Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

Last Sunday I wasn’t feeling 100% but we all needed a little bit of fresh air, so we’d decided to head over to Stowe for an hour.  As we were driving along my OH mentioned he’d heard about a disused railway line walk close by.  That grabbed my son’s attention straight away, so we changed our plans and decided to spend some time exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond instead.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

Considering how close we live to Buckingham, I’m ashamed to say that I’ve only ever been into the town once when my son was a toddler.  It’s somewhere we clearly need to spend some time getting to know better so the idea of exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond appealed to all of us.

I’d quickly googled for some information and my OH knew the area well enough to find somewhere to park on the road on Station Road.  The online map wasn’t particularly mobile friendly, but we could see a large railway bridge above us, found a way up and we were off on a new adventure.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

My son was so excited.  We often walk along a disused railway line in Derbyshire with my best friend.  But in that instance we always walk under bridges, he was thrilled to be walking along a railway bridge and looking down at the area around us.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

The station is long gone sadly, but we imagined what it would be like to be on a steam train riding along the train line.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

There was snow about still in places and lots of birds, all of who were a tad camera shy, but it was lovely to walk along listening to their songs.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

I stood back and listened to my son talking about his beloved steam trains, where the line would once have been.  Mummy I’m just like Rob Bell on his Railway Walks.  Yes you are I replied.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

If you’ve no idea what I’m talking about, Rob Bell presented a series of TV programmes walking the lines of lost railways.  It was a really interesting series and one that fuelled my son’s imagination.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

There came a point where we reached a road but we could see a footpath on the other side, so we decided to see where it led.  Having now printed off the railway walk map at home, I can see that this part of our adventure went beyond the railway walk itself.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

We headed along the pathway with some industrial units on one side and what looked like a derelict house on the other.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

Then we found ourselves looking out across open fields and it felt a little bit like walking into a winter wonderland.Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

The fields were in such contrast to the pathway at that point which was totally devoid on snow and ice.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

We could see a footpath running along the edge of one of the fields so decided we’d continue exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond and see what was over the next field.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

With a bit of mole hill spotting along the way.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

As per normal, my son was soon rushing on ahead, leading the way.  I wish I had his energy.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

He also learned a valuable lesson, as if his first coming together with barbed wire at Coombe Mill hadn’t taught him a good enough one.  Then, he’d decided to scrap his hand along the barbed wire on the morning feed run, the wire won that battle.  This time around he decided to brush his coat against it.  The coat didn’t fair much better than his hand had all those years ago.  A sewing job for me when we go home!

At this point in our walk we couldn’t work out where the footpath was meant to be, and so I decided that the best course of action was to retrace our steps.  We did admire the sheep from afar.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

As well as the views looking into the sun.
Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

There was a railway bridge that was just too tempting for my son, so he quickly ran down to take a look underneath.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

Before heading back to the path we could see.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

We’d spotted a walkway along the river Great Ouse on our walk out, so we decided to see what that had to offer and headed down from one of the railway bridges to explore some more.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

We saw a goose and some ducks along the water’s edge.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

As well as some beautiful reflections in the late afternoon sun.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

As we spent time exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond we all agreed that this is somewhere we can see ourselves revisiting time and again as the seasons change.  It’s close to home and has a lot to offer.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

 

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

We crossed over the road close to where our car was parked and headed into a park area by the University of Buckingham.  The weir was rather beautiful.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

It came as quite a shock to find some of the water was frozen over, much to my son’s delight.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

But the water was soon back to normal, but we were all in need of defrosting a little.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

So we decided to follow the path into town and warm up over a steaming cup of hot chocolate.  Well all apart from my son, who decided an ice cream would do just as well.

Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

We’d had a lovely time exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond and having since looked at the map, we’ve only actually walked half the length of the railway walk which heads off in the opposite direction, and there’s a pond.  We will be back soon!

Have you got any hidden gems on your doorstep you didn’t know existed?

Country Kids linky

12 thoughts on “Exploring the Buckingham Railway walk and beyond

    1. We certainly need to go back and do the other way. The footpath over the field was fairly clear until the end of the first field and then we couldn’t figure out where it was meant to go so turned back. If I’d had an OS map with me we’d have been ok.

  1. I love a railway walk as you know it’s going to be mostly flat so won’t tire the kids out too much. There’s a few round here that we haven’t done for years so you’ve inspired me to revisit them! Those fields look absolutely stunning in the snow and the weir looks beautiful. #CountryKids

  2. Quite as adventure with so many new things to discover. Your photos out over the snowy landscape into the sun are simply stunning. I just noticed your son has ditched his trusty ruck sack. Was that a deliberate move? Hopefully the coat repair went well, barbed wire is very unforgiving! His steam railway interest is such a lovely hobby to have, it will be the base of many expeditions for some time to come I feel. #CountryKids

  3. The open fields do look like a winter wonderland with the dusting of snow! Sounds like a lovely winters walk and its good to get out and enjoy the fresh air x #CountryKids

  4. We often find that disused railways make for fantastic walks as they are so linear and clear of obstructions. It’s also great to discover whats close by and to see things from a different perspective. #CountryKids

  5. How lovely to discover a hidden gem so close to you and what a lovely walk you had. It’s interesting to think about what the railway line would have been like with the trains and stations. Following footpaths to see where they lead is fun. The fields look so pretty covered in snow and I love the contrast against the path. I also love the photo with the reflections of the bridge. Thank you for sharing with #CountryKids

I'd love to hear from you and try to reply to all comments