Leave the car park for the road and keep left. Pass a track on the left and cross a cattle grid. Continue ahead to a field gate and waymark sign on the left. Go straight ahead, with the fence on the left. At the bottom of the field keep to the right of a mound of debris and enter the next field. Veer half left, heading to the left of Ward’s Hurst Farm. Go through a kissing gate. At the next kissing gate turn left, then go through a gate and keep the fence on your right. (The right of way has recently been modified here; if you find yourself heading down the hill at this point you have gone wrong.)
Continue ahead, passing under power lines, to a kissing gate, and take the Icknield Way through the Ashridge Estate. Follow the waymarked trail, including a steep descent of steps, through woodland to a kissing gate and continue ahead, still on the Icknield Way, avoiding the Boundary Trail branching off to the right. Through a kissing gate keep the fence on your left, climbing gently via two kissing gates to a marker stone for the Icknield Way, the Peddars Way and the Ridgeway.
Turn sharp right to a kissing gate and gate, and follow a clear track striking out across expansive downland. By a fence corner, head up the steep slope to the ridge and bear left along it to a kissing gate. This stretch of the walk offers grand views of Ivinghoe Beacon and the surrounding countryside. Walk ahead along the ridge at the Ridgeway sign, making for the start of the National Trail.
With your back to the Ridgeway plinth, follow the trail as it runs south. Descend steeply, keep left at the fork and make for the road. Cross over and continue on the National Trail, beginning a moderate climb. Go through a kissing gate and cut between trees before spotting a deep combe cutting in to the hillside on the right. Pass two stiles by gates, and when the Ridgeway sweeps right by a waymark, bear left.
Cross a track just beyond it and follow the woodland footpath until you reach the drive to Clipper Down Cottage. Join the road here, turn left and return to the car park.
Ivinghoe Beacon is a suitably dramatic setting for the start of the Ridgeway, the ancient trade route that was once busy with travellers. Cattle drovers used it regularly, as did locals on short journeys, long-distance traders and pilgrims. The Ridgeway trail The Ridgeway extends for 85 miles... (137km) through the Buckinghamshire Chilterns to the Thames, and then across Berkshire and into Wiltshire. In places the trail is as wide as a main road or a dual carriageway. When the original line became weathered or difficult to negotiate, travellers moved from one side to the other, gradually making the track wider. The character of the Ridgeway changes the further west you travel. Initially, the trail cuts through beechwood scenery – glorious in autumn – and across soft rolling hills. Over the Thames, the landscape assumes a totally different character. From the river onwards, the Ridgeway cuts across bleak, exposed downland, offering little in the way of shelter on a wet or windy day. This stretch of the Ridgeway passes through a landscape littered with long barrows, prehistoric forts and monuments. A ridged landscape The downs of Berkshire and Wiltshire and the softer country of the Chilterns are remnants of a landscape of huge domes and ridges formed around 25 million years ago. The upper strata consists of great ridges of chalk laid down in the sea probably more than 60 million years ago. Whether you are interested in history or geology, a walk along the Ridgeway is a journey through time. You can walk for miles without seeing another soul, following in the footsteps of 300 generations and enjoying the views of the same tracts of chalk downland, the same distant hills and the same broad river. Today, walkers can follow the route from start to finish, but that hasn’t always been the case. In 1942 the Ramblers Association proposed a long distance route across this part of southern England, but it was another 30 years before it was officially opened to the public. With its access to villages and overnight accommodation, many people choose the Ridgeway for a very pleasant walking holiday, allowing up to a week to complete the route at a leisurely pace.
Buckinghamshire is a land of glorious beech trees, wide views and imposing country houses, such as Stowe and Waddesdon Manor, set amid sumptuous gardens and dignified parkland. The Vale of Aylesbury is a vast playground for leisure seekers, and rising above it are the Chiltern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty where you can also find the woodland rides of Burnham Beeches.
