The Chiltern Way is a long distance path, supervised by the Chiltern Society, which extends from around Hitchin to the north east to Goring near Reading in the south west. It is a “circular” walk of nearly 200 miles in total, although it looks a pretty squashed oval shape on a map. While it would have been lovely to have walked the entire route, it wasn’t practicable on day walks from North Hertfordshire to cover the southern sections.
So from March to August 2023 we walked the northern sections. We started at Barton-le-Clay and walked in a clockwise direction around the Chiltern Way to Flamstead. From there we cut across to rejoin the Chiltern Way near Ashridge Forest and finished up at Sharpenhoe Clappers.
In September ten of us undertook two circular walks, cleverly created by our walk leader, Chris, along some southern sections of the Chiltern Way, staying overnight near Stokenchurch. The terrain was quite different from the northern Chilterns - dry valley bottoms, with much steeper hills, and a great deal of woodland. The villages were frequently picturesque, including the “Vicar of Dibley” village of Turville with the “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” windmill at Cobstone on the hill above.
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