Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
Walk 45 : Princes Risborough to Great Missenden
The Chilterns, a windmill & Bryant's Bottom
| Length | 14.5km (9 miles), 4 hours 30 minutes. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow 7 hours. |
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| OS Landranger Map | No.165. Princes Risborough, map reference SP 799 027, is in Buckinghamshire, 11km south of Aylesbury. |
| Toughness | 5 out of 10. |
| Features | This walk across the Chilterns - the walker's heaven - is through sloping fields and beech woods and hamlets, past upmarket farms and upgraded cottages. It is easy, but has two short steep hills (with fine views) near the lunch stop (the walk directions offer an alternative route avoiding one of these). Small sections of the route can be muddy in wet weather, particularly before the lunch stop. |
| Shortening the Walk | You could order a taxi from the suggested lunchtime stop, the Gate pub in Bryant's Bottom (after 9.5km of walking) or from the Polecat Inn 5km further on. Both places also have rare buses pass by (none on Sunday; but on Saturday, for example, there tends to be one at 1.45pm from the Gate pub and one at 4pm passing the Polecat Inn). For bus information phone TraveLine on 084 57 382 000. |
| History |
Princes Risborough derives its name from the Black Prince who is said to have been lord of the manor there in 1343. The windmill in Lacey Green is the oldest smock mill in the country, built in 1650 and moved to this site in 1821. It was in use until 1918, milling corn, wheat, oats and barley. It is open for internal viewing from 2.30pm to 5.30pm, only on Sundays and bank holiday Mondays from May to September. |
| Lunch | The suggested lunchtime stop is the Gate pub (tel 01494 488 632) in Bryant's Bottom. Note that the bulk of the walk - 9.5km - is before lunch, so allow time. The pub serves food until 2.30pm Monday to Saturday, till 3pm Sunday. |
| Driving |
Start: Princes Risborough Station is near : HP27 9DD. [gmap] Finish: Great Missenden Station is near : HP16 9AY. [gmap] |
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| Train Travel |
London to Princes Risborough | Great Missenden to London |
| Warning | The text above was taken from an older edition of the book, and is a little out of date. Please check the updates for this walk. |
Walking Instructions
For a map and detailed walking instruction, please see Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
