Our penultimate day on the Ridgeway. But with much to see, over 15 miles to walk and an early restaurant booking waiting for us, would we get there in time. And should we pop in to visit the Prime Minister on the way?

Princes Risborough to Aldbury. 15 miles/24 km:.

The two of us hadn’t been looking forward to this day. Not because of the trail, but due to the logistics. Not only did we have to catch a transfer taxi back to Princes Risborough for Saunderton, for us to walk back to rejoin the trail, but after a (for us) fairly long day, we have to then leave the trail for a half mile walk to tonight’s accommodation. Which would be fine but we are staying at The Greyhound, a former coaching inn, in Aldbury. Frustratingly, it is Sunday and they stop serving food really early and we had been forced to pre-book a table in their restaurant for 17.15. There is no way that we can saunter down to breakfast today in our usual casual manner as that will make us too late away. So I had called before we arrived here yesterday and explained the situation. The lovely Ellie had sorted out a mixed box of pastries for us, together with some fruit, and we will stop for these on trail later. We obviously found time for mugs of tea in our room but a little before 7.30, we were stood outside waiting for the taxi. It was a fine dry morning and the weather promised to be kind to us all day.

Handily, and unexpectedly, the taxi dropped us not at the Bell pub, where we had been picked up yesterday, but immediately at the point where we had left the Ridgeway. Waving our driver off, we were immediately on to a surfaced path, obviously popular with runners as quite a few passed us. A little further on, just past the entrance to a school, one dog walker watched as his dog crapped in the middle of the footpath, before ignoring it and walking on. I challenged him and there was a brief exchange of words that ended with him setting his dog on us. The little snapping snarling mutt was promptly called away when I raised both walking pole and voice. I hadn’t sworn, hadn’t been rude, just spoke to him with admonishment. It was a silly little altercation that shouldn’t have happened.

The trail took us right through the chalk grassland Brush Hill and Whiteleaf local nature reserves, with panoramic views of the Chiltern escarpment, across the Vale of Aylesbury, with the Wessex Downs in the distance. After an hour or so we paused at one viewpoint to eat our pastries, which made for a pleasant change from yet another Full English.

Setting off, we brushed the shoulder of another neolithic long barrow, but I never photographed it for some reason. This was the second of two burial mounds directly beside the Ridgeway, the other being Wayland’s Smithy, that we had explored on Day Two. But today, onward, to Grangelands and the Rifle Range. This area was used as a military rifle range from the 1940s to the 70s but has now been returned to flower rich grasslands and woodlands. There were hundreds of orchids each side of the trail. A Great Spotted Woodpecker chipped above our heads, Chiffchaffs chiffed and chaffed and swallows swept past. It was a good day.

Our trail dropped down, swung around and we followed the edge of a cereal crop field, with a low metal fence edging. A 16th century manor house was visible across the other side of the large field. Further on and the path turned left through a gate in a hole in the hedge and a wide path led across the field. Stark notices were placed along the edge warning against trespass. This is Chequers, official country home of the serving prime minister. It was gifted to the nation in 1917. The Ridgeway crosses the private drive that leads up to the house from the gate house. It all seemed a bit daft to actually be within the guarded area but I am sure there is a battery of cameras and the like watching to make sure no hikers with political issue suddenly decide to march off to have a word with whoever is at home.

Having passed through another gate on the far side, it was time to again ascend. The path first passed through a woodland then swung left. It became a little confusing as there are many paths through the woodland, coming together then separating and some suddenly going off in another direction altogether, but it was simple enough to more or less keep straight ahead, to a road, cross over, continue through the trees, before suddenly emerging on the escarpment, with the vale below, then swing round right again, and follow Coombe Hill up to the well placed monument at the top (260m) and edge of the hill. This commemorates the Buckinghamshire soldiers who died during the Boer War (1899-1902).

We paused for a breather, admiring the view and reading the inscription, before heading off, along the edge of the woodland, then moving on to one of the parallel paths under the shady cover from the beech trees, continually dropping steadily down Bacombe Hill on a sunken bridleway. We kept coming across groups of Duke of Edinburgh’ers through these woodlands, some looking confident and capable, others looking dishevelled and a bit lost. As usual, every single one caried huge and heavy looking packs.

Dropping down, we emerged on to the Ellesborough Road where the Ridgeway has a short diversion. Along with road traffic, it heads left for a while and then crosses a bridge over the very large and very expensive cutting, with concrete tunnels being laid down. This was part of the route of the divisive HS2, a 140 mile ‘high speed’ railway that will connect London and Birmingham. When HS1 between London and Folkestone opened in 2008, it had cost around £100m per mile, HS2 is overdue and over budget, currently costing over £700m per mile. Accusations of mismanagement are rife and those parts of the new railway that might have been most useful, heading further north, have been scrapped.

