H
hg137
Guest
- Thread Author
- #1
A rare Tuesday outing for us. Our holiday away in the Peak District, and our return to Oxford for the Heritage weekend, had delayed a progress towards the Globe in London.
Cookley Green Water Tower
Midweek country walking is considerably quieter than weekends. We barely saw anyone all day. We left Britwell Salome slowly climbing up to the Chilltern Ridge line. A steady mile of so climb, but like many of the footpaths we would encounter, shrouded by trees and bushes. Our views of the surrounding countryside were severely limited.
At the top of the Ridge line we arrived a path we had walked barely 2 years ago, the Ridgeway. A long distance path linking Avebury to Ivinghoe Beacon. We ought to have remembered this half-mile section, but our recollections were worse than hazy. Again, our views we limited, the only notable sight was saw was a famer ploughing his field.
Leaving the Ridgeway, our route continued on sunken lanes and tarmac tracks before we arrived at the Water Tower just outside Cookley Green. There are many more water towers than you think dotted around the countryside, and one wonders whether their purpose is outdated or whether the amount of water they capture and supply is worthwhile.
Shortly after our path joined the end of a narrow cul-de-sac. It was dustbin day, and as we started to walk by some houses, we noticed the dustcart heading our way. The road was quite narrow and we stepped aside as it stopped, started and trundled by. We had noted a small turning circle at the end of the cul-de-sac which no doubt would be used. Just as we were leaving we espied a seat ideal for lunch, and a delivery van heading down the same cul-de-sac and the dustcart. If there wasn’t room for us and the dustcart… the van wouldn’t have stood a chance. We managed to stop the van before it went too far!
A mile or so after Cookley Green, came a highlight… a geocache! A 6 mile walk and just one geocache. It took a little bit of finding, and as it was the only cache on the route, we were even more determined to find it.
Then the sting in the tail, a very steep climb. A 1 in 6 climb! Fortunately, it was only a quarter of mile but still not quite what we were expecting. The only saving grace was the view from the top.
As we reached the top we were at journey’s end, in the spread out hamlet of Maidensgrove. A pub at one end, and a large grassy plateau (Maidensgrove Common). Our car was parked at the far end of the common.
So a 6 mile walk, predominantly through wooded paths yielding few views and even fewer geocaches.
But…
In the general vicinity of Britwell Salome were 2 puzzle caches we had solved. We had hoped when we attempted to solve them that they would have been on our route, but instead they were on the car route between Maidensgrove and Britwell Salome.
So we drove partway to Britwell, parked up and started searching. One cache was supposed hidden in a tree, but the tree was completely surrounded by thick brambles, so we gave up our search quite quickly. The other, much easier to find, was hidden in a tree trunk. At least a positive end, to a slightly uninspiring caching trip.
Cookley Green Water Tower
Midweek country walking is considerably quieter than weekends. We barely saw anyone all day. We left Britwell Salome slowly climbing up to the Chilltern Ridge line. A steady mile of so climb, but like many of the footpaths we would encounter, shrouded by trees and bushes. Our views of the surrounding countryside were severely limited.
At the top of the Ridge line we arrived a path we had walked barely 2 years ago, the Ridgeway. A long distance path linking Avebury to Ivinghoe Beacon. We ought to have remembered this half-mile section, but our recollections were worse than hazy. Again, our views we limited, the only notable sight was saw was a famer ploughing his field.
Leaving the Ridgeway, our route continued on sunken lanes and tarmac tracks before we arrived at the Water Tower just outside Cookley Green. There are many more water towers than you think dotted around the countryside, and one wonders whether their purpose is outdated or whether the amount of water they capture and supply is worthwhile.
Shortly after our path joined the end of a narrow cul-de-sac. It was dustbin day, and as we started to walk by some houses, we noticed the dustcart heading our way. The road was quite narrow and we stepped aside as it stopped, started and trundled by. We had noted a small turning circle at the end of the cul-de-sac which no doubt would be used. Just as we were leaving we espied a seat ideal for lunch, and a delivery van heading down the same cul-de-sac and the dustcart. If there wasn’t room for us and the dustcart… the van wouldn’t have stood a chance. We managed to stop the van before it went too far!
A mile or so after Cookley Green, came a highlight… a geocache! A 6 mile walk and just one geocache. It took a little bit of finding, and as it was the only cache on the route, we were even more determined to find it.
Then the sting in the tail, a very steep climb. A 1 in 6 climb! Fortunately, it was only a quarter of mile but still not quite what we were expecting. The only saving grace was the view from the top.
As we reached the top we were at journey’s end, in the spread out hamlet of Maidensgrove. A pub at one end, and a large grassy plateau (Maidensgrove Common). Our car was parked at the far end of the common.
So a 6 mile walk, predominantly through wooded paths yielding few views and even fewer geocaches.
But…
In the general vicinity of Britwell Salome were 2 puzzle caches we had solved. We had hoped when we attempted to solve them that they would have been on our route, but instead they were on the car route between Maidensgrove and Britwell Salome.
So we drove partway to Britwell, parked up and started searching. One cache was supposed hidden in a tree, but the tree was completely surrounded by thick brambles, so we gave up our search quite quickly. The other, much easier to find, was hidden in a tree trunk. At least a positive end, to a slightly uninspiring caching trip.
Last edited: