
The path up Boddington Hill
The path up Boddington Hill
The path up Boddington Hill
The path up Boddington Hill
The track then came to a junction, where I turned right and followed another track towards the Visitor Centre in the middle of Wendover Woods. After a few hundred yards I saw the new visitor centre (new since I was last here) ahead and over to my right. I made my way towards it and turned left to pass the Toilets, and then immediately turned right along another track (there was a wooden barrier here). I soon forked left (I could see the Gruffalo standing in a clearing a little further down the track!) into the trees. I could see some people in front of me looking at something on the ground and as I drew close I realised what it was - a Slow Worm! I have only ever seen these legless lizards a few times before at nature reserves, where corrugated iron sheets are sometimes put down for them to shelter under, so this was definitely the highlight of the walk for me.
The path to the visitor centre at Wendover Woods
The path to the visitor centre at Wendover Woods
The path to the visitor centre at Wendover Woods
Where I turned right, after the Visitor Centre
Slow Worm (a legless lizard)