When: May 31st 2025
Where: Green Park, Reading, Berkshire
Organiser: Good Running Events
Distance: 10 km
Elevation: +/- 60m
Course: 3 km arc within Green Park and a 7 km loop of country roads either side of the M4.
Other routes touched: None
Finish time: 54 minutes, 52 seconds
Rotten Row
The Shakespeare’s Way is a 235 km / 146 mile mile long-distance path connecting Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon with the Shakespeare's Globe (Theatre), Southwark, London. A 34km section of the path cuts through the Chiltern Hills National Landscape in a south-easterly direction. Our walks take in short sections of the Shakespeare’s Way and loop back to the start on other paths. The Shakespeare’s Way is reasonably well marked however you’ll need a map or GPX route to keep on track for the return sections of the loops. The guidance below will help but don’t use it as a fully accurate turn-by-turn guide.
Start: Britwell Salome, Watlington, OX49 5LG
Finish: Grand Union Tow Path, Yiewsley, West Drayton, UB7 7XN
Distance: 59 km (36.7 miles)
Elevation change: + 665 / - 755m. Net +90m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Maps: See individual section posts linked below.
- Chiltern Hills West Map | Henley-on-Thames & Wallingford | Ordnance Survey | OS Explorer Map 171
Links: Shakespeare’s Way (LWDA), See individual section posts linked below for other links.
If you’re not up for an 59 km walk in one go, you can take in the Shakespeare’s way in 12 circular walks of between 6 and 13 km each. We chose this option, completing all 12 sections over a few years from 2020 to 2025. The advantage of this option is exploring more of the villages and side paths close to the route. After Route 12 you can follow the Beeches Way to reach Yiewsley and the end of the Chilterns Section of the Shakespeare’s Way.
Note that these walks take you through the Chilterns Hills National Landscape. See the Walking The Beeches Way post for the continuation from Cookham to Yiewsley
Each number refers to a circular walk below. Base map: Esri Topo via RideWithGPS
Part 1: Britwell Salome and Lower Warren
Distance: 7.8 km (4.8 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 123m
Shakespeare’s Way section covered: Britwell Salome to The Ridgeway: 2.2 km
Part 2: Swyncombe and The North
Distance: 8.1 km (5 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 176m
Shakespeare’s Way section covered: The Ridgeway to Cookley Green: 3.8 km
Part 3: Swyncombe and Park Corner
Distance: 9.9 km (6.2 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 199m
Shakespeare’s Way section covered: Cookley Green to The Chiltern Way near Maidensgrove: 2.1 km
Part 4: Nettlebed, Park Corner and Maidensgrove
Distance: 8.5 km (5.3 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 159m
Shakespeare’s Way section covered: The Chiltern Way near Maidensgrove to Park Lane: 1.2 km
Part 5: Russell's Water, Pishill and Maidensgrove
Distance: 9.2 km (5.7 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 166m
Shakespeare’s Way section covered: Maidensgrove Common to farm at south Maidensgrove: 1.32 km
Part 6: Stonor and Turville Heath
Distance: 10 km (6.2 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 208m
Shakespeare’s Way section covered: Farm at south of Maidensgrove to Southend: 5.9 km
Distance: 12.3 km (7.6 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 216m
Shakespeare’s Way section covered: Southend to Hambleden: 5.4 km
Part 8: North-east Hambleden Circular
Distance: 9.7 km (6 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 145m
Shakespeare’s Way section covered: Hamble Brook to Rogues Plantation: 2.9 km
Part 9: Bovingdon Green and Shillingridge Wood
Distance: 10.9 km (6.8 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 152m
Shakespeare’s Way section covered: Rogues Plantation to Pullingshill Wood: 2.5 km
Part 10: Marlow and Harleyford
Distance: 10.2 km (6.3 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 94m
Shakespeare’s Way section covered: Pullingshill Wood to The Thames Path at Marlow: 3.4 km
Distance: 11.4 km (7 miles)
Elevation change: + / - 65m
Shakespeare’s Way section covered: The Thames Path at Marlow to Bourne End Rail Bridge: 3.4 km
Part 12: Bourne End, Cookham and Wooburn
Distance: 8.2 km (5.1 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 83m
Shakespeare’s Way section covered: Bourne End Rail Bridge to Broad Lane, Widmoor: 3.9 km
View to Turville and Fingest from the edge of Great Wood
Start & Finish: Car park next to the Stag and Huntsman, Hambleden, Henley-on-Thames RG9 6RP
Distance: 12.3 km (7.6 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 216m
Shakespeare’s Way section covered: Southend to Hambleden: 5.4 km
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): The Chiltern Way, Shakespeare’s Way
Other routes touched (cycle): Chiltern Cycleway
Pubs / Cafes on route: The Stag and Huntsman at the start and finish, The Frog at Skirmett (closed for refurbishment when we passed)
Map: OS Explorer 171: Chiltern Hills West, Henley-on-Thames and Wallingford
Links: Hambleden, Skirmett, Southend
The Shakespeare’s Way is a 235 km / 146 mile mile long-distance path connecting Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon with the Shakespeare's Globe (Theatre), Southwark, London. A 34km section of the path cuts through the Chiltern Hills National Landscape in a south-easterly direction. Our walks take in short sections of the Shakespeare’s Way and loop back to the start on other paths. The Shakespeare’s Way is reasonably well marked however you’ll need a map or GPX route to keep on track for the return sections of the loops. The guidance below will help but don’t use it as a fully accurate turn-by-turn guide.
