23 Nov 2013: Ashridge to Aldbury
| Walk descriptor | Test walk | Day | 00 | ||
| Date | Sat 23 Nov 2013 | Start to end time | 02h 49m | ||
| Start point | Ashridge | End point | Aldbury | ||
| Miles today | 06.99 | Cu miles | 0,006.99 | ||
| Ft today | 869 | Cu ft | 869 | ||
| Route miles left | 0,000 | Route ft left | 000,000 | ||
| Today’s weather | Light drizzle at start, sunny spells later. No wind, cool (about 6 C) | ||||
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| Today’s location (the red circle and cross shows where I am at the moment) |
GPX based track of today’s walk (click here to access to access downloadable file) |
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Commentary
A short walk in the North Chilterns, starting and ending at the National Trust car park at Ashridge, near the Bridgewater Monument. Lots of interesting natural and human history. The estate was once owned by the Bridgewater family and the family home at Ashridge is now a management college (poor buggers…). The third Earl of Bridgewater is commemorated in a memorial tower which is open to the public in the summer. He made his name by building the first of the UK’s canals and thereby making the industrial revolution possible. The walk was a late autumn stroll through the beech woods, with fine views from the Chiltern escarpment especially over the Vale of Aylesbury. It is a late Autumn this year, so the trees were still putting on a good display of colour. Basic but excellent tea shop near the monument at the end.
Today’s photos (click to enlarge)
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| Approaching the Bridgewater Monument, Ashridge National Trust | The father of inland navigation… |
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| From Chiltern escarpment looking back towards Aldbury | On the Ridgeway near Brook’s Statnalls Wood |
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| Spindletree berries | Aldbury |
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| Inchcombe Hole chalk grassland | |