We were back in Wendover. For the first and only time on this trail, it looked like we would actually have a café to stop into for a brew. The Ridgeway usually steers clear of towns and we were determined to make the most of the opportunity so, despite the pressure of having to complete todays section early, we paused for a half hour in Rumsey’s chocolaterie. Away again, we walked past the Red Lion, where we had stayed last night and had left four hours previous and followed a track beside a stream out of town, the Heron’s Path, past a farm, then again into beech woodland. Following the edge of a quite steep hill we began a steady climb up a sunken bridleway though I doubt many horses are coming this way as there were a few trees fallen across the path.

It got a bit scrappy for a couple of miles. There are various paths, even a nature reserve, but it seems to be an uncomfortable routing through messy farms. Passing through one woodland it was around lunchtime and we struck off sideways to emerge on the edge of a famers field where we sat in the tall grass to eat two day old sandwiches from the Watlington Co-op. Setting off again, back through the remaining woodland, we emerged on to a lane and, entirely my fault, followed it round to the left when we should have turned off right on to another lane. We backtracked the couple of hundred metres after I finally noticed and continued down the right lane before turning off again, to enter Tring Park. This is a large area of broadleaf woodland and grassland that dates back to the Normans. I was hoping to catch sight of one of the elusive edible dormouse, Glis glis, that live here following their introduction by Lord Rothschild in 1902, but it wasn’t to be. The Rideway follows a long and straight Lime tree bordered former carriage ride through the grounds, where we were passed by a huge group of walkers heading the other way. The avenue we were on is known as the King Charles Ride but others branched off. It seemed to be a popular place for families out for a Sunday stroll.

We were on the home stretch now and the path lost a little of its attractiveness for a while. We paused at a trig point (216m) placed beside the path, or the other way round, for a breather before descending. The town of Tring was off to our left and the noise of the A41 was steadily building. We skirted crop fields and pasture before crossing the road, which wasn’t as busy as it had sounded.

The bridge across the A41 was fine but after again dropping down the contours, and pausing to watch a beekeeper going about his business at a long line of hives, we had to cross the A4521 and its hurtling traffic. This road follows the line of the old Roman Akeman Street.

Still alive, just, we now had an enclosed path that took us down to a lane that we followed for a short distance before a turn and cross over the Grand Union Canal. It would have been easy not to have even noticed the canal below us if it were not for the map. I walked this 147 mile canal from London to Birmingham as an eventful training walk once.

• Grand Union Canal Walk

The Ridgeway then passed Tring railway station and we were now probably no more than three or four miles from the end of the Ridgeway. But that very short section was tomorrow’s walk. Today, we are staying at the village of Aldbury. So a little further on we turned off onto the Hertfordshire Way that led us via a dog-leg straight down toward the village church. From there it was a very short walk to tonight’s accommodation, the picturesque Greyhound pub.

For all our earlier worries about not arriving here in time for our ‘too-early’ table reservation, we walked in the door at ten past four. Plenty of time to check in, be shown to our lovely room, enjoy a lovely shower and change in to lovely clean clothes! Not only that, but it is Sunday and unlike last week where we had been unsuccessful, a Sunday Roast was in the offing. Roast Beef for me and Pork Belly for across the table. Inevitably, when I espied the Sticky Toffee pudding on the menu I somehow also found space for that. I was drinking Fursty Ferret, a 3.4% amber ale from the Badger brewery, along with an Australian Red Peak Shiraz/Cabernet. These slipped down rather too easily and with an early evening meal and a very short day’s walk tomorrow, there was plenty of time for another beer or two. It had been a good penultimate day on the Ridgeway. The end awaits.

• The Ridgeway- National Trail
  • Short film- Grims Ditch
  • 2016- Planning
  • 2016- Food 
  • 2016- Water sources on the Ridgeway
  • 2025- day zero- Arriving at Avebury
  • 2025- day one- East Kennett to Ogbourne St George
  • 2025- day two- Ogbourne St George to Woolstone
  • 2025- day three- Woolstone to Letcombe Regis
  • 2025- day four- Letcombe Regis to Goring
  • 2025- day five- Goring to Watlington
  • 2025- day six- Watlington to Princes Risborough
  • 2025- day eight- Aldbury to Ivinghoe Beacon and the Bridgewater Monument