1st July 2011 OS Explorer 181 Chiltern Hills North
Length: All day
This walk encompasses chalk grasslands on the Chiltern escarpment, and woodlands of chalk escarpments and the plateau clays above them.
We parked at the end of the Little Hampden Road SP857040 opposite what was recently the Rising Sun pub, but is now a private house, although the sign has been incorporated as wall decoration. We walked south back down the lane, through the hamlet of Little Hampden and past Manor Farm to the little church on the right. Medieval frescoes inside this church can be seen by requesting the keys from the neighbouring cottage.
Little Hampden Church
We took the path opposite the church down to arable fields with field pansy Viola arvensis, common fumitory Fumaria officinalis ssp officinalis, black bindweed Fallopia convolvulus, scarlet pimpernel Anagallis arvensis ssp arvensis, fool’s parsley Aethusa cynapium, dwarf spurge Euphorbia exigua and small toadflax Chaenorhinum minus, the variety of these annuals increasing as we approached the chalkier top of the second field. Yellowhammers sounded from the hedgerows.
Here we reached the edge of Hampdenleaf Wood, a long wood along a steep chalk escarpment, almost two kilometres from north to south. Marjoram Origanum vulgare grew just outside the wood with perforate and hairy St. John’s-worts Hypericum perforatum and H. hirsutum. We continued up into the wood to the path which travels the length of the wood, which has much beech Fagus sylvatica interspersed with a variety of younger trees, and a ground flora of mainly dog’s mercury Mercurialis perennis, woodruff Galium odoratum, wood sedge Carex sylvatica, wood melick Melica uniflora, and wood millet Milium effusum. We passed red currant Ribes rubrum, probably native, and musk mallow Malva moschata. The steep path on loose flint and slick chalky soil slowed progress, allowing us to notice the small hairy galls on leaves of wayfaring tree Virburnum lantana (caused by the mite Eriophyes viburni), large whitish mines on common figwort Scrophularia nodosa leaves (larvae of the weevil Apteropeda orbiculata) and cinnabar caterpillars feeding on common ragworts Senecio jacobaea. At the crossing path we turned left. (There is a good patch of the native pale lady’s mantle Alchemilla xanthochlora about 130 metres beside the path going right, perhaps worth a diversion. This plant is present the other way, but in smaller quantity and easily overlooked.)
Pale lady’s-mantle
Path through Hampdenleaf Wood
Along this path, which winds among both shady and open sunnier conditions, we passed much slender St. John’s-wort Hypericum pulchrum, gooseberry Ribes crispa-uva, a single stout plant of white helleborine Cephalanthera damasonium in seed, grey sedge Carex divulsa divulsa and sanicle Sanicula europaea. We crossed a path which comes up directly from the car-park where we started, continuing north past many chalk grassland plants in the glades, such as common centaury Centaurium erythraea, hairy rock-cress Arabis hirsuta, eyebright Euphrasia nemorosa, fairy flax Linum catharticum, hop trefoil Trifolium campestre, glaucous sedge Carex flacca , milkwort Polygala vulgaris ssp vulgaris and a little pale lady’s mantle. Among taller plants, ploughman’s spikenard Inula conyzae were just in bud, their leaves already prominently mined by the agromyzid fly Phytomyza conyzae.
Hairy rock-cress
Narrow marsh thistles Cirsium palustre stood straight, mostly unwilling to branch, there were gross clumps of drooping sedge Carex pendula, and a dog-rose with very downy leaves and sepals, Rosa canina group “Pubescentes”. There was one path-side patch of golden-scaled male fern Dryopteris affinis, rare in this part of the country. In one glade we happened on a female purple hairstreak butterfly sunning itself on the low herbage and having difficulty launching itself into flight, with one of its hind wings damaged. By taking it up and holding it at arm height it was able to launch itself and sail, somewhat erratically, into the woods below, hopefully landing on an oak-tree somewhere.
Purple hairstreak
Where stands of bramble Rubus fruticosus agg and raspberry R. idaeus stood in the sun the imposing silver-washed fritillaries came down now and again to patrol rapidly up and down, seldom stopping. Also revelling in the bramble flowers in full sun were the black-and-yellow longhorn beetle Strangalia maculata, bees, and hoverflies such as Leucozona lucorum.
