Sue Aldridge writes:
This walk certainly lived up to its title for the route was ablaze with all shades of yellow, copper, gold and green coloured leaves, still on the trees, whilst underfoot we kept up a steady pace walking on both dry and damp fallen leaves that marked our pathway for much of the trek to the Chiltern summit.
Considering the rather mixed weather forecast with light rain showers expected, we started with 9 walkers, plus Tess, now an experienced four legged St. Luke’s walker, then later gained 2 more walkers from lunchtime onwards. We followed ‘The Ridgeway’ for about 3 miles, ascending steadily onto the wooded escarpment along a good track carpeted with leaves comprising many autumn tints. (see 1st photo). After descending across the Hale valley we had our second long steady ascent up a firm, wide track into the heart of the Wendover Woods, skirting passed the end of the ancient iron age fort enroute to the café, timed well to escape the lunchtime showers. It was Halloween and we paused at the wooden sculpture of the ‘witch owl’ which formed part of the Halloween trail. (2nd photo). We met up with Janet and Martin for lunchtime drinks and much chatter in the café and they joined us for the afternoon walk. I deviated slightly from the direct route to show the walkers the Chiltern Hills Summit Cairn, consisting of some hefty boulders marking the highest point in the Chilterns at 267m (876ft). It had been erected by ‘The Chiltern Society’ in a rather secluded, shady spot in 1977 (3rd photo). We then followed another leafy track downhill to cross the grounds of RAF Halton, again well-timed after a shower, with the sun and blue sky appearing for a lovely vista across the Vale of Aylesbury. We soon passed through St. Michaels Halton churchyard with its many war graves, mostly related to young air force men who had lost their lives serving our country. The last two miles took us along the towpath of the Wendover Arm of the Canal admiring even more autumn colours whilst watching interesting birdlife and seeing colourful reflections across the tranquil waters. (4th photo). We all enjoyed walking together through this colourful woodland landscape enjoying each other’s company and arrived back at the station in good time for the 3.54 train. Thank You all for coming on my walk.
