Start: Watlington Hill car park, Hill Rd, Watlington (OX49 5HS). Grid ref: SU 710 935
(S/E) Turn right out of the car park and walk to the road junction (A). Turn left towards Stokenchurch for 160m to a wide track on the right towards Magpie Cottage. Take this track, walk past the communications mast and, where the track bends right, continue straight ahead into the wood. Follow the path for 230m to a T-junction.
(1) Turn right past the clay pits for 100m to the next path junction. Fork left downhill and continue to descend for 800m to a path that bears right uphill. Fork right and take this path as it climbs steeply up the hillside. Near the top bear left then right to continue climbing out of the wood. Walk between the fences and along a stony track between the houses to a road.
(2) Turn left along it for 100m through the village of Northend (B), to a permissive bridleway on the right almost immediately after the post box and shelter. The path can be a little obscured in the growing season. Turn right along the bridleway for 80m to a path junction, turn right and go through a gate onto a driveway. Stay straight ahead, past the long low brick building on the left, to the right-hand bend. Go straight ahead through the gate into a field. Walk along the left-hand edge of the field and stay in the same direction through four more gates into a wood.
(3) Follow the path through the wood for 350m to a path junction where the field on the right ends. Continue straight ahead on same wide path gently uphill until it leaves the wood and meets a gravel track. On the left is the entrance to Queen and College Woods. Turn right along the track for 100m and turn left along a bridleway into a wood. Turn immediately right on The Oxfordshire Way. Follow the path through the wood to a road.
(4) (C)The walk can be shortened at this point by turning right, passing The Fox and Hounds pub, and then taking the first turning to the left to return to the car park.
To continue with the main walk, turn left past Old Church and walk along the road for 70m then right along the driveway towards The Tower. Continue on the driveway for 80m to a car passing place, and bear right on a path into the wood. Follow the path for 330m to enter the National Trust’s Lower Dean Woods (D) and continue for a further 450m to near the edge of the wood. Follow the path round to the left. It opens out and offers lovely views over South Oxfordshire (E). Go through a small wood to the end of the path.
(5) Turn immediately right and go through a gate into a field. Go straight on down the steep hill and through a gate at the bottom. Continue ahead to a junction of farm tracks. Stay straight ahead for 500m to a path on the right just before the road.
(6) Turn right along the path, after 180m go through a pair of gates and continue uphill for a further 200m to pass through a third gate into the National Trust’s Watlington Hill Estate. Turn immediately left up a set of steps. Follow the path along the edge of the wood and bear right up and onto the open hillside. Stay on the stony path until it peters out, then continue ahead for 100m.
(7) Bear right up the grassy slope to the top of the hill (F) and follow the track through a wide gap in the gorse. Follow the track along the top of the ridge as it bears slightly left. After about 200m, go past a wooden barrier and after a further 300m, pass posts in the ground to return to the car park and finish the walk..(S/E)
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