[1] From the car park walk back down the access road with woodland on your right. As the road bends to the right you turn off into woodland on the left, following a footpath sign (ignoring a path bearing further left). White painted arrows on trees indicate the direction of paths. You will see these in wooded sections throughout the walk.
At the first path junction white arrows indicate path L12 to the left and Perm straight on. This may cause momentary surprise to geographers familiar with the city of Perm in the Urals, but in this case we may take it that Perm stands for permissive. You should follow this permissive path which leads through the National Trust property of Aston Wood.
The path keeps above the slopes and eventually leads to a lay-by on the A40 at the top of Aston Hill. Cross the road and turn right along the footway to reach:
[2] At the road junction at the top of Aston Hill, turn left onto a minor road signposted Kingston Blount. As the road bends to the left carry straight on along a private drive, following a bridleway sign. After 50 metres a second bridleway sign points ahead to indicate where the right of way leaves the private drive which bears right.
(A) The Stokenchuch communications tower is close to [2] and can be seen above the trees from many points on the walk. The reinforced concrete tower was built in 1963 as a component of a secure communications network using microwave links. It is now part of the BT network.
Follow a rough track along the woodland edge to reach a point where the bridleway makes a sharp turn to the right, indicated by a blue arrow fixed to a tree trunk. Continue along this woodland bridleway which is well marked and quite easy to follow. Other paths lead off to right or left but but the arrows on the trees and waymark posts keep you on a broad valley-bottom track.
You have been gradually losing height as you walked through the woods and when you emerge from the trees it is to find yourself in a quiet valley. Follow the bridleway signs onto Colliers Lane, an unsurfaced track running east along the valley bottom.
(B) Colliers Lane was once an important route linking London and Oxford. The county boundary between Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire runs along this lane, although this has only been the case since 1896 when Stokenchuch was transferred into Buckinghamshire.
Once you have emerged from the trees it should not be long before you see a Red Kite gliding overhead. There is now a thriving population of these birds in the Chilterns after their reintroduction near Stokenchurch in 1989.
After about 1 km a cross-field footpath joins Colliers Lane from the right. A signpost indicates that this is the Chiltern Way. Continue on the track for another 50 metres to the point where the Chiltern Way bears left on a footpath crossing an arable field. You will now be following the Chiltern Way as far as Radnage village. At the far corner of the field turn left onto a farm track and almost immediately right though a gap in the hedge.
[3] At Grange Farm Road, cross this quiet country lane and follow the Chiltern Way diagonally across the field opposite. At the far side of the field walk left along the hedge to a wide gap. Almost immediately turn right through a gate into a paddock. Follow the right hand edge of the paddock to reach a gate onto a farm drive. Go straight over the drive, through a second gate and bear slightly right along a tarmac road towards a bungalow. Keep the bungalow on your right and continue straight on down a concrete track to the corner of a field with a footpath signpost.
Bear left on the Chiltern Way along the edge of a field and over two stiles to reach Horseshoe Road. Turn left and walk along the road to a junction. Here the Chiltern Way turns left but you carry straight on to reach a second junction where you turn left onto Church Lane. After 200 metres you will reach the second of two tarmac drives to Radnage church on the right.
(C) St. Mary's church is an historic building, dating from the thirteenth century. An unusual feature of its design is the centrally placed tower. This is thought to reflect the influence of the Knights Templar, to whom the manor of Radnage was granted by King John.
Follow a footpath through a gate on the south side of Church Lane, opposite the church entrance. This takes you through an attractive meadow. At the far end cross a drive and turn right onto Town End Road.
[4] At the junction of Town End Road with a bridleway, the road turns to the left but your route keeps straight on along a waymarked bridleway. Look out for the point where the bridleway forks left and a private driveway forks right. Continue on the bridleway, disregarding two turnings to the right. The bridleway climbs gently and eventually enters Sunley Wood. When you come up to a T junction of paths turn left and climb a slope alongside the edge of the wood. At the corner of the wood continue along a track beside farm buildings to reach Sprigs Holly Lane.
[5] Turn right and walk along the road. Keep a good look out for traffic as there are no pavements on this section.
