(S) The start is from the filling station/garage at Pedestal Roundabout. Go down the side of the garage into Cookshall Lane. The lane soon passes under a railway bridge. After another 150 yards, as the lane veers left, take the bridleway on the right (NB. Do Not Take the earlier footpath, over a stile and across a field). The bridleway, we take is accessed past a part wooden fence and follows an old enclosed and sunken track uphill.
(1) After 600 yards, at a Y-junction of paths, with a flight of steps in the middle, take the deep sunken footpath to the right. The climb gets noticeably steeper with banks still on both sides. As the path opens out stay straight on keeping the trees to the left.
At the top turn left and follow the narrow path with garden fences on the right. Follow this path keeping the fences to your right hand side and avoiding other paths which go off to the left. This eventually leads to a residential road by the entrance to Downley School.
Turn left past the entrance and onto a path directly opposite. Note: There are two paths next to each other, take the path on the right.
(2) The path soon turns right and comes out onto Plomer Green Lane (at 1 mile) in the middle of Downley Village. Here turn left and downhill. At the bottom turn right into Moor Lane. Follow the lane for 200 yards to where it opens out at Downley Common. As the lane turns left (towards the Sunnybank Methodist Church) go straight on along a narrow gravel track, signed Public Footpath, and into the woods.
(3) The track through the woods leads past a tastefully restored red-brick house and then narrows. Continue straight on and downhill until a junction. There is a choice of three - follow the middle, signed Hughenden Valley. This continues gradually downhill and exits the wood straight onto a fenced off bridleway between fields and still downhill.
At the bottom the bridleway enters a wood. Follow the main track as it turns left & climbs steeply through the wood towards Hughenden Manor. On reaching the top go straight on following the road between the walls and past the Manor to your right hand side (at 2 miles). Follow the road straight on, soon over a cattle grid and then downhill towards the church.
(4) Immediately after passing the church turn left, finger-posted public footpath to Hughenden Valley. This leads across the grass to a metal gate. Go through the gate and follow a footpath along the bottom of the field and parallel to the Hughenden Stream, to your right hand side.
At the opposite side go through a gate and into a second field. Church Farm is soon passed to the right and the path enters a third field. Continue along the bottom of the third field and into a fourth. Stay straight on avoiding a path to the right leading to the main road.
Soon to the right is an isolated old tree in the middle of the field. Stay across the centre of the field keeping the tree to your right hand side. At the opposite side of the field follow the path as it becomes enclosed with gardens on the right and soon a school on the left. Within a short distance the path descends some steps and comes out onto Valley Road.
(5) Turn left for a few yards and just before the roundabout turn right to cross over Valley Road using the traffic island. Continue left along the road for just a few yards then turn right into Boss Lane (at 3 miles). Follow Boss Lane as it first turns left past some houses and then veers right and left and begins to climb. Immediately past two old houses, to your right hand side, the lane turns right and continues to climb. After 50 yards a driveway to the left leads to a large house and on the right is a farmhouse. Continue straight on along the enclosed bridleway, signed restricted byway. The path steepens and climbs for almost half a mile. At the top go straight on along a lane (Pipers Lane) past Piper's Corner School. 460 yards past the school's main entrance and just before the lane bends around to the right, turn left onto a narrow, enclosed path with fields to the left and garden fences to the right (at 4 miles).
(6) Immediately after leaving Pipers Lane, turn left through a metal kissing gate. Go straight across the left edge of a field. At the other edge go through a gate into a second field. Then straight across the field and downhill. After another 200 yards stay straight on past a copse to your left hand side and out through a metal kissing gate onto a road (Hatches Lane).
(7) Turn right along Hatches Lane. After just 65 yards, turn very sharp left onto a driveway. The public right of way is along the drive as far as the gates to the private property. At this point follow the path to the left and into the woods (Hatches Wood).
Follow the main path through the wood (there will be a tall fence to your RHS for a while). At a junction of paths stay right along the main path. After a mile got through a metal kissing-gate. Next to a wooden gate, to exit wood onto a lane (Perks Lane).
(8) Turn left along Perks Lane (at 5.5 miles) and follow it downhill for 140 yards. Where the lane turns sharp left, turn right through a metal kissing-gate follow the path diagonally uphill. At the top turn right through a kissing gate. The veer left along the LHS of a paddock and soon out into the gravel car park of The Polecat Inn. Follow the path across the car park to a road (A4128 Wycombe Road). Turn right to just past the pub.
