Cuddington Walk

Once a year I try to find a walk that I have never tried before. We have been to Cuddington a few times, for choral society quiz nights etc. and the countryside looked very nice. So this route described in the Sunday Times seemed ideal.

Alison had gone to stay with her sister for a couple of days, primarily to go to see her beloved City play on the Saturday afternoon. So it was a beautiful Friday morning when I drove what was only twenty minutes to Cuddington. I ended up parking very close to Tibbys Lane where the walk started, passing the attractive village church.

I immediately wished I had brought my compass as the first path seemed to be going in the wrong direction (the route description was no help at all). So I doubled back and took what turned out to be a parallel and much more attractive path towards Nether Wichendon. I'm glad I did otherwise I would have missed this lovely village on the way. Just before the first houses is a bridge over the River Thame.

Nether Wichendon is a quite spectacular and secluded  village. Nether Wichendon House looks amazing and apparently is open to the public in May, so a note for a visit next year.

The church in the village has a prominent location.

So a promising start to the walk. Unfortunately that did not last. The next two and a half miles is along the Thame Valley Walk, a very boring flat route along the edge of fields.

There are no nice views and the only thing of interest is the small planted woodland.

Approaching Bridge Lodge, where you leave the Thame Valley Walk to join the North Bucks Way, I encountered a major problem. Somehow the path had not been well marked as I ended up the wrong side of a barbed wire fence. Although I searched, here was no way through. So instead of doubling back (where I had no confidence of finding the right way), I headed uphill along the edge of the field. In the distance I could see what was a decent track and skirted more fields to get there. All this time I was not on public footpaths, but it didn't seem to be a problem. The view back from the top of the incline was as good as I would see.

I ended up on what seemed to be a parkland road. It turned out to be a private road, part of the Eythrope Park Estate, but apart from one tractor, it was deserted. It brought me out on the main road near Waddesdon Hill. I wanted to see the next village, Upper Wichendon, so I walked down the edge of this fairly busy road before turning off to look at the church and views across the hills.

Leaving the village, I was back on the right route and stopped for lunch alongside a small valley.

After that it was another unattractive trek across many fields with no views. After crossing one field full of cows and calves, it would have been nice to have had this sign at the beginning rather than at the end.

Somehow I lost the path again (I was getting fed up with this) and ended up back on the Thame Valley Walk and retracing the same route back. At least I got to see Nether Wichendon again. The weather had been sunny for the first half but clouded over for a while. So probably the most disappointing of  any walk in Bucks. I will stick to walks  in the Chiltern Hills in the future.