Walk 5 : Great Missenden to Amersham
Little Missenden & Penn Wood
| Length | 16.3km (10.1 miles), 5 hours. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow 8 hours. |
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| OS Landranger Map | No.165. Great Missenden, map reference SP 893 013, is in Buckinghamshire, 8km north-west of Amersham. |
| Toughness | 5 out of 10. |
| Features | Only 40 minutes from London by train, this makes an easy outing at any time of year, though note that in January and February one section of the bridleway just before point [6] is invariably flooded. The route is more open than most Chilterns walks, but there is one large beech wood – Penn Wood – which produces fine autumn colours. Other attractions include four interesting churches, the ancient village of Little Missenden, and Amersham's surprisingly unspolit old town, which is approached over a ridge with fine views. After tea, it is a 20 minute walk up through a wood to reach the station. |
| Shortening the Walk | The easiest way to shorten the walk is to carry on along the road past The Crown Inn at point [5] and follow the well-waymarked South Bucks Way into old Amersham – a distance of 3.6km (2.2 miles) compared to 9.4km (5.8 miles) by the main walk route. The only disadvantage of this short cut is that it is close to the busy A413 throughout. Taking it reduces the walk to 10.5km (6.5 miles).
The bus from the Squirrel pub in Penn Wood no longer operates. There is an hourly bus into Amersham from point [6] (see walk text for details of the exact location of the stop: for bus times, see TraveLine or call 0871 200 2233 and ask for times from Holmer Green), but this is a disappointing place to finish the walk. Another option would be to carry on the short distance to one of the lunchtime pubs and call a taxi from there. |
| History | The Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul in Great Missenden was built mainly in the fourteenth century. It is located on a hill outside the town because when it was built Great Missenden was only a collection of scattered farms, and the hilltop location made a good focal point. It has a marble monument to a certain Lady Boys, for which the sculptor Nicholas Stone was paid £30 in 1638.
St John the Baptist Church in Little Missenden has a giant thirteenth-century mural to St Christopher carrying the Christ child across the waters. Part of the church was built in the tenth century. The gatepost is in memory of Dunkirk in 1940. All Saints Church in Coleshill is a neo-Gothic church designed by Street, whose work was praised by Betjeman. The stone for the church, completed in 1856, was brought by river to Windsor and then by cart. The building of the Parish Church of St Mary in Amersham started in the early 1100s. The window glass is mainly from the nineteenth century. |
| Saturday Walkers' Club | Take the train nearest to 9.55am (before or after) from Marylebone Station to Great Missenden. Journey time 42 minutes. Great Missenden is one stop outside Travelcard Zone 9, so the most flexible option is a Zones 1-9 Travelcard plus a single from Amersham to Great Missenden. On the return journey from Amersham you would then be able to use the four Underground trains an hour to Baker Street (45 minutes) as well as the half-hourly Chiltern Railway trains (hourly on Sundays) to Marylebone (39 minutes). |
| Lunch | The recommended lunchstop is the Squirrel pub (tel 01494 711 291) in Penn Street, 10km (6.2 miles) into the walk, which serves food from midday to 2pm daily. But you really are spoiled for choice for pubs on this walk, all of which have some outside seating on fine days.
100 metres down the road from the Squirrel, the Hit or Miss Inn (tel 01494 713 109) – the name refers to cricket, in case you were wondering – has a broader and more gourmet menu, and plenty of seating. It serves food till 2.30 daily and all afternoon on Sunday, and is open in the afternoon for drinks, including tea and coffee. For slower walkers or late starters, Little Missenden, 6km (3.7 miles) into the walk, has two characterful old pubs, though their food offering is more limited. The Red Lion (tel 01494 862 876) serves basic meals till 2.15pm daily, while the Crown (tel 01494 862 571) offers pies, baked potatoes, sandwiches and soup from midday to 2pm Monday to Saturday. Lastly, The Furrow in Winchmore Hill (tel 01494 721 001) – 11.7km (7.3 miles) into the walk – is a more modern-style pub which offers an inventive menu till 3pm daily, and is open for drinks, including tea and coffee, all afternoon. It has some outside tables. This could even act as a tea stop for slower walkers or on a fine summer afternoon. |
| Tea | The recommended tea stop is Seasons Café Deli in Old Amersham, which is open until 6pm daily. This has limited seating, however, so groups might like to explore other options nearby. These include a number of ancient pubs – including the Crown Inn Hotel 50 metres to the west of Seasons, which offers afternoon tea, or the Kings Arms 100 metres beyond that. Just before Seasons on the route there is also the Saracen's Head Inn and the Nags Head.
Alternatively, 100 metres in the other direction, on the left-hand side of the road, is Il Bertorelli, a chain restaurant which nevertheless also offers tea and coffee in the afternoons. There are slim pickings up by Amersham Station, but if you are desperate, there is a Tesco Express just up the road selling snacks and a Subway beyond that which sells tea. |
| Travel by Train |
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| Travel by Car |
Start: Great Missenden Station is near : HP16 9AY [gmap] Finish: Amersham Station is near : HP6 5DW [gmap] Return to your car by train:
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| OS Explorer Map |
172 : Chiltern Hills East [Amazon] 181 : Chiltern Hills North [Amazon] |
| Downloads |
Download and print the PDF file. Tip: In the Print screen, select Page Scaling : Multiple Pages per Sheet. Try 2 pages.
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| Revised | This walk was fully revised in : Mar-09 For the walk map, please see the Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1 |
Walking Instructions
Download and print the PDF file for revised walking instructions. But, for the map, see Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
