Pete's Walks- Maidensgrove and Greys Court (page 2 of 5)
The path continued through Coney Burrow, joining a track at one point. After a while the path went straight on where the track went right, at this point moving from an area of conifers into a typical Chiltern beech wood, Bushey Copse. As usual, white arrows painted on trees every so often guided the way, then the path left the wood and crossed an arable field to reach the A4130 main road in the village of Bix.
The path continuing through Bushy Wood
The path continuing through Bushy Wood
The path continuing to Bix
Across the road, I went down what looked like a lane but which a fingerpost indicated was actually a 'Restricted Byway'. After a couple of hundred yards or so, I turned left onto a footpath through a wood named Hatch Copse. After a while I passed some farm buildings on my left, and soon after the path descended into a valley, continuing along a strip of grass in the valley bottom. I was now in Earl's Wood.
The public byway from Bix, across the A4130 main road
The path through Hatch Copse
The path through Hatch Copse
The path through Hatch Copse
The path through Hatch Copse
The footpath continuing south through Earl's Wood
The footpath continuing south through Earl's Wood, just before I turned left
After a few hundred yards I turned left at a path junction, initially along a track. When the track then turned left the footpath continued ahead, soon turning right and passing a pond or reservoir on the left just before it exited from Earl's Wood. The path then turned left and followed a fence on the left through a large empty meadow or pasture. Beyond this field I turned right and soon entered a wood, rather mysteriously named Famous Copse. I ignored a path going left immediately, and went straight on, close to the western edge of the wood on my right. On the southern edge of the wood, I turned left and then immediately half-right onto a permissive path (just inside the edge of the wood again). I turned right and left the wood when this path met another path coming in from my left.
Near the start of the path going east through Earl's Wood
The path going east through Earl's Wood
Pond or reservoir on the edge of Earl's Wood
The footpath going south through Famous Copse
The footpath going south through Famous Copse
The permissive path along the edge of famous Copse
At this point there are two paths going south from the wood across a meadow or pasture. I took the left-most one (the other one, which I usually take, wasn't really visible in the grass today). The path went almost straight across to a gate in a corner. I then crossed a drive and took a footpath that ran to the left of a farmyard. Beyond the farm buildings or sheds the path went through two gates in quick succession, then followed a fence on my left. The path passed a pond and then continued across a meadow to reach the car park for Greys Court, a National Trust property (the car park was very busy today for some reason).
It's not clear in this photo, but I took the leftmost of the two paths going south from Famous Copse (going to the field corner in the centre of the photo)
Near the start of the path to Greys Court
The path to Greys Court
The path to Greys Court