Distance: 20.2km (180.5km), time spent: 6:11.
Altitude (start / end / highest): 129m / 233m / 247m.
Weather: Varying, some sun, some clouds, some rain.
Last day on the ridge. Going to Ivinghoe Beacon, but there is no light guiding my way from there now today. So far The Ridgeway has met all my expectations, being a pleasant walk through a comfortably countryside going from inn to inn. And the trail continues in that way today as well after breakfast and navigating my way out of Wendover, to once again enter farmlands and woods.
Interior of The Red Lion in Wendover.
It was another day where the first part of the trail took me through a series of lovely woods, with Barn Wood throwing its wooden embrace around me first. Then quickly changing into Hale Wood. It is walking through these kind of woods that the surface you walk on is the best on the trail. I feel a certain amount of serenity walking through the woods, which are quiet except for the sounds of birds chirping from between the trees.
A pleasant walk through Barn Wood at the start of the day.
After Hale Wood, the trail with me on it sinks down into a sunken bridleway, walking in an ascending hollow up through the forest. The trees look even taller from the sunken bridleway, but it is far from a lowdown on the trail. Northill Wood is up next, after a short intermission going through a field.
A sunken bridleway.
The first of the rain arrives when I am in Tring Park, but it is not much to speak of. The Ridgeway just goes through a part of Tring Park, keeping to itself up on the ridge underneath the trees. More people here, as it is bigger. It also contains some curious wooden installations, notably in an area designed for children. A short detour down to the lower and more open part of the park, presents me with the first views of Ivinghoe Beacon up ahead. It is always a little bit weird to see the end of a walk getting closer. I pass a tall obelisk on the way down, a monument to a Nell Gwynne, on the way up again, I pass all that remains of the Summer House of a nearby mansion.
One of many curious installations in the natural play areay in Tring Park.
Wigginton becomes the site of my lunch detour for the day, as always does the walk out from the trail appear longer than it is. The Greyhound Inn is the first of two with the same name that I will visit this day. The bar comes with a set of rules: "1. Bartender is always right. 2. If bartender is wrong, see rule 1". Anyway, my order of a baguette with ham and a cup of coffee should not break any of those rules. It is also a lucky break to have lunch at, it has started to rain outside.
A marker of a kind in Tring Park, presenting the view of the upper part of the park, which is where The Ridgeway goes through.
Leaving Wigginton, the rain is focused at another places, I walk with the hope of escaping it for the remainder of my walk (I always like to end a walk in good weather). The path looks now as it cuts through the clouds, which are dark on both sides. Crossing a busy motorway, there is a good and now dramatic view of Ivinghoe Beacon in the distance from the bridge.
Views of Ivinghoe Beacon in the distance from a bridge crossing a busy motorway.
I do not escape the rain, though it only lasts for about fifteen minutes. It comes down with full force when I am at Tring Station (from where I will take a train back to London tomorrow). Fortunately, those fifteen minutes happened before I embarked on the final and really nice section of the trail to Ivinghoe Beacon.
The path through the Aldbury Nowers Nature Reserve lets you climb up using these stairs put into the ground.
After shaking the rain of me, I step into the forest surrounding Aldbury Nowers on a series of stairs put into the ground. There is even another Grim's Ditch here. Out of the forest, I enter an undulating and grassy line of hills. I am quite soft for these kind of features. Walking on open wide verdant and rolling hills with views. Under the dark clouds, the sight of the grassy path from Pitstone Hill leading towards the beacon at the end is great. However, there is a tiny sting to the wind.
View of the wonderful undulating hilly and grassy landscape from Pitstone Hill towards Ivinghoe Beacon.
I think this last section of The Ridgewalk is my favorite of them all, a part of me does not want it to end. I walk down the grassy floor of Pitstone Hill, crosses a minor road before ascending in a curve past Incombe Hole. Then a short walk through a forested path at Steps Hill takes me out to the last view of Ivinghoe Beacon before I will climb it. I can see the well-trodden path going up to the top.
Ivinghoe Beacon, the end of The Ridgeway, from Steps Hill.
I arrive at Ivinghoe Beacon almost having the hill to myself. Only two persons are nearby, steering their model planes in the air above me, the hill is a favoured location for this kind of activity. Little remains of the old Iron Age hill fort that once stood here now. At the top there is one small monument with an information board showcasing the outline of the trail, and another stone marker, possibly a trigonometry point of a kind. I have arrived at the end of The Ridgeway very satisfied. It might not be sunny, but this is wonderful. I sit down behind the information board monument in shelter from the wind, having a minor celebration of finishing the walk with chocolate and jelly beans.
Arrived at Ivinghoe Beacon, finishing The Ridgeway.
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