SWC Walk 195 – Cheddington to Leighton Buzzard
Length: 24.5 km (15.2 mi) [shorter walk possible, see below]
Ascent/Descent: 234 m; Net Walking Time: ca. 5 ½ hours
Toughness: 5 out of 10
Take the 09.24 Milton Keynes Central train from Euston (calls Watford Junction 09.41), arriving Cheddington at 10.04;
Return trains: xx.33, xx.53 and xx.59 (34 to 47 minutes journey time) to Euston; alternatively, at xx.24 there's a train to Clapham Junction (68 minutes journey time).
Buy a Leighton Buzzard return.
“A splendid walk through East Buckinghamshire’s rolling landscape of fields and wooded areas on the edge of the Chiltern Hills, linking up a handful of delightful hill top villages to provide panoramic views across pleasant countryside. Broadly following the Thames/Great Ouse watershed in the morning, it initially heads west, mostly with grand views of the Chilterns (when not walking in wooded areas), to then turn north with far views into Aylesbury Vale to the west, on to lunch pubs at either Aston Abbotts or Cublington. The afternoon route is more level, but still features the hilltop village of Wing and ends with a fairly tranquil descent into Linslade (for Leighton Buzzard station).“
The walk includes several arable field crossings before lunch, this might be the right time of year to walk it.
Please see the comments section on the website for one walker’s remarks on recent route changes. We will investigate them to then update the directions.
Disclaimer: This walk involves a level crossing of a dual carriageway, close to the end. So far, every SWC walker has survived the experience intact.
It is possible to shorten the walk by taking a bus to Leighton Buzzard station, for details see the ‘Walk Options’ chapter on page 2 of the directions.
The recommended
lunch options are
The Unicorn in
Cublington (13.9 km/8.7 mi) [a table has been booked], or (a little earlier and 250m off-route) the
Royal Oak Inn in
Aston Abbotts (11.5 km/7.1 mi). For
tea, there are
several pubs listed in the directions, they are all in the Linslade part of town, i.e. close to the station. There is also a new or re-opened pub in Leighton Buzzard’s centre (
The Black Lion at 20 High Street), which has been voted ‘
CAMRA Pub of the Year Bedfordshire’ in its first year. That is asking to be tried out. As is
The Bald Buzzard, a new micropub at 6 Hockcliffe Street.
For
walk directions,
map,
height profile,
comments, and
gpx/kml files click
here.
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