Ivinghoe Beacon and Ashridge Estate Walk

A scenic circular 15km walk in the Chiltern Hills, exploring the northern part of Ashridge Estate taking in the spectacular views from Ivinghoe Beacon, Incombe Hole, Pitstone Hill, and passing through the charming village of Aldbury.

Map and Route

OS Maps Route | GPX File

For alternate walks in the area, check out the National Trust Ashridge Estate page, and find the "Top Trails" section under the "Things to see and do" tab.

Introduction

The walk took me about 4 hours to complete, but this included stopping for photos, a coffee and cake break, and a picnic lunch. Most of the walk is on public footpaths and bridleways, but some small sections are on permissive paths, as these are typically National Trust paths.

I started this walk at the "Ivinghoe Beacon Circular Walk Car Park", but it's possible to start of at any number of car parks along the route, for example the "Pitstone Hill Car Park", the "National Trust Ashridge Estate Car Park", or the "Ling Ride Car Park" and adjust the route depending on where you start from.

It's also accessible by public transport, with the nearest train station being Tring, which is only 500m from part of the route between Aldbury Nowers and Aldbury.

I will mention various car parks and public transport options along the way.

If you have any questions or suggestions about the route, please feel free to reach out to me through the contact page.

Steps Hill and Incombe Hole

From the "Ivinghoe Beacon Circular Walk Car Park", I followed the path next to the road leading towards the beacon to join up with the Ridgeway National Trail, where you'll find the following signpost. Since I finished the walk at Ivinghoe Beacon, I started the walk by heading the other way on the Rigdeway.

Not too long after starting the walk, I ended up at the top of Steps Hill, with the first of many vista points of the day. Steps Hill has permissive access, so I decided to do a short circular walk around the top of the hill, which isn't marked on the map above, but is a nice little detour to take.

Below Steps Hill is Incombe Hole, a chalkland dry valley, which apparently is a great place to observe butterflies, but I wasn't paying enough attention to be able to observe any.

I carried on following the Ridgeway from Steps Hill towards Pitstone Hill, where along the way I passed through a grassland area where all I could hear was the sound of Eurasian Skylarks singing, and a Corn Bunting perched on a tree.

As someone who enjoys bird photography, I was a bit disappointed that I didn't have my telephoto lens with me, mostly due to the weight, but I also wasn't expecting to see too many birds on this walk. I did use my 50mm lens to take a photo of the Corn Bunting, which can be seen below, which I'm relatively pleased with.

Pitstone Hill and Aldbury Nowers

Leaving the grassland area, I crossed over Stocks Road, and ended up at the "Pitstone Hill Car Park", which would also be a good place to start the walk from. Pitstone Hill is right next to the car park too.

I decided to take the permissive path up to the top of Pitstone Hill, to enjoy the views from the top, which is a great place to look back over to Steps Hill and Ivinghoe Beacon.

I also spotted the Pitstone Windmill, which is one of the oldest post mills in Britain, dating back to at least the 17th century. If you want a longer walk, it's a slight detour to visit the mill.

In the distance, I noticed a castle/tower like building, which I later found out was Mentmore Towers, which is currently under private ownership has been relatively neglected, and on the "Heritage at Risk Register".

The view of the village of Pitstone is quite nice too, and also seeing the village of Cheddington peeking out from behind the trees.

Carrying on from Pitstone Hill and following the Ridgeway, I saw on the map that the path followed the route of Grim's Ditch, an ancient earthwork that dates back to the Iron Age, the purpose of which is still debated. It is one of many Grim's Ditches across England.

Following the path soon leads into Aldbury Nowers, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) managed by the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, which again is a great place to spot butterflies, and has a variety of flora and fauna, but yet again I wasn't paying enough attention to spot anything. The walk through the ancient woodlands following a section fo the Grim's Ditch is quite nice though.

After passing through Albury Nowers, I started to head towards the direction of Albury and leave the Ridgeway behind. The signpost below was very helpful, as it wasn't immediately obvious which way to go.

This is the point that's also closest to Tring Station, so a good place to start the walk if coming via public transport.

Aldbury

The way to Aldbury passes by a few farm fields, and is extremely narrow for a bridleway and full of overgrown wild plants, so I was glad that I didn't come across any cyclists or other walkers on this section. I did check myself for ticks after this section though, but didn't find any, thankfully. The view from the path leading into Aldbury is nice, with the village church a useful landmark to use to navigate towards the village.

There are a number of paths in this area that lead to Aldbury, so you don't have to stick to the one I suggest, and it's difficult to get lost as a result of this.

The path leads you past Church Farm, where I noticed a sign for "Church Farm Cafe", which in hindsight looks rather lovely for a stop, but I'd already planned to at the National Trust cafe at Ashridge Estate instead, so I walked past.

At Station Road, I turned left and headed towards the village centre, where I found the small village green. From there I spied a pub, The Greyhound, which could serve as a good place to stop for a drink too, the small duck pond (with ducks! and a duck house!), and the old stocks and whipping post, which are preserved in the village centre.

I should've probably spent more time in Aldbury, but instead here's the Wikipedia page for Aldbury instead.

I walked through past the village centre, and headed up Toms Hill Road. Not long after is the public bridleway that leads to the Ashridge Estate. The sign for which was a bit hidden, but I spotted it just in time.

Ashridge Estate and the Bridgewater Monument

The bridleway towards the Ashridge Estate and Bridgewater Monument becomes quite steep, going from around 135m above sea level at the Aldbury village centre to around 220m above sea level by the National Trust Visitor Centre.

The estate is quite large, and has a number of different paths and trails to explore, so I recommend checking out the National Trust Ashridge Estate page for more information about those, especially if you want to spend more time in the estate itself.