For this walk we parked at the car park next to the Stag and Huntsman in Hambleden and took Pheasant’s Hill (lane) in a northerly direction out of the village. After approximately 300m take a footpath on the left to join the Chiltern Way and continue following it north until Shogmore Lane. Take a left then a right onto Fingest Lane. Shortly after The Frog pub in Skirmett, take the first footpath on the left and follow it until it rejoins the Chiltern Way. Take a left onto the Chiltern Way and follow it in a south-westerly direction to Drover’s Lane in Southend.
Take a right onto Drovers Lane, continuing on the Chiltern Way to connect with the Shakespeare’s Way. Take the first footpath on the left to follow both the Chiltern Way and Shakespeare’s Way back to the start in Hambleden.
Shakespeare’s Way previous section (west): Stonor and Turville Heath
Shakespeare’s Way next section (east): North-East Hambleden Circular
When: May 18th 2025
Where: Chiltern Valley Winery & Brewery, Old Luxters, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 6JW
Organiser: Racing Line Running
Distance: 10 km
Elevation: +/- 167m
Course: 8 km loop of farms and woodland to the west of the Winery 7 Brewery with a 1 km out-and-back from the start/finish. Mostly farm track, woodland paths. Hilly
Other routes touched: Chiltern Way, Shakespeare’s Way
Finish time: 1 hour, 1 minute, 57 seconds
Ascent of Latterbarrow
When: May 10th 2025
Start and Finish: Low Cunsey Farm, Cunsey, Far Sawrey, Ambleside, LA22 0LU
Organiser: The Lap
Distance: 77km (47 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 2110m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): Windermere Shore Footpath, Windermere West Shore, Dales Way, West Windermere Way
Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 6, 637. Lakes and Dales Loop
Summits: Latterbarrow, Loughrigg Fell, Wansfell Pike, Wansfell, Baystones, Orrest Head, Brant Fell, Gummer’s How
OS Trig Pillars: TP4549 - Loughrigg Fell, TP3536 - Gummers How
Map: The English Lakes: South-Eastern Area Map | Windermere, Kendal & Silverdale | Ordnance Survey | OS Explorer Map OL7
Finish time: 14 hours, 51 minutes, 24 seconds
Links: Lake Windermere, Graythwaite Estate, Far Sawrey, Skelwith Bridge, Ambleside, Troutbeck, Windermere (Town), Newby Bridge, Finsthwaite
This was my 14th Ultra and my 5th with my friend Mark. It was also my first big Ultra since the 100k Race To The Castle in 2021. Since then I’d had a few years of local 50k Ultras, waiting for another big one to excite me. After another friend had completed The Lap the previous year and loved it, I signed up straight away.
The Lap is a 75km circuit of Windermere, England’s largest lake. It takes a scenic, hilly route away from the lake with some tough climbs paid back by some great views. With the climbs, I found it hard to estimate what my finish time would be so I decided that finishing would be good enough and coming in before dark would be amazing.
As we arrived at the basecamp for the 06:00 start, the sun was coming up over the hills to the east of the lake. As usual at the start-line, I reminded myself not to get over excited and start too quickly. I need not have worried as the narrow country lanes and single-track through woods kept everyone at a slow, often walking, pace.
After the first feed station at Far Sawtry the pack was more spread out and we could speed up. Latterbarrow was the first climb at 11 km with a short steep climb up to the monument then an equally steep down. Shortly after the descent I saw road signs to Ambleside and decided that we were making very good time and would be there by our target of 09:30. I was wrong. I had forgotten that the route veers away from the lake at its north-west corner and climbs Loughrigg Fell before descending to Ambleside. It was at the second feed station at Skelwith that I realised we were actually an hour behind plan. It was also now getting hot and we still had the 2 big climbs to do. The new plan was “forget the plan”.
