{"id":"69847973533dbb4b73118bf3","title":"Walk 34 Hambleden And Turville","path":"walks/scrapbook/by-year/2013/volume-3-jan-to-mar-2013/walk-34-hambleden-and-turville","contentMarkdown":"# 🥾 Walk 34 - Hambleden and Turville\n\nThis walk had a film and TV theme to it, as many of the villages have been used for location filming for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Avengers, 101 Dalmatians, Vicar of Dibley, Midsomer Murders, Lewis and Marple to name a few. Our leader, Mike, came armed with fascinating facts about them.\n\nSixteen of us turned up on this first Saturday in March. The weather was dry but cloudy and only a few degrees above zero. Nonetheless with no wind to speak of and plenty of Chiltern hills to climb, we didn't feel the cold.\n\nWe set off from the car park by the Stag & Huntsman in Hambleden, heading north on the road passing the Manor House, then we turned right into the road that heads east to Hutton's Farm before turning north again and into the North Close Copse plantation.\n\n![Walking through the North Close Copse Plantation, near Hambleden](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume3/images/hambleden_woods.jpg)\n\nThe route continued north through farmland and woodland through the hamlets of Rockwell End, Pheasants and Parmoor before turning west through Hatchet Wood to the village of Skirmett. Turning north again and heading toward Turville we passed by the aptly named Watery Lane, which seems to be flooded every time we pass this way.\n\nWe crossed a field that ran alongside Watery Lane, which contained a stream blocking our path. Someone had thoughtfully placed a plank over the stream. Although most of us made use of this makeshift bridge, some of our older members decided to leap across it instead! Trying to prove something?\n\nAfter stopping for our picnic lunch on Turville Hill, we entered the village from the north and immediately visited the Bull & Butcher pub. There was just enough room for us all inside the pub, which was nice and warm.\n\n![Crossing a spring by Watery Lane. Most of us used the plank bridge but some had other ideas.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume3/images/watery_lane.jpg)\n\nRefreshed we set off south-west out of Turville, up and down through a mixture of farmland and woodland, in a loop back to Skirmett. We passed an organised group of children who were map-reading and navigating round the area. They seemed to be enjoying themselves.\n\nHeading south out of Skirmett, we took a slightly more direct route back to Hambleden, following footpaths that ran parallel to the Skirmett Road. This part of the route took us through open farmland and through the pretty hamlet of Pheasant's Hill. Here the footpath divided the gardens of the private houses into two. Each garden had a gate either side of the path to allow access to the owners. One gardener with a sense of humour had shown off his/her topiary skills with a strange-looking grinning gonk-style head.\n\nWe entered Hambleden on the other side of the church from where we had started the walk. This gave us an opportunity to see more of the pretty little village.\n\n![Heading south out of Turville with the Windmill on Turville Hill in the background.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume3/images/turville_windmill.jpg)\n\nThe recent spell of dry weather is definitely having a positive effect on the countryside, which is slowly recovering from the excessive rain of last year and the beginning of this year. We hardly got our boots muddy on this walk!\n\nA small number of us stayed on after the walk for tea and cake at a little shop, which also seemed to be the local grocery store and post office. You can see our route on Google Maps.\n\n![Up-hill slope heading out of Turville toward Skirmett. Turville Hill is in the background.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume3/images/turville_uphill.jpg)\n\n![One of the gardeners in Pheasant's Hill has a talent for topiary and a sense of humour.](https://www.berksww.org.uk/scrapbooks/volume3/images/topiary_head.jpg)\n\n## 📸 Back to Volume 3\n\nReturn to volume index","contentHtml":"

🥾 Walk 34 - Hambleden and Turville

\n

This walk had a film and TV theme to it, as many of the villages have been used for location filming for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Avengers, 101 Dalmatians, Vicar of Dibley, Midsomer Murders, Lewis and Marple to name a few. Our leader, Mike, came armed with fascinating facts about them.

\n

Sixteen of us turned up on this first Saturday in March. The weather was dry but cloudy and only a few degrees above zero. Nonetheless with no wind to speak of and plenty of Chiltern hills to climb, we didn't feel the cold.

\n

We set off from the car park by the Stag & Huntsman in Hambleden, heading north on the road passing the Manor House, then we turned right into the road that heads east to Hutton's Farm before turning north again and into the North Close Copse plantation.

\n

\"Walking

\n

The route continued north through farmland and woodland through the hamlets of Rockwell End, Pheasants and Parmoor before turning west through Hatchet Wood to the village of Skirmett. Turning north again and heading toward Turville we passed by the aptly named Watery Lane, which seems to be flooded every time we pass this way.

\n

We crossed a field that ran alongside Watery Lane, which contained a stream blocking our path. Someone had thoughtfully placed a plank over the stream. Although most of us made use of this makeshift bridge, some of our older members decided to leap across it instead! Trying to prove something?

\n

After stopping for our picnic lunch on Turville Hill, we entered the village from the north and immediately visited the Bull & Butcher pub. There was just enough room for us all inside the pub, which was nice and warm.

\n

\"Crossing

\n

Refreshed we set off south-west out of Turville, up and down through a mixture of farmland and woodland, in a loop back to Skirmett. We passed an organised group of children who were map-reading and navigating round the area. They seemed to be enjoying themselves.

\n

Heading south out of Skirmett, we took a slightly more direct route back to Hambleden, following footpaths that ran parallel to the Skirmett Road. This part of the route took us through open farmland and through the pretty hamlet of Pheasant's Hill. Here the footpath divided the gardens of the private houses into two. Each garden had a gate either side of the path to allow access to the owners. One gardener with a sense of humour had shown off his/her topiary skills with a strange-looking grinning gonk-style head.

\n

We entered Hambleden on the other side of the church from where we had started the walk. This gave us an opportunity to see more of the pretty little village.

\n

\"Heading

\n

The recent spell of dry weather is definitely having a positive effect on the countryside, which is slowly recovering from the excessive rain of last year and the beginning of this year. We hardly got our boots muddy on this walk!

\n

A small number of us stayed on after the walk for tea and cake at a little shop, which also seemed to be the local grocery store and post office. You can see our route on Google Maps.

\n

\"Up-hill

\n

\"One

\n

📸 Back to Volume 3

\n

Return to volume index

\n"}