swcwalks, book1, walk5, Great Missenden to Amersham. 6/6/24

A decent 11.3 mile walk through the Chilterns, last undertaken in December 2009. It was a cloudy afternoon, with sunny intervals and not much breeze.
There are four churches on this walk, and lunch was had at one of them; St John The Baptist, Little Missenden. There are also a number of hostelry lunch and tea options en route.
There are some classic Chiltern scenes on this walk, with one decent beech wood amongst them, but it is more agricultural than some others, and there's also minor evidence of the HS2 works, albeit no route diversions currently.
The paths were mainly good today, but it's clear where there can be 'flooding' issues, particularly along 'Toby's Lane'.
A nice return to 'Memory Lane', albeit this walker couldn't remember much of it!

[@gillianbridge-tj9bm]

Thank you again amib. Agree wholeheartedly with your comments throughout this walk and also those concerning the Chilterns; this is one area of the south east I know fairly well and it tends to come across as very manicured, beech woods apart. Highlight for me was Little Missenden church. Those wall paintings looked an amazing insight into a lost medieval world. Thank you so much

[@amib]

Pleasure Gillian.
Yes, this wasn't a particularly wooded Chilterns walk, which I prefer, but a decent enough.
This unseasonal weather may hamper a walk this week, but I'll try🤞
Thanks for watching again😉👍

[@LizSmith292]

Thanks again. Have just completed the Oxfordshire Way with the final section heading off over the Chilterns to Henley on Thames. I agree there is an element of a ‘picture perfect’ land management style but the walk does afford some uplighting views.

[@amib]

Yes, I've done walks over that way, and there are some nice parts of the Chilterns for sure, but it's not 'natural' enough for me. West Berks is nice.
I'm just back from the South Downs and it's less manicured, despite increasing 'encroachment'.
Thanks for watching again😉👍

[@LizSmith292]

You may enjoy a book I’m reading called ‘Between the chalk and the sea’. It describes the newly discovered/created Old Way pilgrimage trail from Southampton to Canterbury which partly uses the South Downs Way.

[@amib]

Funny you should mention that as yesterday's walk was a kind of pilgrimage😏
I'll check the book😉👍

[@julieblackstock8650]

hard to get decent walking weather lately

[@amib]

I know Julie. The last 12 months has been a shocker! I wasn't expecting it to carry over into the Summer☹️With St Swithun's looming, we'll probably get 40 days of it being too hot!😆Crazy weather!
Thanks for watching again😉👍