Pyrton to Christmas Common

Walking up Watlington Hill to Christmas Common on a nice day is hard to beat, and there are so many ways to do it because the holloways run parallel.  It was made even better by Robert Barber – and of course Peter, his terrier – who showed us the various ways to the top.


(In fact, the more important route was up Pyrton Hill, 200m north.  But Watlington Hill was used too and it's a much more interesting walk.) 

The only unnecessary and possibly illegal blight is a barbed wire fence that marches up the hill, separating one route from another.  Apparently the owners of Shirburn Castle put it there.  Why, if it's Common Land?  (And there's more fencing on top of the Common itself because of a different dispute…)

#1 shows the Icknield Way, which we crossed soon after the tarmac gave way to grass, and the other pictures show the variety of the routes – and unfortunately the barbed wire.