The northern section of the route has the 3 big climbs, Loughrigg Fell at 335m elevation and Wansfell at 487m. By Lake District standards, they’re both easy fells to walk but on an Ultra on a hot day they were killers. By the time we were down from Wansfell at the Troutbeck half-way feed-station, most of my running ability was gone.
Mark and I stayed mostly together until Gummers How, the final climb at 57 km. Mark is faster than I am so I generally lose him by the half way point. I often gain a bit of time at feed-stations as I don’t like to stop for long which gives me a bit of distance before Mark catches up with me again. Mark did a great job of encouraging me to run a few extra times rather than speed walk. That probably shaved a up to 2 minutes off my total time.
My low-point of the route was a long stretch after Windermere of very similar-looking plantation and not many people around. Mark and I re-connected for the ascent of Gummer’s How. By the time we met Timea, our support crew for the day, we were both a bit tired and grumpy. I was still recovering from a cold and any running was now giving me a headache. Timea saved us with a pasty and some painkillers and we were back on the route.
Timea met us several times on the early evening southern section of the route greatly helping my motivation. After Newby Bridge the route turned back to the north for the final 10 km to the finish line. Although behind my “optimistic” plan, I had some new energy and felt that I could reach the finish before dark. I crossed the finish line at 20:51, well before dark and under 15 hours. Mark very kindly finished 18 minutes ahead of me so that he could be ready to video my finish.
It was in the top 3 most difficult Ultras that I’ve done but also in the top 3 most enjoyable.
When: April 27th 2025
Where: Nettlebed, Oxfordshire
Organiser: Nettlebed Stinger
Distance: 10 km
Elevation: +/- 183m
Course: 7 km loop of farms and woodland to the south of Nettlebed with a 1.5km out-and-back from the start/finish. Mostly farm track, woodland paths. Hilly
Other routes touched: N/A
Finish time: 1 hour, 3 minutes, 27 seconds
North Downs Way near Chevening
Start: The Velo Barn, Unit 1, Betsoms Farm, Pilgrims Way, Westerham TN16 2DS
Finish: Otford Memorial Hall, 28A High St, Otford, Sevenoaks, TN14 5PQ
Distance: 12.8 km (7.9 miles)
Elevation change: +128m / -225m. Net -97m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): Berry’s Green Circular Walk, Darent Valley Path
Other routes touched (cycle): None
Pubs / Cafes on route: The Velo Barn at the start of the route, Rose & Crown Sevenoaks (10 km in), several in Otford High Street
OS Trig Pilllar: TP4287 - Knockholt Beeches
Map: Sevenoaks & Tonbridge Map | Royal Tunbridge Wells & Westerham | Ordnance Survey | OS Explorer Map 147
Guidebook: The North Downs Way National Trail from Farnham to Dover (Cicerone)
Links: Chevening, Otford
This is the eighth of a series of short point-to-point walks along the North Downs Way. The full trail is a long distance path stretching from Farnham in Surrey to Dover in Kent. Our walks took in short sections of 10 km to 13 km which we did with a friend over the course of a couple of years when our schedules coincided. The North Downs Way is well sign-posted however I highly recommend taking a map or GPX route to keep you on track. The Cicerone book on the trail is a great guide to the points of interest along the way.
Our original plan was to only walk the first seven sections covering Surrey before the driving from home started getting to long. It was only when I was completing my quest to bag all OS Trig Pillars within the M25 that I realised that I needed to do one final section and get the Knockholt Beeches Trig Pillar to complete the set.
Picking up from the Velobarn at Westerham Heights we continued east along the North Downs Way. This was a bright, sunny day in mid-April and a nice change from the gloominess of the previous section that we did nearly 18 months ago. The first 5 km of this section stays high on the ridge with great views to the south across open fields. At around 4.7 km you can take a very minor diversion to the north of the trail to find the Trig Pillar hiding in a bush along a field fence-line.
Shortly after the Trig Pillar the trail enters Cooper’s Wood. Watch out for the cutting in the trees where you can see down to Chevening House, the official country residence of the British Foreign Secretary. You can also get a good view of the estate as the trail descends out of the woods, across farmland to Sundridge Road. When we were there in April 2025 a diversion was being put in place to cut off part of the route that follows Sundridge Road. We chose not to take it, prefering to stick to the route that we had on the map. In hindsight I wish we had taken the diversion as there’s no pavement on some of the road and very fast cars wizzing by.
Shortly after crossing over the A21 on Morrants Court Road you’ll reach the Rose and Crown at the 10 km point. It’s the first pub to stop for a rest on this section. The final 3 km after the Rose and Crown also follows the Darent Valley Path into Otford. This is a pretty village with some well kept old buildings and several information boards detailing its history.
Previous Section (west): Walking The North Downs Way Part 7: Gangers Hill to Westerham Hill
