magazine autumn 2011 magazine autumn 2011 Southern England Southern England 12/08/2011 18:04 09 , 10 Wendover, Buckinghamshire l Distance 26km/16 miles l time 7hrs l type Downland and valley l Distance 13km/8 miles l time 3-4hrs l type Hill and country

NavigatioN FitNess NavigatioN FitNess 3 level 3 2 level 2 2 level 2 3 level 3

feature p36 plan your walk plan your walk see

Bedford l Burgess Hill

l BuCkiNgHaMsHiRe east sussex oxford l l WeNDoveR Hailsham LeWes

l Brighton l l London eastbourne Reading l l guildford

Where: Circular walk from Where: Circular walk Lewes to via from Wendover, Blackcap and the south Buckinghamshire. hy: istockPhoto PhotograPhy: Downs Way, returning along P Fiona Barltro PhotograPhy: Start/end: Wendover the sussex ouse valley Way. lewes is situated in a gap in the racecourse, up to the 206m/676ft train station (sP866078). Perhaps it is precisely because the 1. START From the station Start/end: Lewes train South Downs by the River Ouse. trig point on Blackcap, the first of terrain: Fields, good Chilterns are close to london and approach road (sP866078), turn station (tQ416098). Car Dominating the town is the many fine viewpoints along the footpaths, and one surrounded by dormitory towns R across the bridge and then L, park at station and also Norman castle, and on the hillside route. (the bridleway marked on steep climb. that they are cherished by so following the footpath sign over nearby in Mountfield Road. to the west is the site of the 1264 the map runs just to the south of MapS: explorer 181; many people. Their eye-catching a stile under pylons. on the R is a terrain: Clear ridge-top Battle of lewes, which led to the Blackcap, but it’s worth bearing R os Landranger 165. escarpments are steeped in memorial woodland scheduled tracks and riverside paths. creation of the first recognised up to its top.) the Downs roll GettinG there: Wendover history, with echoes of a for removal to accommodate a MapS: os explorer 122; english Parliament. Notable away gently to the south, with a is served by Chiltern countryside given up for good in new slip road for Hs2 traffic. Landranger 198. buildings include the 15th-century steep scarp slope to the north, Railways from London many other parts of the UK. But Cross the stile and head half-R GettinG there: Regular timber-framed Anne-of-Cleves beyond which lies the Weald. Marylebone station for how much longer? The across the field, also due to be mainline trains depart House and The Fifteenth Century (✆ 0845 600 5165, www. proposed high-speed rail link bisected by the proposed slip for Lewes from London Bookshop. This beautiful route 2. Just west of Blackcap is a major chilternrailways.co.uk). between london and Birmingham road. Cross the stile at the top of (✆ 0845 127 2920, www. includes a ridge-top stretch along junction of paths at a gate. Here eatinG & drinkinG: (HS2) is set to drill a straight line the field, turn R along the lane southernrailway.com). the with a you join the south Downs Way Penny’s tea Room on through and under one of and then first L, following a eatinG & drinkinG: Lots of gentle return beside the River Ouse. (sDW) and turn L. at the next Wendover’s High street is england’s last tranquil quarters, bridleway signpost and a narrow choice in Lewes, including fork, bear L to head gently a must-visit. crossing footpaths and displacing path between fences. go straight Bill’s on Cliffe High street 1. START From Lewes train station downhill over Balmer Down. in SleepinG: Dunsmore edge earthworks (see p36). For those ahead through a metal gate, (✆ 01273 476918, www. (tQ416098), turn R up station the distance are seaford Bay and B&B, London Road, on the sidelines, the debate can downhill and over a stile, then bills-website.co.uk), but Road to the traffic lights, then L the adjoining coastal towns of Wendover be a difficult one to evaluate. This continue half-R to Coxgrove Wood. nothing along the route. along the High street, bearing R seaford and Newhaven. You can (✆ 01296 623080). walk might shed some light: it SleepinG: good selection further up along Western Road to also see a windmill, which is being ViSitor inforMation: strikes out from Wendover, along 2. a glance over your shoulder of hotels and B&Bs in the junction with the a275. go constructed as a replica of the Wendover Community and the edge of the Chilterns, will reveal picturesque views of Lewes, such as the shelleys straight across the a275 and head original six-sweep (sail) post mill tourist office, High street encompassing some of its Wendover Woods, the vale of (✆ 01273 472361, www. up spital Road (with the prison to called ashcombe Windmill, which (✆ 01296 696759, www. loveliest views and the iconic and aylesbury and Halton House – the-shelleys.co.uk); the White your L), which soon brings you to was destroyed in a gale in 1916. it wendover-pc.gov.uk/ anciently enigmatic Ridgeway. It’s a former residence of the

Hart Hotel (✆ 01273 476694, the edge of the Downs. Follow the is not yet marked on os maps. tourism/tic.htm). also an area of disputed territory, Rothschild family. Follow the ▲

www.whitehartlewes.co.uk); ▲ bridleway that climbs gradually turn R at a junction (where a GUideBookS: Chiltern at the centre of some of the main path through the wood, north-west, passing the old footpath continues ahead) and hottest debates over HS2. with its lovely mature beech and ▼ ▼ p57-58 WALK32 Routemaster Southern_rev1.indd 1 p57-58 WALK32 RoutemasterSouthern_rev1.indd 2 Ordnance Surveymapping©Crowncopyright.AM34/08 Ordnance Surveymapping©Crowncopyright.AM34/08 1 2 START FINISH

Map not to scale. Representation of OS Explorer MAP 181 1:25,000 www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk 6 5

START 2 FINISH 1 3

3

4

mansion is easy on the eye, the brow of the hill, bear L to continued... managing both to be imposing make for Coombe Hill and its and, thanks to its façade of local monument – at 260m/853ft, the Walks Buckinghamshire stone and bricks, blend in with highest point of the Chilterns. by Nick Moon (£8.99, a landscape of solitary oaks The monument is a good place Map not to scale. Representation of 4 The Book Castle, and yews. to pause and gauge for yourself ISBN 9781903747117). OS Landranger MAP what all the fuss with HS2 is 198 1:50,000 LocaL ramBLErs GroUp: 4. Cross the road to enter the about. Look north: the route will www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk Amersham & District grounds, then the driveway, and emerge from a tunnel and a ✆ Ramblers ( 01494 727504, follow the path to Maple Wood. cutting below Wendover Woods www.ramblers.co.uk/ Bear R, the path skirting the and sweep north-west along a carry on downhill, then climb back views over the Ouse valley and its groups). wood to a gate. Follow the raised embankment (the Vale of continued... up quite steeply through a wood, surrounding plain below you to R-edge of the field, with some Aylesbury is a floodplain). emerging to descend open slopes the L; Mount Caburn lies beyond of the Chiltern’s hidden valleys and Castle Banks B&B to the very busy A27. (to the east of Lewes), an outlier holly trees. After passing a to your L. Go through the gate 6. From the monument, follow (✆ 01273 476291). of the Downs, crowned by an Iron yellow arrow on a tree, take the and cross the lane, skirting the grassy track that’s parallel to Visitor information: 3. Turn R along the pavement to Age hillfort. The SDW descends to R-hand path to eventually pick Beacon Hill with glorious views and to the R of the gravel track Lewes TIC, High Street Housedean Farm, then L across the a valley, where you turn L and up a blue waymarker to the across the Vale of Aylesbury. Exit to a gate, where you cross a (✆ 01273 483448, road bridge over the A27. The continue along it to Southease. The village of Dunsmore. through the gate opposite pretty ditch and pick up the Ridgeway www.southdowns.gov.uk). SDW runs alongside the main road Norman church is worth a look, Ellesborough Church. again. Return to Wendover via GUiDEBooKs: South Downs for a short distance, then goes R particularly its 12th-century wall 3. Turn R at the crossroads by Bacombe Hill, a delectable Way by Fiona Barltrop (£10.99, under the railway line to begin its paintings. Carry on to the river. the duck pond and its fetching 5. Turn R and immediately R nature reserve with willow Rucksack Readers, ISBN ascent back to the crest of the black-and-white signpost. After again. After 300m turn L, warblers and green woodpeckers 9781898481447); Walks in Downs, passing Newmarket 4. Turn L along the river bank 100m, turn L over a stile and signposted for a circular walk. At amid the hazel and dogrose. HS2 the South Downs National Park Plantation near the top. The path – which becomes the Sussex take the R-hand fork downhill the road, turn R, walk 100m and has one last kick: as you cross the by Kev Reynolds (£12.95, stretch marked Jugg’s Road on the Ouse Valley Way – back to Lewes, to Cobnut Farm. Continue cross the road, following the bridge you’ll pass signposts for Cicerone, ISBN 9781852846183). Explorer map is an old route used bearing L soon after you’ve gone ahead through Goodmerhill footpath sign. At the fork in the another lovely walk, the LocaL ramBLErs GroUp: to carry fish from Brighton to under the main road as you Wood. Eventually the Ridgeway woods, bear slightly L, following Aylesbury Ring, which will be Brighton & Hove Ramblers Lewes. At a pair of dew ponds, the approach the town. You’ll join a joins the path and you head the National Trust sign up a subjected to huge disruption ✆ 01273 500341, SDW bears R and continues in a lane which leads to Mountfield west for Chequers, the retreat 12/08/2011 18:03 steep hill that is out of keeping near the earthworks here. www.bahr.org.uk). south-easterly direction for the Road and the station. of prime ministers since the with the rest of the walk. Near Route devised by Mark Rowe next few miles. There are fine Route devised by Fiona Barltrop 1920s. The 16th-century