Pootler

  Link to GPX File of the Route   NB. The bridge at Temple Lock on this route has been closed (Sept '24). I will add an amendment to the route a.s.a.p. This route covers two landscapes, the Thames Valley and the Chiltern Hills. From Twyford Station, you head east across flat arable land before turning north and crossing the higher ground bordering the current course of the river. Descending, you cross the river at a lock, then climb around 100m to the wooded hills overlooking the beautiful valley of the Hamble Brook. After following this for a few miles, you coast down the hillside side and then along the valley road to Hambleden itself before recrossing the Thames at the eponymous lock. Leaving the south bank, you cross the valley side again before returning to Twyford. For the most part the route follows minor roads, but there is an avoidable stretch of about a mile of woodland path south of the Thames on the return leg. See ‘Route Tips’ below. The River is crossed at pi...

  GPX File of the Route   Midsomer & Medieval Murders This route uses minor roads and the Phoenix Trail to explores the Aylesbury Vale and some attractive old villages which were used as settings for the documentary series ‘Midsomer Murders’. It starts at Princes Risborough Railway Station. The initial 3 mile stretch to Chinnor is on a well used B Road and then turns north then west to continue towards Ewelme on quieter back roads. At Ewelme it pivots back to head for Thame on a more northerly route, passing through Chalgrove and the Haseleys before crossing the River Thame at Shabbington. From Thame it returns to Prices Risborough on the Phoenix Trail, a converted railway line.  There are some homeopathic climbs, the highest point being just 124m (near  Postcombe) and the lowest is around 40m. For more detail see the Route Tips. Zooming In Highlights are:   The ‘Midsomer Murders’ Villages. Almost every village here claims to have appeared in in...

The previous posts unearth the roots of the scenery we see in the the region today. Now I want to look at how we got from then to now.  Better transport hastened change. The medieval transport network was threadbare. The waterways were well used but the roads  were usually very poor and with  responsibility for their maintenance rested with parishes. Things started to improve during the 1600s at the same time as the enclosures and farming innovations were gathering pace. Many fords were replaced by bridges and turnpike roads were introduced, run by trusts established by Parliament. Look out for roads that have milestones and the wide verges which characterise both the turnpikes and the roads often required by Parliamentary Enclosures. The dictatorial highway planning that we experience today, has a long history!   Newbury / Reading Milestone The population of England was steadily rising, from around 10m in 1800 to perhaps 30m in 1900. More people to feed and hou...