New Year (dog friendly) circular walk in the Chilterns (direct train from London)

Start the New Year as you mean to go on, in the countryside getting some fresh air, and enjoying this lovely, 9 mile circular walk (was originally 8.5 miles but I've added an extra 1/2 as it means we can get to Coombe Hill too) with a great pub stop for lunch en-route.

The walk starts and finishes in Wendover (direct train from London Marylebone), an ancient town first mentioned in AD970, but known to be much older even that that. Worth a look after the walk, there are some lovely old buildings including the Red Lion pub, several cafes, antique shops etc.

The outward leg of our walk now starts with the 130m steady ascent to Coombe Hill (260m). There we'll see the grade II listed obelisk memorial commemorating the 148 men from Buckinghamshire who died during the second Boer War. The monument has spectacular views to the north over Aylesbury Vale. Then we'll walk along the ridge, through woods and fields and with some great views across the valley. It's fairly gentle after the initial climb.

This is the valley that HS2 (the High Speed train line from London to Birmingham) will pass through according to the plans, which, whatever your own perspective on it, you can imagine is quite an issue for anyone living locally.  We'll see plenty of the local feeling around the walk, not only objection signs (no one supporting it, publically at least, it seems) but also multicoloured scarves tied around trees in protest.

We then head down into the valley and up the eastern side, heading across the fields to the Old Swan pub in Swan Bottom for lunch www.theoldswanpub.co.uk  The pub is a 16th century freehold pub, with an open fire to welcome us. They have excellent, gastro quality food, check their website for the typical Saturday menu. The Chilterns beer is worth trying too. After lunch we'll walk the remaining 3 miles back through pretty woodland, passing the trig point that marks the highest point (232m) of the walk back. Total ascent is 264m over the day.

I'll bring Jet, my black labrador, and you're welcome to bring a dog or two if you wish. Just to be clear, you don't have to bring a dog, just that you can if you want to! If you do, please do remember that you are also responsible for the behaviour of your dog, so be prepared to keep your dog on a lead if you are not confident that it will behave well with other dogs and walkers, or if necessary, to be considerate to anyone else on the walk who may be less confident with dogs around, and certainly in immediate proximity to any farm animals or other vulnerable wildlife we may come across. Dogs are allowed in the bar at the pub, but must be on a lead, and we need to be considerate of other people there. Your dog is your responsibility!