Peter Schrammel - Mountains

27. 4. 2025

Peter Schrammel

Weather

sunny

Interest

**: Not too challenging ride across rolling farmland, upon steep chalk hills and passing by old churches

Route

Oxford, 60m - Stadhampton, 56m - Chalgrove, 69m - Ewelme, 83m - Swyncombe, 172m - Cookley Green, 227m - Bald Hill, 257m - Beacon Hill, 253m - Adwell, 89m - Chalgrove - Little Milton, 82m - Wheatley, 80m - Shotover Hill, 172m - Oxford

Elevation gain

688m

Distance

87km

Timing

4 1/3h (3/4 + 1/6 + 1/4 + 1/3 + 1/6 + 1/3 + 1/6 + 2/3 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/3 + 1/3 + 1/4)

Stamina

Difficulty

+: all tarmacked except the accesses to the viewpoints in Aston Rowant Nature Reserve, more pot holes than tarmac on Beacon Hill road +

Danger

0: a lot of car traffic

Visitor frequency

d: very busy with cyclists everywhere

Report

Another sunny Sunday that I decided to enjoy in a yet unexplored part of the Chilterns. I left at 8.15am and rode along the Ring Road to Cowley. I forgot to turn left at Kassam stadium so I had to follow Grenoble Road all the way to the B480, missing the road to Garsington which is usually quieter. The B480 was not too bad this morning either and I made fast progress to Stadhampton. In Chalgrove I turned onto a country lane passing by free range pigs to Ewelme, a beautifully groomed village. From there the road led me uphill into a shallow valley with views towards the steep northern slopes of the Chiltern hills. Shortly after I had to climb such a slope to reach Swyncombe with its 1000 year old church, where preparations for the 10.30am mass were under way. I didn’t stay long, but continued further up to Cookley Green. The ridge way via Christmas Commons turned out to be a real cycling highway. A scared fox was scampering to and fro searching for an escape route cornered between the perimeter wall of Watlington Park and the busy road. I was getting hungry and decided to find a view point in the southern part of the Aston Rowant Nature Reserve near Cowleaze Woods. Bald Hill is actually so flat that its not easy to say where the summit should be in the middle of the forest. There was even a bench with views into the combe below Shirburn Hill. Red kites were circling above my head – not sure whether they were attracted by my lunch. At 11.45 I continued across the M40. I decided to take a detour to Beacon Hill to see whether there is a nice view point too. The tarmac of the old road was terrible and there was a lot of car traffic to the parking – apparently a popular spot for hill walkers. On the second attempt I found a path to a nice spot with view to the steep slope of Beacon Hill falling down to the M40 at Lewknor. I rolled back down to the main road crossing forests full of bluebells. With view towards the Stokenchurch BT tower I crossed the A40 and rolled down Kingston Hill. It was quite a detour via Kingston Stert, but it was probably worth it to avoid the A40. In Postcombe I passed under the M40. From the distance I noticed the interesting spire of Adwell church; so I decided to take the brief detour – the church was locked, though. Since there is no real road towards the north I had to go all the way around Chalgrove Airfield again. Via Rofford Lane I reached Little Milton. Across Thame Valley, the church of Cuddesdon was shining in the bright sunlight from the hill top. I returned to Oxford via the usually route through Wheatley and over Shotover Hill. I arrived towards 2pm and concluded the tour with an ice cream.

Oxford - Swyncombe - Bald Hill