Leipit two

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

I walked this on a lovely Saturday, from Leighton Buzzard to Pitstone. It had rained a little recently, which made the paths a little muddy. It was still a delightful walk, with some minor nits.

From Leighton Buzzard the route goes through some alleyways to reach the Grand Union Canal, which it then follows for a long stretch. It's easy walking, and the autumn colours were gorgeous. Instead of following the canal all the way to Pitstone, I was happy that it did not. At Church Lock it leaves the canal, and heads for some country side walking. Just after crossing the nearly empty B488, and going over the West Coast Main Line the public footpath goes straight across a field. When I walked it was just ploughed, and hard going. It is however possible to have a tiny detour around the edge of the field to avoid it.

At Mentmore I had to cross a field with sheep, and also straight up the hill, which was hard work. The sheep looked on bemusedly. From there it was through a field (with a muddy path this time) towards and alongside a farm.

At the bottom near Cheddington I could see a large stately home back to were I came from, on the top of the hill. From Cheddington towards Pitstone the route was mostly on pavement, besides for a small section of Grand Union Canal at the end which you reach through a railway arch.

Loved this walk!.

Walked from Leighton Buzzard
Quickly got off town roads and on to canal towpath for 4km.
Pub at Grove Lock but access only over lock gates (very narrow)
Road from canal to B488 has lots of parked cars so may be busy at times.
B488 is busy but clear line of sight for vehicles
On track farmer has dumped lots of cowshed hay. In time this may block the footpath. After footbridge foliage is narrowing the path.
Then path West across field has not been remade after ploughing so need to just follow the finger board direction
Road at Ledburn was quiet
Clear fingerboard to indicate join to Outer Aylesbury Ring. Here though GPS and Map differ so following route is slightly a judgement call so keep stream on left
After climbing stile head uphill close to fence on right to join road
Mentmore church looked pretty
After model farm turn right on reaching back of houses to reach path to gain access to road turning left before taking path to church which you pass on your left. This stretch was popular with locals.
Follow road through local houses and turn left along road through village. Pub on right which looked populr for dining
Road busy but had pavement. It was a relief to take road under Railway where immediately turn right onto footpath which was pleasantly quiet
Final 600 metres on road through village housing

This was a pleasant walk but there were 2 single, narrow wooden bridges crossing streams. These might become very slippery after heavy rain.

A really well crafted Slow Way. It was a hot day, my water had run out by the start of this walk and I passed no shop in Pitstone. I knew that if I just followed the canal and created a new Slow Way I could shave 3km off the walk but I'm so glad I stuck with this Slow Way. I started in Pitstone and followed the pavement out of the seemingly shopless village. A footpath to the right takes you through woods and a swingbridge takes you across the canal. There was a brief bit of lane walking as you pass under the railway although I encountered no vehicles. Pavement delivers you along the straight road into Cheddington where there is a pub (it was too early in the journey for me) but seemingly no shops. A path past the pretty church precedes a road crossing and a footpath into a field and a link with Cheddington Railway Station. The footpath to Mentmore is very well marked and was one of my favourite sections of the walk. The views of Mentmore Hall, the sight and sound of skylarks, a rabbit in a far field, a buzzard circling ahead. As I got to Mentmore I was pleased to discover that the Stag Pub was open. It's almost exactly midway in the route and serves a great pint. Unfortunately the food is so good that had I wanted to order it, I would have had to wait for an hour. It's a popular place. The roads through the village are wide and some don't have pavements so it needs some care, but not for long. Leaving the village I felt like I'd visited George Orwell's vision of England in his essays. The route follows The Outer Aylesbury Ring. There were lambs in the field and a game of cricket was being played in the vale. The route as far as the canal was easy to walk and crosses the railway. The final canal section into Leighton Buzzard was busy with boatees on their narrowboats. The meeting place is a short walk along a main road into the town centre, away from the railway station which was my destination. A Slow Way that does what Slow Ways are meant to. A slight sacrifice of directness to increase variety and allow for stops. Safe, majorly offroad with only a couple of moments requiring major attention. Very easy to follow.

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