Along ancient tracks

It was a fresh, blustery day, with the wind keeping the clouds moving when I took the South Bucks Way alongside the Misbourne, only to find the river had dried up and the bed where it once ran was now no more than a grassy hollow. And to think the river once ran with a force sufficient to power watermills. Where has the water gone?

The path climbed the hillside to Coneybank Wood. The higher the climb, the better the views, in retrospect, and the more likely one's hat is to blow away, as I can testify.

This is grand country, best appreciated from the higher ground where an ancient, muddy track led through woodland, at about 400 feet: a joy to walk. It led to Cobblershill, a sort of Spaghetti Junction of ancient byways where the smell of farms, sweet or otherwise, replaced the traffic's exhaust fumes. Here you could breath deeply without fear of being gassed.

I headed for Hampdenleaf Wood, a place with a lovely name, but sadly also a place of mud, caused by horses' hooves on the wet earth. Hereabouts was a dilapidated sign: "Danger Bull in Field". It looked as if it had been here since time immemorial, but either the bull was very old or the sign was out of date. Thankfully, the path bypassed the field, and further on I left the woods, where the right of way skirted a racecourse and eventually crossed the railway and the A413, which run parallel along the valley.

Another climb followed, to Bowood Lane, an old road set deep in a cutting. The path entered another wood, this time not the domain of horses. A pleasure it was, to walk dryshod on autumn's newly fallen leaves, a golden carpet laid out especially for the occasion.

At the Lee, a strategically-placed bench was the perfect spot to savour the delights of the 12th Century Old Church. It was built of chalk and clay, and has mercifully survived any threat of closure, although another, more recent building, the Church of St John the Baptist, is close by.

The Old Church stands in peaceful seclusion, tucked away safely and lovingly tended, I'm sure. The original glass of the east window was given to Great Hampden Church, but the Earl of Buckinghamshire, a royalist, banished it to the Old Church because it depicted the features of Oliver Cromwell.

Nearby is a field containing the sunken remains of an ancient village, and a 2,000-year-old yew, savagely blown down in the gales of 1990. And, just around the corner, is the village green, with pretty cottages, a pub, and a whacking great lump of puddingstone.

As a northerner, the first time I set eyes on puddingstone I believed it to be a man-made conglomerate of pebbles and mortar. In fact, it was formed millions of years ago when the sea retreated from south-east England, leaving lots of pebbles which were later covered in a cement material when the sea returned and were then left high and dry when the land rose. What appears to be builders' rubble is ancient, solid rock which was put to good use by the Saxons, Romans and Normans.

A more recent phenomenon can be found at the gateway to Pipers, where a two-ton ship's figurehead, hewn out of oak, guards the gateway. It was part of a wooden warship, the Howe, and depicts Admiral Richard Howe, First Lord of the Admiralty in 1783. I don't think it did him any favours, but perhaps I am unkind.

Old bridleways and pathways across soggy fields led back to Great Missenden, where I visited the parish church, with its massive, castellated tower. Then I followed the footpath through Abbey Park, the grounds of the former Missenden Abbey which was founded in 1133 by the Augustinian Order. The lake, despite the recent rains, was an all but dried-up shadow of its former self. Where has the water gone?

Approximate distance: 8 miles

Start and finish: railway station, Great Missenden

Route

Mobwell, Cobblershill, Hampdenleaf Wood, The Lee, Great Missenden Church, Abbey Park

Abbreviations

l. = left r. = right n. s. e. w. = north, south, east, west br. = bridge r.o.w. = right of way PH = public house m. = mile s/post = signpost f/post = fingerpost b/way = bridleway ch. = church f/p = footpath

Directions

Go down Station Approach, cross High Street, follow road for Chesham 250 yds, turn l. f/p South Bucks Way to Cobblershill.

Cont. into Hampdenleaf Wood quarter mile, r.o.w. e. alongside racecourse to lane, cross railway to A413 (cross), climb hill to Bowood Lane. Turn l at Kings Lane, then r. on r.o.w. to Old Church and New Church, The Lee, and village green.

Take rd s. by Cock & Rabbit pub, to Pipers, then track to Field End Grange, then s. on r.o.w. to rd. Turn l. then r. at Park Farm, cross by-pass, turn l to Church, then Abbey Park & around lake to outskirts of Great Missenden.

Pubs

Great Missenden: several

Mobwell: Black Horse

The Lee: Cock & Rabbit

Reproduced from Limited Edition magazine, exclusive guides to living in Hertfordshire, Middlesex and the London Borough of Barnet (01923 216295).

For a printable map of the walk, please click the image below.