Leave the car park for the road and keep left. Pass a track on the left and cross a cattle grid. Continue ahead to a field gate and waymark sign on the left. Go straight ahead, with the fence on the left. At the bottom of the field keep to the right of a mound of debris and enter the next field. Veer half left, heading to the left of Ward’s Hurst Farm. Go through a kissing gate. At the next kissing gate turn left, then go through a gate and keep the fence on your right. (The right of way has recently been modified here; if you find yourself heading down the hill at this point you have gone wrong.)
1 of 5
Continue ahead, passing under power lines, to a kissing gate, and take the Icknield Way through the Ashridge Estate. Follow the waymarked trail, including a steep descent of steps, through woodland to a kissing gate and continue ahead, still on the Icknield Way, avoiding the Boundary Trail branching off to the right. Through a kissing gate keep the fence on your left, climbing gently via two kissing gates to a marker stone for the Icknield Way, the Peddars Way and the Ridgeway.
2 of 5
Turn sharp right to a kissing gate and gate, and follow a clear track striking out across expansive downland. By a fence corner, head up the steep slope to the ridge and bear left along it to a kissing gate. This stretch of the walk offers grand views of Ivinghoe Beacon and the surrounding countryside. Walk ahead along the ridge at the Ridgeway sign, making for the start of the National Trail.
3 of 5
With your back to the Ridgeway plinth, follow the trail as it runs south. Descend steeply, keep left at the fork and make for the road. Cross over and continue on the National Trail, beginning a moderate climb. Go through a kissing gate and cut between trees before spotting a deep combe cutting in to the hillside on the right. Pass two stiles by gates, and when the Ridgeway sweeps right by a waymark, bear left.
4 of 5
Cross a track just beyond it and follow the woodland footpath until you reach the drive to Clipper Down Cottage. Join the road here, turn left and return to the car park.
Ivinghoe Beacon is a suitably dramatic setting for the start of the Ridgeway, the ancient trade route that was once busy with travellers. Cattle drovers used it regularly, as did locals on short journeys, long-distance traders and pilgrims. The Ridgeway trail The Ridgeway extends for 85 miles... (137km) through the Buckinghamshire Chilterns to the Thames, and then across Berkshire and into Wiltshire. In places the trail is as wide as a main road or a dual carriageway. When the original line became weathered or difficult to negotiate, travellers moved from one side to the other, gradually making the track wider. The character of the Ridgeway changes the further west you travel. Initially, the trail cuts through beechwood scenery – glorious in autumn – and across soft rolling hills. Over the Thames, the landscape assumes a totally different character. From the river onwards, the Ridgeway cuts across bleak, exposed downland, offering little in the way of shelter on a wet or windy day. This stretch of the Ridgeway passes through a landscape littered with long barrows, prehistoric forts and monuments. A ridged landscape The downs of Berkshire and Wiltshire and the softer country of the Chilterns are remnants of a landscape of huge domes and ridges formed around 25 million years ago. The upper strata consists of great ridges of chalk laid down in the sea probably more than 60 million years ago. Whether you are interested in history or geology, a walk along the Ridgeway is a journey through time. You can walk for miles without seeing another soul, following in the footsteps of 300 generations and enjoying the views of the same tracts of chalk downland, the same distant hills and the same broad river. Today, walkers can follow the route from start to finish, but that hasn’t always been the case. In 1942 the Ramblers Association proposed a long distance route across this part of southern England, but it was another 30 years before it was officially opened to the public. With its access to villages and overnight accommodation, many people choose the Ridgeway for a very pleasant walking holiday, allowing up to a week to complete the route at a leisurely pace.
Buckinghamshire is a land of glorious beech trees, wide views and imposing country houses, such as Stowe and Waddesdon Manor, set amid sumptuous gardens and dignified parkland. The Vale of Aylesbury is a vast playground for leisure seekers, and rising above it are the Chiltern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty where you can also find the woodland rides of Burnham Beeches.
