POSTPONED - The Darling Buds of April

First of all, this walk is not located in - and not connected with - Kent despite what you might be thinking from the hints in the title.  If you are after a ramble around the Garden of England; apologies.  But the Chilterns are infinitely superior, even in April!

No, this walk is located in the county of Buckinghamshire; in fact in the exclusive southern area known as South Bucks, and often slightly patronisingly described by local ratepayers as South Bucks, Darling.  The walk is terrific, and as an added bonus, encompasses a selection of fine country public houses to slake your Spring thirst.

It is a circular walk, approximately 11 miles in length.

Our walk starts (and ends) at Beaconsfield railway station.  Starting from the station, we head north along the fringes of this fancy commuter town through Brown's Wood towards the fabulously-named Great Beard's Wood. Heading north-east, we pass farms and forest and do a fantastic loop through woodland and fields to the village of Coleshill.  Pub stop number 1 at the Red Lion.

Next stop is the adjacent Winchmore Hill: pub stop number 2 (choice of two). We then head north-west towards Penn Street before diving south-west to pass through the grounds of Penn House (seat of the parliamentarian Earl Howe).

We conduct an elegant 'figure of five' as we traverse Common Wood and Penn Bottom, skirting the village of Penn.  The village itself has a deep but varied history dating back to the reign of Edward VI, but more recently featuring spies (Donald Maclean - whose ashes are scattered in the local churchyard), Ernest Saunders (who was involved in the Guinness share trading fraud) and Gaby Logan (the TV presenter).

Heading south (and slightly downhill), we reach pub stop number 3 at the historic Royal Standard of England at Forty Green...there is enough history associated with this place to keep you going several days and much more than can be summarised here.

From Forty Green, it is not a long walk back to the station at Beaconsfield via Hogback wood.

Photos: Peter O'Connor, John Salmon, Michael