Chiltern Walks: Whiteleaf and Cadsden
Start / Finish: Whiteleaf Cross car park, Peters Lane, Monks Risborough, HP27 0LH
Distance: 6.4 km (3.7 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 122m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other Routes Touched (walk): The Ridgeway, Risborough Purple Route, Outer Aylesbury Ring
Other Routes Touched (cycle): Chilterns Cycleway
Pubs / Cafes on route: The Plough At Cadsden
Map: OS Explorer Map (181) Chiltern Hills North
Links: Whiteleaf, Whiteleaf Hill, Cadsden, Windsor Hill Trig Pillar
We were on a roll with our winter walks this year. For some reason we had got out of our habit of winter walks last year. A quiet Christmas and a need to do some Camino training gave us some extra motivation to get back out. My new obsession about bagging all of the Trig Pillars in the Chilterns also gave us some new targets for the trips. The guidance below will help you navigate but don’t use it as a fully accurate turn-by-turn guide. Always take a map and/or a GPX route and prepare well for the weather and terrain.
This walk was based around finding the Windsor Hill Trig Pillar. We had come very close to it 2 years ago on our Ridgeway walk, but I wasn’t on my Trig mission back then. The pillar can be done in a fairly quick drive-by as its really close to the Whiteleaf Cross car park. You can just about see the pillar from the road but can only get to it by walking south down Peter’s Lane to the field gate. Its not on a right-of-way, but the gate was open and no-one was around so we crossed the misty field to the Pillar. On exiting the field through the same gate, you can cross the road and join the footpath to continue this 6k circular walk.
For much of the walk we had the route to ourselves. The weather probably didn’t help but I suspect that most walkers round here will stick to the Ridgeway. After a misty / spooky walk through Sargeants Wood, Cross Copice and Ninn Wood, we found civilisation again at The Plough at Cadsden. The pub is at the intersection of The Ridgeway and a couple of other paths making it very popular with walkers. Its a friendly place with good food … ideally for a stop before the climb back up to Whiteleaf Cross.
On a clearer day its worth checking out the Cross from the Ridgeway. As it was we could see bugger all from the top through the mist.
