Ridgeway: Day 7

• Start: The Red Lion, Longwich
• Finish: Penbury Manor, Tring
• Distance Walked: 27.5km
• Total Time: 9.5 hours
• Drugs Taken: Ibuprofen 12 tablets, Paracetamol 6 tablets.

We knew we had a lot to do today and as the Red Lion didn’t really offer breakfast, we left as soon as we were packed up and got a pastry and coffee, a few km’s in, at a local coffee shop in Prince’s Risborough, which was nice 🙂

This morning was all about hills, three of them to be exact. They all consisted of steep ascents through woodland onto chalky scrubland and all had stunning views from the top. First up was Brush Hill, with a nature reserve at the top.

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The views were stunning.

The road next to this climb is called ‘Kop hill’ and is the site of a motor sport event known as the Kop Hill Climb Festival, which is basically how fast can you drive a vintage car up a really steep hill! The adjacent Whiteleaf hill, also with stunning views, was home to a Neolithic burial ground, the oldest ancient monument in Buckinghamshire.

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The second climb was over Chequers Knap, taking in yet another nature reserve.

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After descending, we passed around Chequers, every 5 meters on this footpath, there were signs reminding us of the terrible things that would befall us if we were to step off it. There were also several very large security cameras. Fortunately, as we had zero desire to interrupt Boris’s lunch, these didn’t bother us in the slightest!

The final climb of the morning was Combe Hill.

Although this is not the highest point in the Chilterns, that distinction goes to Haddington Hill apparently, it is however the highest point on the Eastern Ridgeway at 260m.Craig decided that as it was his birthday, it was my job to climb the enormous erection commemorating the victims of the Boer war.

We then descended, via the Bacombe Hill nature reserve, all the way to Wendover for lunch. Lunch was an interesting toastie at a nice little cheese and wine shop on the high street.

The route then did a little tour of this pretty market town, including this nice little duck pond, before heading uphill again.

The majority of the afternoon was spent in quiet woodland and we saw virtually no-one else.

A bit of excitement occurred about 4pm, when we realised that we had only 30 minutes to get to Wiggington village shop before it closed! We raced along the bridleway at the nearly breakneck speed of 5km an hour, managing to reach the shop minutes before it shut and thus securing our pre-dinner gin and tonics for £3 a piece instead of £15!

We moved on and faced the biggest challenge of today. We crossed two A roads and Penbury Manor lay before us. However, there was a problem. The ‘car route’ was to go along the A-Road for 350m, then down a B road for another 700m and then along the drive to the house for another 350m. But our feet hurt 🙁 On the other hand, we could vault two fences, run across a bit of open farmland without the farmer catching us, break into the local football club and then nonchalantly approach the house from the rear, avoiding the peacocks! So, we did that 😀 There are no pictures, unfortunately, because when you are trespassing you don’t really have time for selfies!

Penbury Manor is lovely, though twice as expensive as anywhere else we have stayed, but it is Craig’s birthday!

The meal was fantastic, for starters I had the seared scallop and Craig the sesame crusted tuna.

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We both had the beef main, which was also excellent, particularly when washed down with a bottle of D’Arenburg.

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We had a cheese plate for dessert with a very nice glass of dessert wine. However, the staff knew that it was Craig’s birthday so they surprised us with a little birthday cheese cake!

Tomorrow is the shortest day. We will walk up to the Ivinghoe Beacon to finish the route and then back to Tring Train station to get the train to London.