Ivinghoe Beacon: August 4th Supporting Pace

• 9:45am meet, prompt 10am start.
• The village green, Aldbury, HP23 5RR
• Please note there are no public toilets at the start.
• Approximately 10miles.
• Duration 5+hours.
• Walk Rating - Moderate
• Leader: Chris meet our leaders.

• If you have any question or need any further info, please do get in touch by email: info@getoutdoorsuk.org

Important Instructions:

• A WHATSAPP group will be created to share info and photos on the day. In signing up to the event you are agreeing to be added to this group, which will contain other participants. This is necessary so that details can be shared in the run up to the event, including last minute changes, reminders or cancellations.
• Charity involvement: many of our walks are being run in partnership with charities. As such, sign up information is shared with the charity involved for the purpose of running the event and communicating its purpose, which is to help raise awareness and funds for the charity. By signing up, you are agreeing to receive information from Get Outdoors and the charity.
• Remember waterproofs, walking boots/shoes and a packed lunch & water.
• Please note you may need to pay for parking.
• Dogs are welcome, but are entirely the owner's responsibility and must have a lead and be under close control at all times.
• If encountering livestock do not walk too close or get between a cow and calf. If threatened, let go of your dog so it can escape and reduce the risk to yourself.
• Please keep to public rights of way and respect landowner’s property.
• There are often stiles to negotiate on this type of walk.
• Countryside walking can often include hills and uneven terrain. Our group ethos is to support everyone in group to achieve their maximum potential in terms of completing the route. As such, we endeavour to walk at a pace all participants are comfortable with. We apologise if this causes any frustration to fitter walkers.
• Please consult your doctor if you are worried about your fitness to take part.
• Please inform the walk leaders, Get Outdoors, of any underlying health conditions that may affect your walking ability before signing up. 

Required Form:

We need a few more details from everyone, so we know how best to look after you. Once you have booked your walk above, please follow this link and complete some simple questions ASAP: Applicant H&S Registration Form

The Route

We start from the beautiful Chocolate Box village of Aldbury, which is designated as a conservation area, with most of the land surrounding the village unaltered since the late medieval period. The village has been a popular location for films, being used in Bridget Jones, The Dirty Dozen, The Avengers series, Midsomer Murders and many others. The manor was recorded as Aldeberie in the 1086 Domesday Book. The public house, "The Valiant Trooper", has served as an ale house for centuries, the first traceable evidence dating back to 1752.

We make our way to the northwest, joining the Ridgeway on our way to climbing to take in breath-taking views on Pitstone Hill, a 22.9-hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Importance. Plants here include the nationally scarce Pasque flower and Field Fleawort. Twenty-six species of butterfly have been recorded and breeding birds include Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and Willow Warblers.

Ivinghoe Beacon is a prominent hill and landmark in Buckinghamshire, 233 m (757 ft) above sea level. The Beacon lies within the Ashridge Estate and is managed and owned by the National Trust. It is the starting point of the Icknield Way to the east, and the Ridgeway long-distance path to the west. The Ridgeway National Trail is described as Britain's oldest road, following a route used for at least 5,000 years by travellers, herdsmen and soldiers. The hill is an ancient signal point, which was used in times of crisis to send messages across long distances. It is also the site of an early Iron Age hillfort protected as a scheduled monument.

Archaeological evidence has revealed human activity dating back to the Bronze Age, and the area contains many other scheduled monuments, including a number of Bronze Age burial mounds. There also exists evidence of ancient farming as the Beacon is also crossed by deep channels which are thought to be cattle drovers' paths and cross-ridge dykes. The prehistoric earthwork, Grim's Ditch passes to the south of the Beacon at Incombe Hole.

We drop off the the Chiltern Hills at the very end of the Ridgeway and continue deep into the Ashridge country estate. It comprises 5,000 acres (20 km2) of woodlands (known as Ashridge Forest), as well as commons and chalk downland. Home to Hult Ashridge, Hult International Business School's executive education programme, as it has been since 1959. The estate is currently owned by the National Trust.

He head down the wooded slope from Bridgewater Monument, one of the steepest hills in Hertfordshire, crowned by a ridge at one of the five highest elevations in the county. Monuments in the church witness the importance of certain manorial families including the family of Sir Ralph Verney (1546), who have the northern chapel in the church, and the similarly landed family of Thomas Hyde (1570) and his son George (1580).

As we reach the bottom of the hill, we find ourselves back in where we started, in the village once the home of Sir Guy de Gravade, known as the Wizard of Aldbury. A man reputed to be able to turn base metals into gold!