(9) At the 2nd entrance to the car park, turn left and cross over the road onto a finger-posted footpath disappearing into a hedge. Follow this footpath for 250 yards, then turn right onto a bridleway along the RHS of a wood (Peterley Wood). After 250 yards the bridleway leads to a road (Peterley Lane), cross straight over and onto a footpath into another wood (Crook’s Wood). After 70 yards, at a junction of paths, turn left and exit the wood through a gate. Go straight on along a grass path between market gardens. After 390 yards the path leads to a wooden gate.
(10) Go through the gate and turn right, signed public bridleway, and along the driveway of Peterley Manor Farm (at 6.5 miles). After 420 yards and at the end of market gardening to your RHS, turn left on a path through trees and into a field. Once in the field turn half right on a footpath diagonally across the field with a fence and paddocks to your left hand side.
At the far corner of the field (at 7 miles), the path goes on between a fence and a hedgerow to a gate, then along a short drive leading to a road. Turn left along the pavement (Heath End Road).
(11) After 110 yards turn left into Hare Lane. After 160 yards, opposite The Full Moon pub and just before Grange Cottages, turn right onto a narrow path signed, "South Bucks Way". The footpath comes out onto a playing field. Follows it along the right-hand edge to a road (Windsor Road). Then turn left along the pavement.Follow the road straight on through Little Kingshill for 0.6 miles to where it begins to turn left (at 8 miles).
(12) Turn right to cross over and go past a metal gate, signed "South Bucks Way", onto a track between a tall garden fence and trees, then between trees. After another 200 yards the track leads to a large field. Go straight on across the field on a well-defined path. Note: The path is not around the edge of the field, it is across the centre towards a large electricity pylon in the distance.
The path leads directly across the centre of the field to the other side, then through a gap in the hedge, into a second field and straight on across it. There is a large electricity pylon to the left. After passing the pylon follow the path (wide track) straight on, now with the hedgerow adjacent on the left.
(13) At the bottom corner of the field turn right. After 100 yards turn left through a wide opening and into another field. Stay left to follow the track along the left-hand edge of the field. At the other end, the track exits the field onto a narrow road (at 9.1 miles). Turn left along the road (Penfold Lane), signed South Bucks Way, and after just a few yards follow it, as it turns right. After another 250 yards turn left into Little Missenden (DO NOT follow the South Bucks Way into the field). The lane passes some old cottages and after 170 yards reaches a T-junction in the middle of the village.
(14) At the T-junction turn left, for just 70 yards. Cross over, to the church. NOTE: This is a short diversion to visit Little Missenden Church and it's well worth it. Please go inside if it is open.
On exiting the churchyard, turn left along the pavement and back into Little Missenden. Follow the road as it veers left past the Manor House, then stay right, past Taylors Lane to your left. Continue along Abbott Road (or Highmore Cottages on some maps) and through the village past the Red Lion Pub, Missenden House and after an extra few hundred yards past The Crown Inn - all to the left.
(15) Within a short distance, and where the road begins to bends left, cross over to the right onto a gravel track signed South Bucks Way. The track goes straight on with the River Misbourne flowing parallel at a short distance through the meadows to the left. Follow the track for 0.85 miles. Firstly, past a lane off to your left and then past a crossing track. Our track soon opens out into what is obviously parkland with mature trees scattered here and there.
(16) When the main track turns right to go uphill, veer left onto a path across the fields and through a wooden gate (at 10.7 miles). Then eventually adjacent to a small lake formed by the damming of the river. On the hill to the right is the imposing Shardeloes House looking out across the valley below.
As the route passes the lake, the path goes through a kissing gate and for a short distance becomes enclosed, then goes through another kissing gate to come out onto the grounds of Amersham Cricket Club (at 11.15 miles). The cricket club has two pitches with the clubhouse between them. Turn left to follow the hedgerow around the edge of the cricket ground to join the drive leading away from the clubhouse. On exiting the cricket grounds turn left along the road and out of the Shardeloes Estate. As the road turns left go straight on onto a narrow path between trees.
(17) Follow the path to the River Misbourne and through a low tunnel, under the bypass road. Once through the tunnel follow the path to the right and up next to the bypass for 120 yards, then gradually left through trees and away from the bypass.
The path comes out between bollards, with the Old Amersham Road to your left hand side. Go straight on between more bollards, staying on the right-hand side when the path meets the road. Follow the road straight on into Old Amersham.
(18) On approaching the market hall cross over to the left hand side of the High Street. Turn right to continue past the market hall and stay straight on to cross over Church Street, to your left hand side. Immediately after Church House there is an opening with some benches to the left and next to a small roundabout. This is the end of the stage..(E)
