This walk has so much to enjoy. There are some lovely views of typical Chiltern scenery and, on a smaller scale, the banks of the quiet lanes are studded with all sorts of wild flowers.

Fawley Church is interesting and worth a look and close to the end of the route, just when you feel in need of a pick-me-up, The Walnut Tree comes into view.

Fact File

Distance: 4 miles

Map: OS Landranger 175 Reading and Windsor.

Start: St Mary the Virgin Church, Fawley. There is roadside parking by the church. Grid reference 753867.

How to get there: From the A4155 Marlow to Henley road six miles west of Marlow, take a minor road signed 'Fawley 1'. Coming from Marlow, this is the first road signed Fawley. At a T-junction turn left to the church.

Refreshments: The food at the Walnut Tree (01491) 638360 ranges from the exotic - salmon with olive mash or calimari - to the more familiar of cod and chips or sausage and mash. There are also some delicious puddings. For a lighter meal, some bar snacks are served or a tasty starter alone.

Walk

1 Walk through the churchyard to the left of the church and turn left along the lane at the far side down to Fawley Bottom.

There has been a church on this site for 800 years. The earliest parts of the present building date from the late 12th or early 13th centuries. It was substantially altered in 1748 by the then Lord of the manor, Lord Freeman, and then remodelled again in the Victorian era. In modern times there has been an attempt to restore the earlier Georgian character. The most unusual features of Fawley Church are the mausoleums in the churchyard. The one at the rear of the churchyard is the Freeman mausoleum designed by John Freeman in 1750 and loosely based on the tomb of Caecilia Metella in Rome. The one by the lych gate is that of William Dalziel Mackenzie who bought the Fawley estate in 1853 and died in 1863.

2 At a T-junction turn right.

3 Bear left at a fork by The Old Bakehouse. Continue ahead, signed "Henley 5" at a road junction.

When I checked out this walk, the banks of the lane were studded with wild flowers including violets in profusion, wood sorrel, dogs mercury and spurge. The cuckoo pints with their purple-splashed leaves were just beginning to develop. These have a mass of male and female flowers at the base of a stalk called a spadix and they are enclosed in a sheath. The spadix gives off a scent attractive to flies. The insects crawl inside the sheath and pollinate the flowers. Later in the year, it develops into prominent spikes of orangey red berries.

4 Turn right at the next junction, still signed to Henley. Continue past a lane on the left back to the start.

Inside the church is the grave of Sir James Whitelock and his wife. His twin brother died at sea fighting under Drake. His son, the magnificently named Bulstrode Whitelock, was a prominent Parliamentarian during the Civil War but repeatedly attempted to mediate between the two sides. He was one of the committee that drew up the charges against Charles I but condemned the trial and refused to sit in judgement. Despite this half-hearted attitude, he held many posts under Oliver Cromwell and was Speaker of the House of Commons for a time. He was one of the first people to open negotiations for the restoration of Charles II and sent him money.

Written by Jean Patefield