Buckinghamshire Way

The Buckinghamshire Way on the Chequers Estate

The Buckinghamshire Way is long-distance walking route running the length of Buckinghamshire from south to north, or vice versa. It was developed as a walking route in celebration of the county for the Association of British Counties.

The route runs from close to the southernmost point in the county to its northernmost point. It is 88 miles long and was first walked in 2019 over the course of four days.

The route

Southern trailhead:	Church Lammas, Hythe End	TQ025720	51°26’17"N, -0°31’29"W
Northern trailhead:	Northey Farm, Lavendon	SP901561	52°11’47"N, -0°41’4"W

The route of the Buckinghamshire Way is a single, linear route. It starts close to the southernmost point of the county, at its border with Middlesex in Hythe End, west of Staines, and from here runs to the National Trust's Ankerwycke Meadow beside the River Thames, following close by the river until Datchet, then joining Thames Path through Eton to Taplow, opposite Maidenhead.

From Taplow the path runs north past the Cliveden Estate, and on to the edge of Beaconsfield, soon joining a loop of the Chiltern Way into the Chilterns and north (shadowed by the South Bucks Way) to the Chequers Estate and Chiltern escarpment.

From below the scarp, into the Vale of Aylesbury, the route follows the North Bucks Way path through Stone and on to the upper reach of the River Thame and to Waddesdon, passing by Waddesdon Manor. From here it runs due north to Quainton and onward to Milton Keynes as far as Wolverton.

From Wolverton the route first follows the Grand Union Canal then crosses and recrosses the Great Ouse to Olney, the 'capital' of this northernmost ear of Buckinghamshire, and north from here until where Buckinghamshire stops at its border with Northamptonshire, at a corner of a hedge.

Points of interest

Sights on or close to the path include:

• Ankerwycke Meadow
• Eton College
• Cliveden
• Chequers
• Waddesdon Manor,
• Quainton Windmill
• Milton Keynes
• Olney

Connecting paths

The walk is not currently waymarked. It incorporates sections of a number of waymarked routes, including the Thames Path, the Chiltern Way, the South Bucks Way, the North Bucks Way (extensively) and Aylesbury Outer Ring, and the Grand Union Canal towpath, the Midshires Way and the Swan's Way, along with local paths.

Pictures

Ankerwycke Meadow	The Thames by Taplow
Path towards Penn Street	Weir Lodge on the River Thame	Olney

Outside links

• The Buckinghamshire Way on WildþingUK