Start: From Chesham Underground Station to Wendover main line station. (HP5 1BP) This walk will follow The Chiltern Link until waypoint (7) of the route.
(E) From Chesham (A) station turn first left down Station Road to the bottom, then left into the semi-pedestrianized High Street. With the clock tower in the market square in front of you, turn right into Church Street.
(1) At the end go left and take the pedestrian crossing. Turn right and follow the pavement round to the left to continue along Church Street.
(2) At the first bend cross into Bury Lane and follow it uphill past the gates to St Mary’s Church signposted to Lower Pednor & Chartridge. Continue ahead with the tree line on the left for 500m to enter a small wood, and on exiting bear left down to a lane (Pednor Road).
Cross over, go through the gate opposite and drop down steps into a field. Take the left hand of the two paths on the right across the middle of the field to a gate. Go through and bear diagonally left across the next field past a gate and into a lane (Drydell Lane).
(3) Turn right (North-West) along the lane past a bridleway on the left and go round the corner. Turn left past a gate onto a wide bridleway, the sometimes muddy Herbert’s Hole (B). Follow the bridleway along the bottom of the valley for over 2km to emerge at a road junction.
Continue ahead past the junction with Little Hundridge Lane for a few metres and turn right through a gate. Follow the path uphill between fence and hedgerow. The path soon joins a wide track.
(4) Where that bends to the right, turn left (West) through a gate and almost immediately right through another gate. Follow the field edge for 500m to pass through an opening beside a redundant gate. Ignore the path directly ahead, turn left and stay on this path for nearly 800m as it widens and drops down to join a rough lane.
(5) Continue ahead, signposted Chiltern Link, and follow the lane to a T-junction. Turn left and head towards a road. Cross the road, go through a gate and follow the path into a wood. Stay in the same direction on the wide track for 650m to a gate directly in front. Go through into a field and stay in the same direction along its edge to pass through a second gate and back into the wood. Proceed along the path for 200m to reach a surfaced lane.
(6) Turn right along it for 350m to meet a road opposite The Cock and Rabbit pub. Turn right, then immediately left and follow the road past the entrance to the pub. At the end of the village green (C), take the road in the same direction (North-West) past the entrance to the church (D).
Follow the road round the bend and after 100m turn left through a gate into a field. Walk along the left-hand edge of the field to the gate directly ahead.
(7) Go through the gate, cross the gravel driveway and go through the gate opposite. Bear diagonally right to a gate in the corner. Go through that to meet a wide track. Turn left, to leave The Chiltern Link, into a large field with farm buildings visible in the distance. Follow its left-hand edge to go through a gate into a lane (King's Lane).
(8) Turn left along it for 80m to a lane on the right. Do not walk down the sunken lane (Bowood Lane), which in places is too narrow for a car and a pedestrian to pass, but take the footpath on the left that runs parallel to it. The path emerges into a field, and crosses the route of HS2. See www.hs2watch.com/Footpaths.html for the latest information about any construction works.
Follow the path along the right-hand edge of the field, under the power lines and onwards as the path swings right to drop down to a hedgerow. Go through and continue to descend to a metal footpath post.
(9) Turn left across one field and to the left of the hedgerow in the next to cross a stile to meet a fast, busy road (A413). Go over the stile, turn left along the verge for 30m and cross the road. Go through the gate opposite and then over the stile into a field.
Bear diagonally right (North-West) across the field to a gate. Go through and bear diagonally left across the next field to a gate in the corner which is on the Chiltern Way. Turn left through this gate and the one ahead.
(10) Stay in the same direction over the railway bridge and, after 30m, turn right into a field and follow its right-hand edge for 200m. Where the field narrows bear diagonally left to follow a path between two fields as it gently rises to a gate. Go through and turn left to the next gate and a lane.
Cross the lane and go through the gate opposite. Go over a horse track and climb the path directly ahead between fence and hedgerow. Go straight over a crossing path and continue uphill to a gate. Go through and onto a surfaced farm track.
(11) Continue uphill on a stony track for 650m keeping right, and where it swings to the left at the top, stay straight ahead over a stile. Follow the woody path for 270m to a junction with a wide track opposite a house called ‘Hampdenleaf’. Turn right along the track and continue ahead, soon leaving the woods and passing between high hedges.
(12) On reaching an uneven tarmac track, continue ahead past cottages and a small church to the crossroads by the pond in Dunsmore. Go straight on along the lane opposite, signposted ‘Dunsmore Village Only’. After the last house (‘The Beeches’) continue ahead on the bridleway ignoring the stile on the left.
(13) Where the bridleway forks, bear left into the wood and stay in the same direction, ignoring all paths to the left and right, for 1km. Continue past where the fence on the right ends and walk between two old metal gates that face each other, resembling a bridge. Stay straight ahead on the footpath for a further 200m to meet a line of trees on a bank. Go over the bank past old fence posts either side of the path.
(14) Great care is needed to ensure the correct path is taken. Do not veer right onto the bridleway that continues along the other side of another tree line but stay straight ahead to follow the sometimes indistinct path through the wood. Pay special attention to follow the arrows marked on the trees and stay in the same general direction to follow the path for 300m to cross a bridleway.
(15) Go through a gap in the wire fence and turn right to a gate which is the entrance to Coombe Hill. Go through the gate and stay in the same direction, keeping to the left-hand side of the open space to meet a gravelled track. Turn right and follow it to reach the monument (E).
(16) Looking back to the surfaced track, take the grassy track to its left – the Ridgeway Path – and follow the acorn symbols. Go through a gate, cross over a sunken lane and up through the next gate. Stay on this wide path for 1.4km as it drops down to a road.
(17) Cross and turn right down the pavement to go over the bypass and railway bridge. HS2 passes under Ellesborough Road and the Ridgeway in a cut-and-cover tunnel. See www.HS2watch.com for information about current construction works.
Either turn left to Wendover Railway Station or continue down into Wendover (F) for some well-earned refreshments and the bus back to Chesham. (E)
We hope you have enjoyed your walk. Please remember to rate the walk and add comments. We are interested in how we could improve the instructions or the route and would like to hear about any issues with paths on the walk.