Strangalia maculata
Leucozona lucorum
View west from Hampdenleaf Wood
Eventually, at the far end of the wood, which often has good views to the west, a bridleway comes in at an angle from the right, and then the path begins to curve downwards. Here a path off to the right returned us to the top of the wood and a wide bridleway, past some broken-down flint walls and brick-and-tile structures where wall lettuce Mycelis muralis had found a hold, but the ground was carpeted with alien periwinkle leaves. We turned left on the bridleway to continue north into Dunsmore, past a line of staddle stones. Dunsmore seems to be a strange scatter of houses, isolated from each other although physically close, a hamlet with no centre, although we passed a small church on the right. We crossed a road by a duck-pond with meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria, bogbean Menyanthes trifoliata, bulrush Typha latifolia and breeding moorhens. A bridleway (Icknield Way) leads out of the village into High Scrubs, where it is unfortunately fenced both sides, until a junction is reached at the beginning of the National Trust property of Low Scrubs. The track follows an old boundary bank with formerly laid beech and the parish boundary between Ellesborough and Wendover.
Laid beech on boundary bank, High Scrubs
A high garden fence obscures views over the grounds of Upper Bacombe House on the right. Low Scrubs has lots of dead stumps and fallen or cut wood scattered around, patches of bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta and wood-sorrel Oxalis acetosella, and a pair of isolated defunct ironwork gates, presumably once an entrance to the Upper Bacombe estate. A fungus growing on an old beech was satin shield Pluteus plautus.
Low Scrubs
Iron gates to nowhere
At a very wide track (and a huge quagmire even in drier periods) we turned right a short distance. The very wide track is unusual, being as wide as a motorway between banks on each side and we wondered what sort of medieval traffic it carried. Many of the laid trees on its banks are hornbeam Carpinus betulus, a tree particularly chosen in this region for such a function. As soon as possible we found an informal path to the left going down the hill to the Ridgeway track from Bacombe Hill to Coombe Hill. We turned left along the Ridgeway through rough vegetation with raspberries Rubus idaeus, common spotted orchids Dactylorhiza fuchsii, and gipsywort Lycopus europaeus (very surprising here well away from any body of water or marshland), emerging into the shorter-turf chalk slopes of Coombe Hill, with common blue, meadow brown, ringlet and marbled whites flying over common valerian Valeriana officinalis, salad burnet Sanguisorba minor var minor, lady’s bedstraw Galium verum, wild thyme Thymus polytrichus, squinancywort Asperula cynanchica, hoary plantain Plantago media, dwarf thistle Cirsium acaule, quaking-grass Briza media, mouse-ear hawkweed Pilosella officinarum, milkwort Polygala vulgaris ssp vulgaris, agrimony Agrimonia eupatoria, and rock-rose Helianthemum nummularium, with yellow-wort Blackstonia perfoliata just beginning to flower.
Common valerian
Wild thyme and dwarf thistle leaves
Dwarf thistle
There were also a number of fungi in the turf. These were lurid bolete Boletus luridus, usually associated with trees but here presumably growing in association with rock-rose. We passed a dead common shrew in the path. We often find shrews in this way, but never voles or mice. It seems likely that these are unfortunate individuals caught mistakenly by predators, probably young foxes that have not yet learned that shrews are distasteful to eat. We later saw another shrew corpse with its head bitten off, possibly providing confirmation of this hypothesis.
Dead common shrew
We crossed a bridleway into National Trust land around the Coombe Hill monument. Here were large thyme Thymus pulegioides, musk thistle Carduus nutans, and small heath butterflies. Behind a rustic seat stood a lone bush of juniper Juniperus communis, a species that seems to be having a difficult time reproducing itself in this area these days.
Juniper
Around the monument marking the peak and popular viewpoint were crowded the belted Galloway cattle being used to graze the grassland – seemingly preferring the stonework and gravel to grass!
