Bottom Wood Route

Start & Finish: Old Oxford Road, Piddington (HP14 3BH). Grid ref: SU 807 942

(S/E) From the Dashwood Roadhouse, carefully cross the main road and take the bridleway that passes to the left of (A) Ham Farm.

(1) After 400m, the bridleway bends to the right. Here, leave the bridleway and continue straight ahead along the field edge towards a wood (North-West).

Just before reaching the wood, look for a path on the right and climb gently up the right-hand edge of the wood. This section becomes a hollow way (B) which rapidly increases in depth to 3m.

At the top the track turns sharp left to emerge at a road – another section of Old Oxford Road (C). Turn right along it for 300m to a bridleway on the right beyond a house called ‘Woodland View’.

(2) Turn right and follow the track down the side of the wood to the bottom. Cross the bridleway and go to the information board which is on the right, at the southern entrance to (D) Bottom Wood.

(3) A few metres beyond the information board, take the ‘permissive’ path to the left and follow it along the valley floor for 200m. Bear left over the bridleway and go through the barrier opposite onto the woodland circular path.

Stay on it until it eventually rejoins the bridleway at a junction of paths and a second information board. Go through the gate or over the stile to the left of the board and take the bridleway up to a lane at the top.

(4) Turn left, ignore the first path on the left and walk through the metal barriers. Follow the track uphill to pass through a second set of barriers at the top. Here, turn left and stay in this direction through three gates, down to a lane at the northern edge of Beacons Bottom. Bear half right across the lane and through a gate into a copse. Follow the waymarkers to the far side and then turn left uphill by the side of a fence to the next gate at the A40. Be sure to look back at the way the valley continues its gentle snaking rise towards Stokenchurch. Cross the A40 with great care and go through the gate opposite into East Wood. Follow the well-marked path for 300m to a junction of paths at a damp, grassy glade.

(5) Bear left then sharply left again to emerge through a gate into a field. This area often shows evidence of intense badger activity with large scrapes in the turf. Follow the path half left across the field to go through two field gates and on to a gravel track between gardens to a lane at (E) Horsleys Green. Turn right along it as far as the entrance to the (F) Wycliffe Centre.

(6) Go down the driveway into the Centre and take the second footpath on the right, just past a post box. Follow this path as it swings round to the left through Dells Wood. Take care as it descends steeply to a junction of paths at the valley bottom. On the way down are the remains of earlier quarrying.

(7) At the junction, turn left along a gravelly track and proceed for over 600m along the valley floor through a mixture of neglected coppice, conifer plantation and mature beech. Go through a gate to emerge at the edge of a field. Continue straight ahead between two fields then to the left of a hedgerow. At the end follow the hedge round to the right and along to the entrance to the next field. Do not enter, but keep straight ahead to the left of a hedgerow.

(8) Stay on this bridleway past (G) Fillingdon Farm and the slate roof of The Dashwood Arms should become visible a short way off, marking the end of the walk.(S/E)

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Start & Finish: Old Oxford Road, Piddington (HP14 3BH). Grid ref: SU 807 942

Parking: The public car park behind the Dashwood Roadhouse or by the verge in Old Oxford Road

Local transport: Bus 28a runs between High Wycombe and Cadmore End on Monday to Friday. Bus 40 runs between High Wycombe and Thame all week. Bus 275 runs between High Wycombe and Oxford on Monday to Friday. Bus 643 runs between High Wycombe and Stokenchurch on Monday to Friday

Terrain: An undulating walk with three moderate climbs and one steep descent.

Food & Drink: The Dashwood Roadhouse, Piddington. None on the walk

This walk was created for the book "50 Great Walks in the Chilterns" available from the Chiltern Society or from Amazon.

(A) Piddington and Ham Farm : The Dashwood Roadhouse is on the Old Oxford Road, one of the many local routes that connected London to Oxford. Across the main road is Ham Farm. The track is possibly one of the most ancient of the routes and passes right through Bottom Wood. It’s believed to be a packhorse trail, taking the line of least gradient from Wycombe to Stokenchurch. Just beside the main A40 at the entrance to Ham Farm the remains of the Old Oxford Road can be seen alongside the original boundary hedge.

(B) Hollow Way: This is part of the toll road coaching route to Oxford and is clearly man-made. A little further on, where the path veers left away from the edge of the wood, the hollow way becomes deeper and broader, rivalling the most dramatic sections of Grim’s Ditch, but is not marked on any map. It’s an impressive piece of work, possibly constructed to avoid the steep ascent of the Old Oxford Road, while avoiding the hoof-churned mire in the valley below.

(C) Turnpike: To improve the main road, the Beaconsfield Turnpike Tust was founded in 1718. The ascent from Piddington was known as Old Dashwood Hill and was the favourite haunt of a highwayman called Jack Shrimpton. He was eventually hanged in London.

(D) Bottom Wood is owned by the Chiltern Society and managed as a nature reserve. The 36 acre site covers the valley bottom and steep south-facing slope. About 80% of the reserve is ancient woodland, (ie. continuously wooded since 1600AD); the remainder is Toothill, part of which is now chalk grassland, reclaimed in 1990 from a dying pine plantation. The clay-with-flint and chalky soil so typical of the Chilterns helps Bottom Wood support over 700 different kinds of plants and animals, including dormice and several other rare British species. The wood is particularly attractive in late spring when the bluebells flower in abundance. In the summer, the open chalk grassland on Toothill provides a fine display of wildflowers, orchids and butterflies. The directed route through Bottom Wood follows the circular path clockwise. It is also possible to follow the anticlockwise route or the central bridleway, both of which are well marked and offer closer views of the massed bluebells in due season. All three routes through lead to the same point at the Radnage end of the reserve. The bridleway that passes through it is the old packhorse trail that has continued up from Ham Farm. There are some references suggesting it could also have been a coaching route.

(E) Horsleys Green: The village dates back to the 18th century and probably gets its name from ‘Ostlers Green’, a place where there were stables.

(F) The Wycliffe Centre: At the time of writing the centre was subject to planning permission for conversion to sheltered accommodation. Should this take place then care should be taken in navigating the described route. The site was originally a camp for disabled evacuees during WWII. It became the UK Headquarters of Wycliffe Bible Translators and to date the organisation has translated the bible into approximately 2,000 languages.

(G) Fillingdon Farm: Home to Art of Africa. All their work is original handcraft, made where possible from the natural materials for which Africa is famed, including stone, silver, cotton, clay, wood, mohair and leather. They hold two major exhibitions a year and are open by appointment at other times.