To avoid this section of road without adding significantly to the length, turn right after passing through a gate 10 metres before the road. Cross a drive to a fenced path and cross a stile. continue in the same direction across a field, through a wood and across another field to the far right hand corner. Turn left on a road, using the broad grass verge on the right hand side. Continue 20 metres after the end of the verge and turn right on to a footpath opposite the corner of a garden fence. The path soon descends steeply to a T junction with the Icknield Way. Turn left to reach (and go straight ahead at) waypoint 6.
Where the road makes a sharp turn to the right keep straight on following a signpost indicating a Restricted Byway. Evidently this is a section of a long established track that was too steep to be converted into a tarmac road. The track takes you downhill through Crowellhill Wood. At the bottom of the hill the beech woodland gives way to hedgerow shrubs such as elder, hawthorn and sycamore.
[6] On reaching the Junction with the Icknield Way, turn left and follow the signposts for the Ridgeway national trail.
(D) The Icknield Way is one of the oldest highways in England, following the chalk escarpment from Wiltshire possibly as far as Norfolk. There are often several parallel tracks each known as the Icknield Way, perhaps used at different times of the year. The Ridgeway national trail was created along part of this route in 1972.
Walking along the Icknield Way presents no navigational problems. The track crosses a minor road near Kingston Blount, a bridleway and then the A40 at the bottom of Aston Hill. To the left there are fine views of the Chiltern escarpment.
(E) From the Kingston Blount road to the A40 the route of the former Watlington branch railway is just to your right. The house you pass at the Kingston Blount road is still called Crossing Cottage. Passenger services along the line ceased in 1957 although the Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway now operates steam trains on the eastern section.
100 metres beyond the A40 crossing you reach the entrance to Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve.
[7] Go left up a track to a gate. Pass the left end of the gate and continue ahead on a track that becomes grassy as it passes to the left of a large wooden building. Follow the track which continues through two bridle gates. Past the second gate take a path straight up the slope ahead. When you reach a higher track turn left and follow it.
To reach the Lewknor 'tube stop' from Waypoint 7 continue along the Ridgeway with the nature reserve on your left. On your right you will come to a small wood. At the end of the wood turn right onto a footpath through the wood and along the edge of a field which brings you to the B4006 road near M40 junction 6. Turn left, cross the motorway slip road and walk along the verge until opposite the bus stop. Note that the bus stops for the two directions are both on the north side of the B4006, but on opposite sides of the M40.
If alighting at the Lewknor 'tube stop' cross the B4006 and walk east along the verge to find a footpath just past the London-bound M40 slip road. Follow the path along the edge of a field and through a wood to reach a junction with a unsurfaced track. Turn right and walk along the track to find an entrance to the Aston Rowant national nature reserve on your left at the corner of a field. Walk along the edge of the field and turn left at the far corner to join a track climbing round the northern side of Beacon Hill.
The track rises steadily up the slopes of Beacon Hill. Through the trees to your left you gain a view along the escarpment to the east. At a track junction turn sharp right. The new track leads to a gate, beyond which is the open ground at the summit of the hill. Continue ahead with a fence on your right to a Natural England waymark post just before a bench. Turn left on an ascending grassy path and bear right at a junction to pass a wooden gate on your right. (A detour to your left will take you to the highest point of the hill; then return to the path.)
(F) From Beacon Hill you have a wide view over most of Oxfordshire. The county appears deceptively rural as built up areas around Oxford are hidden in the Thames valley. Didcot power station is a conspicuous landmark to the west.
Continue ahead through a small wooden gate to reach the start of a path high above the motorway. Follow this path towards the well known cutting in the Chiltern escarpment.
(G) Aston Rowant national nature reserve includes areas of chalk grassland on both sides of the M40. Several rare butterfly species can be found on the hillside above the motorway. At the bottom of the slope is a 'sunken way', showing where travellers have climbed the ridge over the centuries before the construction of the modern road network.
The path brings you to an observation point, with an information board depicting Red Kites. Two paths lead onwards, but both take you to the car park (If you take the right hand path, turn left at a junction by a waymark post).