Chiltern escarpment from Coombe Hill (Beacon Hill in middle)
Belted Galloways
Abundant sheep’s sorrel Rumex acetosella on the top here, a plant that grows on nutrient-poor acid soils, indicates how the soil has been leached of chalk. Instead of following the Ridgeway path south along the top, therefore, we took a lower informal path down the slope where there is a good chalk flora of wild basil Clinopodium vulgare, dropwort Filipendula vulgaris, harebell Campanula rotundifolia, small scabious Scabiosa columbaria, rock-rose, wild thyme, squinancywort, birdsfoot trefoil Lotus corniculatus, dwarf thistle, and cowslip Primula veris.
Harebell
At the end of the open grassland we went uphill again to rejoin the Ridgeway where it bends left and then right into woodlands outside the National Trust area.
At a lane the trail turns right along the verge and then soon leaves the lane again on the left to continue through Linton’s Wood, where we saw yellow pimpernel Lysimachia nemorum.
Yellow pimpernel
These woods are still actively worked for timber.
Felled beech
We followed the Ridgeway signs through a series of twists and turns in Goodmerhill Wood, descending the hill to the wood-edge, past some red currant, and on to the road at the corner of the Chequers Estate. Here we crossed the road and continued the same trail along the edge of the estate past some old limes whose lower branches descended right to the ground, completely obscuring their trunks.
Chequers, lime-tree in foreground
Lime flowers
The land is mainly agricultural, however, with some musk mallow, hedgerow cranesbill Geranium pyrenaicum and rough chervil Chaerophyllum temulum beside the path. Security patrols are often encountered here. Entering Maple Wood the path continues along its eastern edge, where there is indeed some maple Acer campestre, although not an unusual amount for a Chiltern wood. At the end of the wood the path veers somewhat to the left and crosses pastureland into a combe and up again (“Cradle Footpath” on the OS map), at one point beneath an old spreading horse chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum. We reached the hill of Chequers Knap where a ditch to the left, less grazed than the level land before, had a good number of chalk plants – dwarf thistle, rock-rose, pyramidal orchid Anacamptis pyramidalis, clustered bellflower Campanula glomerata, common spotted and fragrant orchids Gymnadenia conopsea.
Clustered bellflower
The path then enters woodland with some massive beeches and a sunken way (Ridgeway) which we crossed.
Old beech by Ridgeway
We went over a stile into more open chalk grassland that was previously Kimble Rifle Range and is now part of Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) reserves including Pulpit Hill above and Grangelands ahead. Here were yellow-wort Blackstonia perforata, squinancywort, fragrant and pyramidal orchids, rock-rose, common and large wild thyme, horseshoe vetch Hippocrepis comosa, eyebright, twayblade Neottia ovata, and common fumitory. A path to the left led through woodland and then we descended through the open areas of Grangelands, including more bushes of juniper, beautifully-marked Roman snails with brown and cream streaks, and common centaury.
Roman snail
Fragrant orchid
At the end of this area we rejoined the Ridgeway and reached Cadsdean Road, across which lies The Plough, a convenient lunch stop with plenty of tables indoors and out.
The Plough
Plough at The Plough
The Ridgeway goes right beside the pub and bends south, uphill through a section of Giles Wood with hairy St. John’s-wort and round-mouthed snails Pomatias elegans, mostly young woodland but with some old beech trees near the path.
Old beech, Giles Wood
The path bends westwards to head directly for Whiteleaf Hill, crossing another track before reaching the viewpoint which stands above a white cross on the escarpment, created like the “white horses” by removing turf to reveal the underlying chalk. The origin of this cross is uncertain but it is unlikely to be more than a few centuries old.
Top of the chalk cross
The view includes a section of the famous old Black Hedge which dates back to Anglo-Saxon times and snakes between fields to the south of the village of Whiteleaf
Black Hedge (centre), Princes Risborough & Wain Hall beyond
Interpretation boards describing the view have been removed following objections to their spoiling the view, leaving just the long wooden seat on which they had been placed. On the top of the hill are greater knapweed Centaurea scabiosa and viper’s bugloss Echium vulgare, and just above the cross, below the seat, are cowslips and rock-rose.
Narrow-bordered 5-spot burnet on viper’s bugloss
A path to the left goes by a large tumulus of a Neolithic barrow, which has kidney vetch Anthyllis vulneraria. When excavated this barrow just contained foot-bones – presumably all that they felt like carrying to this site, probably well away from the home settlement! The person must have been of some importance to have been buried in such a prominent situation.
