70km Henley-on-Thames to Princes Risborough
Christmas Tree Common
Ride Overview
Meet the Duchess, pass the pilgrims, quote John Betjeman, stay in a church. These are just a few of the things which mark the first stage of the 210km/130-mile off-road Chiltern Explorer, a sublime bike packing route through the Chilterns National Landscape. Within an hour of leaving London, you are immersed into this quintessential southern English landscape, as timeless as it is beautiful. Beginning in Henley-on-Thames, you are quickly climbing onto a chalk ridge before descending to the Thames Valley. Then it’s back up onto another ridge having ridden through a huge private estate full of sheep and partridges (and a private cricket pitch). It’s a day when effort is supremely rewarded with views, good beer if you wish, history and some of England’s finest landscape.
Ride Practicalities
DISTANCE: 70km TOTAL ASCENT: 900m (approx) TERRAIN AND SURFACES: The whole route uses bridleways, by-ways and quiet country lanes. A gravel bike is recommended. In winter some of the paths can be muddy and chalk is never good to ride on when wet RECOMMENDED CAFÈS/PUBS/: Stoke Row; Stoke Row Store, The Crooked Billet, Goring; The Goring Grocer, Ewelme; The Village Store, Princes Risborough; Godwin’s Bakery, CAMPING/CHAMPING/ACCOMODATION: Stoke Row; CampWild, Watlington (just off the route near Ewelme); St. Leonard’s Church, Radnage; Home Farm Camping NEARBY MAINLINE TRAIN SERVICES: Henley-on-Thames, PLACES TO VISIT; Ewelme, St. Mary the Virgin church, Swyncombe Church, Stonor Park, West Wycombe Park, LINKS TO OTHER RIDES: The Middle Thames
Whilst the route can be ridden all year round thanks to the well-drained chalkland, some of the paths can be muddy after heavy rain. Be aware too, that chalk becomes ice-rink slippery after rain.
Near to Stoke Row is a legal wild camping spot. To access it, you have to be a member of the nationwide WildCamp. Members are not permitted to share the locations via blogs or social media. That said, the spot is very lovely and the village only a short walk away
Ride Notes
Stage 1 Henley-on-Thames to Princes Risborough
‘The brick-warm town of Henley’, with its ‘strings of pennants’, is little changed since Sir John Betjeman’s day. The walls of the eighteenth century town houses flow with ‘baskets of geraniums,’ the Thames glides under the Grade 1 listed bridge, the boaters, the rowers, the pleasure craft, back dropped by hills clouded by trees, make it almost a parody of a quintessential English market town.
Henley-on-Thames
The traffic flow through the town reduces the need to hang around so jump onto the bike and head up the hill past the gates of Friar Park, the former home of the Beatle George Harrison and still occupied by his widow Olivia. Then you’re onto the first of many inventively named by-ways ‘Pack and Prime Lane’ and after a couple of kilometres onto ‘Dog Lane’, both bridleways, riding the humpback of a ridge. Fields of grain, hedges ripe with birds and berries, wooded glades picture the scene until you meet up with the golden elephant.
During the height of British Rule in India, a conversation between a local Chiltern Squire and the the Maharaja of Benares (now Varanasi), turned to the miserable conditions endured by the rural poor on their estates. The Maharajah was much moved by the plight of the villagers of Stoke Row, who high on a chalk ridge struggled to find clean water each summer. He decided that he would pay for a deep well to be dug, which still exists, although the health and safety police have plugged up the water tap. The golden elephant, the mark of the Maharajah, still gleams under the Raj-styled canopy. Stoke Row also has a community owned shop, and makes for a good first stop. Buns, cakes, coffee, soups, sandwiches, all excellent. There’s a good country pub and nearby a legal wild camping spot. (See Ride Practicalities).
As you head up and over hills on tracks and narrow lanes through woods, pay close attention to your gpx device. Should you miss or overshoot a turning, there are plenty of other downhill options all of which eventually take you to Mapelduram, about as perfect a country estate as could be. Elizabethan house, church, ponds, the two oldest magnolia trees in the country. A water mill. You’ll either need to get married in the house (or persuade your friends to), or book many months ahead for a guided tour.
Thames Long Distance (shared) path
The ride along the bridleway beside the Thames is superb. Sometimes a wide track, often a single track. There are woods, glimpses of the river and its craft puttering along, and this being a well known walking spot, (you’re on the Thames Long Distance Path) you can expect the usual array of dogs off their leads, smiley walkers apologising on behalf of the miscreant dogs, along with the curmudgeonly who move aside with grumpy reluctance. There’ll be horses too, for there are plenty of paddocks nearby. All will need a ring of a bell, a smile, patience and thanks.
Goring-on-Thames is the self-styled gem of the Thames. It is an archetype of what a southern English village should be; cottages, pubs, a lock and river, a Norman church and a smart delicatessen.
The Icknield Way, which takes you out of the village and along the foot of the hills to Ewelme, is probably the oldest still-used road in Europe. It was ancient long before the Romans turned up. Riding its whole length from Wiltshire to Norfolk is for another day, but this paved section takes you to the Duchess of Suffolk.
A bearer on Alice de la Pole’s tomb
Alice de la Pole, Duchess of Suffolk, was one of the most formidable women of her age. Married three times, the first when she was only 11 years old. After the execution of her third husband, she took control of her extensive estates, helped the poor, patronised the arts and advised the King. She and her third husband created the Ewelme Trust in 1437 which still exists today. In recognition of her influence and deeds, she was raised to a Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, a rare thing for a woman in Medieval times. Her tomb is unique and cut entirely of alabaster. The upper section is a full length effigy of the Duchess, wearing her ducal coronet and the Order of the Garter round her left forearm. Underneath is another portrait of Alice, this time as a desiccated corpse, loosely wrapped in a shroud. It is the only life size cadaver of a woman made in alabaster. As well as the Duchesss, the village has a good shop which serves coffee.
Leaving the Icknield Way, a private drive leads up to Swyncombe House and the adjoining Saxon Church, built of flint which had been carried down the Icknield Way from Norfolk. It has been a place of pilgrimage for over 1000 years, has some fabulous stained glass and in winter, the churchyard is covered in snowdrops.
Icknield Way
Pressing on up and over the chalk hills, you arrive at the start of one of the most beautiful sections of the whole route. Although a very ancient track, its primary function is as a private drive through Wormsley Park. You ride through a vale, bordered by hills whose tops are mantled in beech woods. Sheep and partridge are plentiful, as are the berries of autumn. It is timeless piece of England, the sort beloved by the poet Edward Thomas. You head up towards a very different ornament, the 99.4m. BT tower built in the 1960s as part of the Civil Defence protection during the Cold War known as the ‘Backbone Project’.
From the top of the climb, you head down Colliers Lane to Radnage past a good glamping/camping site, (which marks the end of route for day 1 if you’re bikepacking). If you’re heading towards the train station at Princes Rishborough, continue along the ridge in the town.
All the details given on this route are given in good faith. However, situations on the ground can change, so if you know of any access issues, closures, or have any thoughts and feedback on the route, please include them in the comments section below.
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