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| A nice walk that starts and finishes at Bridgewater Monument, with the furthest point being Ivinghoe Beacon. Most of the walk is on marked footh paths that meander though woodland, hill and small country village's. |
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Route details
| Region: |
South-east England |
| Start at: |
Bridgewater Monument |
| Circular Route |
| Grid ref: |
SP970130 |
| Difficulty: |
Easy |
| Scramble element: |
Walking |
| Grade: |
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| Distance: |
13.8 kilometres |
| Total ascent: |
365 meters |
| Approx. time needed: |
4 hrs 3 mins |
| Map: |
OS Explorer 181 |
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OS
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Road
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Satellite
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Hybrid
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Terrain
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Profile
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From bridgewater monument, head along the footpath to the right of the visitor center. When it forks, take the right path down a steep hill which will bring you out into Aldbury. The Valient Trooper is an excellent pub located in the village.
When you reach the village pond, take the road north and then cut across the playing field following the public footpath signs. When you reach a road, follow it east for 250m before turning left up a small road sign posted Stocks Hotel Gold & Country Club. The public foot path is clearly sign posted throughout the gold course, just be wary of stray golf balls.
When you enter Aldbury Nowers, a small wood you will join up with The Ridgeway National Trail. Follow the trail for the next 4.5km north over Pitstone hill, north east through Combe Hole, north over Steps Hill and finally up to Ivinghoe Beacon Hill. Ivinghoe Beacon has much exposed chalk which can be very slippery when wet. Caution should be exercised when climbing the hill in wet conditions.
Once on the summit of Ivinghoe Beacon, take the north easterly footpath towards Gallows Hill along the top of the ridge. Then drop off the ridge on the south eastern path to join up with a foot path running south west nest to a fence. the footpath joins with The Icknield Way National Trail, which you want to follow south east until you arrive at Ward's Hurst Farm. Continue through the farm following the footpath just north of Dockey Wood and skirting Ringshall Coppice. Make sure you take the right fork just past the reservoir to lead you back to the Ashridge Estate. There are numerous footpaths over Ashridge. Make sure you continually head in a south westerly direction for 1km, and you will end up back at Bridgewater monument or the approach road, Princes Riding. The national trust visitors centre is open most of the year and the cafe next door sells some wonderful homemande cake.
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Getting there
By road:
3 miles north of A41 between Tring and Berkhamstead, off B4506 from Northchurch (to Ringshall and Dagnall), or off the A489 from Dunstable.
SatNav: HP4 1LT
By bus:
Ttake the Arriva 30/31 from Tring . Alight Aldbury, ½ mile away.
From Berkhamsted town hall take Arriva 30.
By train:
Tring- just over 1½ miles from the Bridgewater Monument.
Cheddington- 3½ miles from Ivinghoe Beacon and 2½ miles to Pitstone Windmill, use Arriva 64 bus service.
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Facilities
Toilets:
WCs at Visitor Centre. Open daily 10-5 from 13 Feb to 19 Dec 10
Families & children:
Baby-changing facilities at the Visitor Centre. Please see opening times
Picnic areas
There are areas for picnicking near the Monument.
Eating and shopping:
National Trust gift shop at Visitor Centre.
Tea-room (not NT) at Visitor Centre serving light lunches and afternoon teas. Seating area is outdoors.
Opening times:
1 Jan - 1 Apr 10, 10 - 4, daily
2 Apr - 31 Oct 10, 8 - 6, daily
1 Nov - 31 Dec 10, 10 - 4, daily
Visitor centre
Try out the fun interactive games in our Visitor Centre's new Discovery Room to find out more about Ashridge's wildlife and history. It also offers a study base for school groups and private hire.
Information for visitors
A wide variety of leaflets including self-guided walks and I-Spy sheets are available from the Visitor Centre.
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Disclaimer:
All routes are undertaken at your own risk. Magicalia accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any injury, death, or damage to your personal property that occurs as a result of following a route on this website. This applies whether the accident occurs as a result of your own errors or of errors in the information contained on this site. While we do endeavor to ensure the accuracy of details printed here, these routes have not been drawn up by Magicalia employees but by members of the public and we cannot guarantee their absolute accuracy. |
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