Leaving the site past this barrow and continuing south, a path goes off to the right descending the steep slope through woodland with spurge laurel Daphne laureola, sanicle and gooseberry to reach a lane that goes below the cross. At this corner were dame’s violet Hesperis matronalis and snowberry Symphoricarpos albus showing our proximity to gardens. Across the road a path goes sharply south again through the woods of Brush Hill Local Nature Reserve, property of Wycombe District Council. There are many yews Taxus baccata, but it is mostly young trees over dog’s mercury and hedge woundwort Stachys sylvatica. At the far end of this wood were white helleborines in seed, and a more grassy area with small scabious. Just after these we came again to the Ridgeway path (just outside the reserve) and took this sharply back to the left up a steep hill. Where it re-enters the reserve is supposed to be another section of the Black Hedge, but it is not really distinct from the surrounding woodland. This leads into an open grassy area which is being restored and does not yet have any species of note. We left the reserve through another woodland (through a gate behind a bench) at the eastern end where there is said to be violet helleborine Epipactis purpurata, although we were probably too early for them to be in flower.
At the road we turned right and walked along the road for almost a kilometre, past the little settlement of Green Hailey. Just after here at the side of the wood was a lot of violet helleborine, still in bud. We went as far as a path on the right at the end of a field which goes alongside Hillock Wood. There was a colony of small balsam Impatiens parviflora at the beginning of this path, which turns into the wood, past some wood barley Hordelymus europaeus, and meets a crossing track. This track is private and a permit is needed from BBOWT to take this route west to their Windsor Hill Reserve (info@bbowt.org.uk). After 250 metres along here, past many spikes of nettle-leaved bellflower Campanula trachelium, a track bears right to enter the reserve by a patch of junipers that had been overgrown by woodland and which the Wildlife Trust is trying to restore by removing scrub.
Nettle-leaved bellflower
Juniper, Windsor Hill
In the turf are common milkwort, small scabious, slender St. John’s-wort, rock-rose and hairy rock-cress. There are also slow-worms.
Slow-worm
Past this area, still in woodland, there are two fenced enclosures on a steep hillside. The one above the path is the site for the endangered red helleborine Cephalanthera rubra, protected behind tall fences from deer grazing and human interference. A difficult scramble up beside the fence on the far side leads to the red helleborine enclosure at the top. On this day four spikes were seen flowering through the fence, although others were over.
Red helleborine
We then returned the way we had come to the road and back to Green Hailey, where a path comes off at the south end of the cottages into Kingsfield Wood. This is where to continue the route if there is no permission to visit Windsor Hill reserve. We went straight up, not taking a path off to the right, through a conifer plantation, leaving just a narrow belt of the original deciduous woodland along the north edge by the path, including some old beech trees, one of which we measured to be 377cm in girth, probably 300 years old. Here is also more wood barley, wood melick and gooseberry. Quick right and left turns took us past an arable field entirely enclosed within woodland, with small toadflax, dwarf spurge and field madder Sherardia arvensis in the wide field margins (part of Hampden Bottom Farm, which is under Higher Level Environmental Stewardship). The path follows the southern margin of this field within the wood and comes to a paved private road (but public footpath) carrying straight on between arable fields. This road turns right after the wood of Little Boy’s Heath. Here we took an informal path running the length of the wood (mixed beech and conifers with bluebells).
Opposite the south end of Little Boys Heath, across the road, is a footpath going through a belt of trees known as Coach Hedgerow. This woodland is good habitat for spring flowers like wood anemone Anemone nemorosa, primrose Primula vulgaris and wood-sorrel Oxalis acetosella. Currently the main interest is wood barley and a bush of harsh downy rose Rosa tomentosa (the flowers just over). The path continues from the end of the wood across a crop field and then up a wide field where there are pyramidal orchids and glow-worms (also part of Hampden Bottom Farm). This path continues through a wheat-field all the way to Little Hampden and the starting-point. (It is also possible to take a right-hand path at the top to explore Warren Wood, where there is more wood barley.)
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