If you visit in late April to early May, you'll be able to see the bluebells in the woods, which are quite spectacular. I visited a bit too late in the season for that and only managed to spot the last dregs of the bluebells, but the woodland paths were still lovely to walk through.

Having visited the Ashridge Estate a few times before, I not to spend too much time at the Bridgewater Monument, but if you'd like to know more about it, you can read the Wikipedia page for the Bridgewater Monument. The tl;dr is that it was built in 1832 to commemorate Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, known as the "Canal Duke" dur to his role in the development of the canal system and inland navigation in England. You can climb to the top of the monument, but I didn't do that on this visit, though maybe I should've done as it's free for National Trust members. There's always next time!

Instead I beelined to the cafe at the National Trust Visitor Centre as I noticed that it was quiet and there was no queue, so I spent some time enjoying a coffee and a slice of apple and blueberry flapjack, which was delicious! I spent some time in the shop and bookshop too, which has a good selection of books and trinkets, but I didn't buy anything this time.

This is also the point of the "National Trust Ashridge Estate Car Park", which is free for all, but locked between 10pm and 6am. It's probably the most central car park for the Ashridge Estate, and a good place to start a number of walks in the area.

After my coffee break, I headed past Monument Drive, following the public footpath relatively to the north, towards Beacon Road, and the Ling Ride Car Park.

Walking through the woods I spooked (and was also spooked by) both a deer and a buzzard, which was a lovely surprise, but I didn't manage to get a photo of either.

I did however take an ASMR-esque video of the woodland walk, which you can watch below. Despite the area around the Visitor Centre being quite busy, the woodland paths were relatively quiet, and I didn't come across anyone else on this section of the walk.

I did get slightly lost on the way to the "Ling Ride Car Park", as I missed a turning, but I ended up on the right path eventually. From the Ling Ride Car Park I crossed Beacon Road and followed signs for the "Ashridge Estate Boundary Trail" for the next section of the walk.

Northern Ashridge Estate and The Coombe

Right after crossing Beacon Road, I spotted a couple of cats in the garden of a house next to the footpath. I should remember to carry some cat treats for situations like this.

There isn't much to say about the next section of the walk, other than it follows along side and through a number of farms and fields. Often at times with sheep and lambs grazing in the fields, so watch out for the poop!

Eventually I made my way through Ward Hurst's Farm, just after which I got the first sighting of the Whipsnade White Lion hill figure and the Dunstable Downs. Speaking of which I highly recommend visiting the Dunstable Downs too, where a walk will also take you to the Whipsnade Tree Cathedral, made from trees, shrubs and plants, was created after the First World War in the spirit of 'faith, hope and reconciliation'. I'll try and remember to do another post on that should I visit there again!

Right after the farm, I entered a wooded area called "The Coombe", with a distinct smell of wild garlic in the air, which as a self proclaimed garlic lover, is one of the best smells in the world.

This area is quite steep, dropping from around 230m to around 170m above sea level, but thankfully the path is well maintained and there is a rope handrail to help you down the steepest sections.

As I walked through The Coombe, I suddenly noticed a change in the atmosphere and the flora, as the dense ground flora was suddenly replaced with nothing, and lots of tall aligned trees. This is Mead's Plantation, which a signpost informed me is a plantation of non-native western red cedar trees, which explains the lack of ground flora and wildlife due to the dense canopy blocking out the light. However the sign also went on to say that this is the habitat of one of the UK's smallest birds, the firecrest, but I didn't manage to spot or hear one on this visit.

After walking through Mead's Plantation, I ended up back in "normal" woodlands. Eventually the woodlands gave way to an open area with a view of Ivinghoe Beacon again.

Ivinghoe Beacon

There are a couple of paths here which lead directly to Ivinghoe Beacon, but I took the path to the right, again following the signs for the "Ashridge Estate Boundary Trail".

While walking along the footpath, I spotted a glider being towed up by a plane. There were also a number of Red Kites around too. There isn't much else to say about this area, probably because I was getting quiet hungry and wanted to have a picnic lunch at the top of Ivinghoe Beacon.

The climb up to Gallows Hill and Ivinghoe Beacon wasn't actually too bad, apart from the first 20m or so, the rest of the path is not too bad. I won't spoil the views from the top, but I will say that it's well worth the climb, and you can see for miles around.

It was quite a bit windy at the top, but still a lovely place just to sit and take in the views. The sandwich I'd bought with me was very much appreciated at this point. I also found out that the beacon is a popular filming location, as it has an appearance of remoteness despite being close to a number of film studios.

I did attempt to take a full 360° panorama from the top, but it didn't turn out as well as I hoped for, so I won't include it here.

While I was sitting at the top, I noticed a number of small gliders and planes flying around, which I worked out belonged to a number radio-controlled model aircraft enthusiasts who were flying their gliders at the top of Ivinghoe Beacon.

According to the Atlas Obscura page for Ivinghoe Beacon, this is a popular spot for this activity, also known as "slope soaring", which is due to the uphill winds created by the hill.

I don't think they minded me taking a number of photos of them, which turned out rather nice.

This one in particular was my favourite, as it shows the model aircraft enthusiast launching their glider into the air and just after take off. I took a burst of images, and combined them into a single photo showing the launch and flight of the glider.

After spending some time at the top of Ivinghoe Beacon, I decided to head back down the hill, following the start of the Ridgeway National Trail back towards the car park I started from.

Finally, all I can say that this is a lovely walk, and I can highly recommend it as it's relatively accessible from a number of car parks and public transport options, and has a variety of scenery and wildlife to enjoy. I hope you enjoyed this post, and if you have any questions or suggestions about the route, please feel free to reach out to me through the contact page.