Having written this walk, I can't ever have been walking it in May, as I was surprised that it is a top-notch buttercup (and cow parsley) walk. Between leaving the A road at the start behind and reaching Aylesbury's suburbia near the end, you spend about 2/3 of the time surrounded by the wee buggers. Some fields were so intensely yellow that from distance they resembled rape oil seed fields in high season. There was also one patch of very pungent wild garlic.

Other than that we had the usual advantages of the Aylesbury Vale: fine far views for very little effort in regard of climbing upwards; pretty and quiet villages with characterful old houses; a spread of pubs en route and a half-hourly train service on the way back. We stopped at The Bell in Hardwick for early lunch in their front garden and then again at The White Swan in Whitchurch for seconds, sitting in their lush back garden. The re-worked route around the latest bit of suburbia works quite well, and the bridge over the Union Canal branch has re-opened, so the diversion there is not needed anymore.

Wildlife: hairy goats, kites, heron, canada geese, partridges, chicken, sheep with lambs, horses with foals. Return train: 18.20.

Weather: sunny with passing clouds and a breeze

Attendees: 3

Hope ‘more info to come’ includes some short cut

Yes, the short cuts are mentioned in the expanded walk post, but you didn't have to wait for this. If you click on the walk number in the coloured panel on the right side of the walk header, it will take you to the walk's introduction page with full details of short cuts, lunch stops, etc.

Hi,

I would like to do this walk with Walk options - cutting out 3.8 miles?

Any other takers?

Shortcuts: It is possible to shorten the walk in two ways. Shortcuts I and II are mutually exclusive though:

Shortcut I from Weedon to Rowsham cuts out 6.2 km length and 84m ascent/descent (lunch in Weedon),

giving a rating of 3/10;

Shortcut II from Hardwick to Aston Abbotts cuts out 2.8 km length and 51m descent/re-ascent (lunch in

Hardwick or Aston Abbotts) giving a rating of 4/10.

Talk about shortcuts, we found shortcuts alright. All 5 of us more or less decided at the station, that on such a very hot day, there was nothing for it but to take the big shortcut, Shortcut 1.

And so we set off across the Buckinghamshire Serengeti, disturbing the occasional herd of woolly ungulates. Imagine our horror when we arrived at Weedon shortly after 12 to find that that walk’s only pub wasn’t going to open till 2. Pints of imaginary cider started evaporating before my very eyes!

However, like Shackleton at the South Pole and Franklin at the North, it didn’t take long for our true British resolve to kick in. Fortified only by water from the doggy tap (yes doggy tap) we decided to press on with the short walk. This lasted about 5 minutes. Then one of our number, Midshipman Boon I believe it was, said “Ive just invented Shortcut 3, lets take that”. So we took that. It led us more or less directly to Bierton - via an illegally locked gate, up and down the sides of a ditch, over a concealed bridge and through an overgrown kissing gate. But we got there and my cider was waiting for me. Then Midshipman Boon said “Ive just invented Shortcut 4, lets take that”. So we took that. This took us a quicker way to the canal – except for where we got lost in a new housing estate built over the “Aylesbury Round Walk”. We had to ask a local the way out (we didn’t mention SWC though). And so we found the canal which eventually led us to another pub where another pint of cider was waiting for me, then to the station where a train was waiting for me. We must have walked a whole 8 miles. General consensus on the walk (the little we saw of it) was that it is not the most exciting SWC has to offer. “It’s a day out though” chipped in another.

Just 2 for this walk. We both opted for the short walk. We reached the 5 Elms at 12:30. Sadly, a board outside announced they were only open from 2-5. Strange hours for a pub to keep and more or less scuppers the short walk as a Sunday option. I opted to continue the short walk. My companion decided to divert to the pub on the long walk and maybe get a bus from there. We went slightly astray after the 5 Elms, the instruction to cross the road and continue up the High Street being a bit vague. However we soon put ourselves right. One compensation for taking the wrong road was discovering a pond full of Aylesbury ducks down it. I continued on my own (nothing new there). I have to say that although the directions got me round without getting lost, I quite often had the feeling I could be. Not sure why. Perhaps the directions felt a little vague at times or perhaps a little more was needed by way of confirmation. Losing count of which field I was in now probably didn’t help. Weather was cloudy breezy with occasional light showers I was round before the serious rain started. It looked bad up on the hills from the train back.

Just had a look at the Five Elms website This may partly explain the strange hours today, Hopefully a temporary aberration.

"Please note: No food available

from Sunday 3rd Sep until Thursday 21st Sep 2017 inclusive"

If anyone’s at all interested, I have come to the conclusion that we went slightly astray before the 5 Elms. We reached it from a different direction which is why we were confused about the route onward. Perhaps we took the wrong exit out of the narrowing field.

Intend going, but walking one of the longer versions. Decision about which one to be made after lunch at The Bell in Hardwick.

10 walkers in sunny yet cool weather. 3 ended up doing the posted short walk, all others opted for the long (i.e.: normal) version. The known weaknesses of this walk are the road-heavy beginning, some arable field crossings (fine today though after the dry weather we have had) and the a-touch-too-long stretches of grassy fields and then the canalside path into the sprawling Aylesbury. Despite that, all agreed that the splendour of the rest of the walk (fine far Chiltern views, pretty villages, plenty of streams) and the excellent lunch pub in Hardwick made this a very worthwhile day out.

One veteran SWC walker had chosen this as his first walk back with the SWC after several years off our group walks, he seemed happy enough.

Anyone on this?

Very likely!

METROPOLITAN LINE: Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September, between 1100 and 1645 each day, no service between Chalfont & Latimer and Chesham. A replacement bus service operates between Amersham and Chesham.

So what, Anonymous? It's only the Chesham branch line which is affected, not the Chiltern trains via Amersham.

The Met line closure between Chalfont and Latimer and Chesham Stations(to allow the running of a steam train on the line) will not affect Met line trains running between Baker Street and Amersham or the Chiltern line service between Marylebone and Aylesbury. It will have no impact on those wishing to do this walk.

Bill and Sean- thanks for your clarification. Will be on this walk.

5

fine_and_sunny

Five started, one scampered off ahead, one took it very easy and the remaining 3 had a lovely day in the sunshine.

Lunch was in the garden at The White Swan in Whitchurch.

Lots of bird life and pretty villages. The blackberries were still out in force so the girls were happy!