Pete's Walks- Cowleaze Wood, Studdridge Farm, Christmas Common (page 1 of 5)
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 did this circular walk of about 9.4 miles on Wednesday, 22nd November 2023. It was another repeat of a walk I first did in January 2015.
When I arrived at the car park at Cowleaze Wood (about 2 miles west of Stokenchurch and a similar distance north of Christmas Common - grid reference SU 726956), I found that it was closed because of forestry operations. I managed to park just a short distance further along the road (heading towards Christmas Common), and saw that there were signs up saying that some paths through the wood might be closed at certain times. I'd planned on walking this route anti-clockwise (I think I've only done it that way once before) but didn't want to risk doing that only to find I couldn't get through Cowleaze Wood at the end. So I decided to do it clockwise and revise my plans if the paths through Cowleaze Wood were closed.
I started walking about 10.05am. I went down the broad (and very muddy) track opposite the car park entrance, which after a couple of hundred yards or so turned into a narrower path running eastwards through the wood. After a while I could hear the sound of logging activities ahead of me, and soon after passed a man in a JCB stacking wood that had been felled. I did wonder if he'd tell me off, but he didn't - I hadn't seen any signs saying the path was closed, anyway. After walking through the wood for about half a mile, the path left it and dropped downhill through two fields - the first had the remains of a maize crop in it, the lower field was a pasture with a large number of sheep in it. Despite the grey conditions today, there were still nice views of the Wormsley valley here.
The start of the footpath from the Cowleaze Wood car park
The footpath through Cowleaze Wood
The footpath through Cowleaze Wood
The footpath through Cowleaze Wood
View over th Wormsley Valley from the edge of Cowleaze Wood
The path continuing down into the Wormsley Valley near Lower Vicar's Farm
At the end of the path, I turned left along one of the drives on the Wormsley estate for a short distance and then took a path on the right that went through the grounds of Lower Vicar's Farm (which was to my left). The path then went uphill (and slightly left) across a sloping paddock to reach Langleygreen Plantation. The path continued uphill through the wood, mainly at a gentle gradient before steepening for a short while. On reaching a crossing bridleway, I turned right and followed the bridleway southwards for about half a mile as it gradually descended through the wood to reach another Wormsley estate drive near Wellground Farm.
The path after I turned right from the drive, as it leaves Lower Vicar's Farm
The path going uphill through Langleygreen Plantation
The path going uphill through Langleygreen Plantation
The bridleway going south through Langleygreen Plantation
The bridleway going south through Langleygreen Plantation
I crossed over the drive and continued along the bridleway on the other side, running through Bowley's Wood and climbing uphill. After a few hundred yards the bridleway turned left, but continued uphill through the wood. I soon met a couple of horse riders coming the other way. It seemed quite a long way uphill, though the gradient was never too steep. Eventually the bridleway turned right and levelled out. It ended when it reached a minor road going south from Stokenchurch towards Ibstone, away to my right.
The start of the bridleway through Bowley's Wood
The bridleway through Bowley's Wood
The bridleway through Bowley's Wood
The bridleway through Bowley's Wood
The bridleway through Bowley's Wood, shortly before it reaches the road