Bledlow Tremble

START & FINISH: (A) The Lions of Bledlow pub, Bledlow HP27 9PE. Grid ref: SP 776 020

(S/E) From the front of the pub turn right towards the village. Pass the (B) Bledlow parish church on your left. Immediately you will see a small wooden gate on the left to the (C) Lyde Garden. Continue past the imposing manor house to the end of Church End.

(1) Turn right onto Perry Road. You are now on the Chiltern Way. After 230m, immediately after passing a house called ‘Cutlers Close’, go through the gate on the left to continue on the Chiltern Way and enjoy the stunning long-distance views straight ahead.

(2) When you reach a double hedge, turn left through a gate (leaving the Chiltern Way) onto the gravel track between the two hedges for 550m.

(3) Turn left through the hedge via the remains of a kissing gate into a field. Keep the hedge immediately on your left and admire the rolling countryside to your right. The OS map advises that there is a sewage farm here – mercifully, there is neither visual nor olfactory evidence of it!

Pass through two fields, each separated by a wooden kissing gate. The last of these takes you into a farmyard. Walk ahead to the road and turn right.

This is not a busy road but you still need to take care. Keep to the pavement or wide grass verge for as long as possible.

Continue along the road and pass under the (D) railway bridge, then continue for a further 365m until you see a low brick and flint wall on the right.

(4) Cross to the opposite side and, just past a house called ‘Monks Mill’, take the footpath on the left – first crossing a little bridge over a stream. At the end of this narrow footpath, go through the metal kissing gate into an open field. The footpath goes straight across the field to another metal kissing gate.

Go through this and turn left along the hedge. After 90m a marker post gives you two options – half left or a quarter right. Take the left fork and walk with the hedge immediately on your left. At the point where this hedge begins to curve to the right, look out for a slightly obscured wooden kissing gate. Go through this and onto the railway, taking extra care when you cross the track.

Cross the meadow straight ahead to the white post and then straight ahead onto a shaded path and through the wooden gate. Yes, you’re going through someone’s private garden – but so does the public footpath! You then walk along a wide, shaded footpath with good views from above of the Lyde Garden below on your left. At the end of this footpath, you come back via the churchyard to Church End. The pub is about 275m to your right.(S/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."

TERRAIN: An easy walk on paths and sometimes busy lanes. Total ascent 45m.
START & FINISH: The Lions of Bledlow pub, Bledlow HP27 9PE. Grid ref: SP 776 020
FOOD & DRINK: The Lions of Bledlow. None on the walk
PARKING: If using the pub, parking is available in the pub car park, or otherwise please park considerately on the roadside around the village
LOCAL TRANSPORT: Bus Service RCB Princes Risborough Circular runs Mondays to Fridays. Bus 120/121 runs between Princes Risborough and Thame on Mondays to Saturdays; Bus 320 runs between Princes Risborough and Chinnor on Mondays to Fridays. Both stop on the B4009 near to point 4 of the walk
THE CHILTERN TREMBLERS: This walk is one of a series organised by The Chiltern Tremblers, the walking group of the Amersham and High Wycombe branch of Parkinson’s UK. They organise walks on the first Tuesday of every month - they are open to all and are between 2.5 and 3 miles, have no steep inclines and always end in a pub meal. This walk was created for the book "50 Great Walks in the Chilterns".

(A) THE LIONS OF BLEDLOW is an early 17th century Grade II listed building and is formed from three shepherds’ cottages. It is said that there were two pubs on the site, The Red Lion and The Blue Lion. The pub got its current name when the two amalgamated.
(B) BLEDLOW probably derives from the old English name of Bledda and secondly hlaw, meaning a hill or barrow. The village sits between the Upper and Lower Icknield Ways. The Icknield Way is one of Britain’s most important ancient tracks. Said to be the oldest road in Britain, it pre-dates the Romans and may have extended from Norfolk all the way to the Devon coast. Holy Trinity Church was built mainly during the 12th and 13th centuries, and remains largely unaltered. The prominent tower houses eight bells.
(C) BLEDLOW MANOR AND LYDE GARDEN: William the Conqueror granted the Manor of Bledlow to his half-brother Robert, who held it in 1086. The current house was built c1670 for James Blancks and was much extended in the early 18th century. In 1801 the manor was sold to Lord Carrington and it has stayed in the family since. The Lyde Garden is a small enclosed garden in a steep hollow valley – the source of the river Lyde – and has similarities to a rainforest. There is high concentration of vegetation, including many moisture-loving plants like gunnera and hosta. Visit if you can manage steps, steep inclines and slippery wooden walkways.
(D) CHINNOR AND PRINCES RISBOROUGH RAILWAY used to be part of the GWR branch line between Watlington and Princes Risborough. It was opened in 1872 with stations at Chinnor and Aston Rowant. It closed to passenger traffic in 1957 but continued as a freight line serving Chinnor Cement Works until 1989. The Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway Association was formed in summer 1989 and began operating passenger trains in August 1994.