Wendover Gap Anytime Challenge 20 February 2016


This was a group walk of the BBN group's 26.4-mile Wendover Gap Anytime Challenge on Saturday 20th February 2016 - the second AAA walk in two weeks. The route description is downloadable from the BBN website and comes with the added incentive of a badge subject to the correct answering of 5 questions (and if we have not used up all BBN's stocks).

Three of us turned up for the start near the car park at Prestwood: Gary U. (who already knew the route) Graham C. and myself. The route tends to loop around on its way to Wendover Woods and back over itself again on the way back and so is never as far from the start as the distance suggests. The outward leg was via the RW and Monument to Wendover where food stocks were topped up (having heeded a warning about the expensive café later on) then along the Grand Union canal to Halton, then the long climb through Wendover Woods. As a short detour, we went over to the high point of the walk in more than one sense (pictured).

After lunch, the rain began and the wind over the higher ground made for some exposed and slippery going. A church porch at aptly-named The Lee provided a sheltered stop; later on saw the route wend over itself again to skirt Hampden House on the way back to Prestwood which we reached in under 9 hours despite several extra stops.

The photos are just from a small section of the walk in the late morning.

Photos and text by Helen Abbott.