We love a walk with a café option but a circular walk that starts and finishes at a café and therefore supports the important consumption of pre and post walk carb loading – get in!
What I will start by saying is that when we went the café wasn’t actually open – it was between Christmas and NY – but we have heard so much about this place (and I’m not sure when I’m going to get back there next), that I had to share now! You may have seen The Maker Space on Sarah Beeny’s New Country Lives TV show or, like me, you may not know about it and then when one person mentions it to you everyone comes out of the woodwork saying that they have been there! It’s a gorgeous building – 300 years old and Grade 2 listed – which was bought back to life during the pandemic after lying derelict for 8 years. As well as the café there are also workrooms that hold craft workshops, a store selling various craft supplies and an outdoor seating area too. It seems to be a huge hive of activity here! Being in the Chilterns, it’s also a hub for walkers and cyclists, and they have a good selection of walks and cycle options on their website here.
We found the walk on their website, which we completed on a blustery and rainy Twixmas day – my favourite type of weather for walking! We roamed over a golf course, through fields, up country lanes, along the Ridgeway and passed properties that wouldn’t looks out of place in Austen’s Mansfield Park. It was just shy of 5 miles long and it took us about 2 1/2 hours, it was really easy to navigate just with the map on the website but you can also sign up to the Komoot app for free (do this before, it’s a bit fiddly to do as your walking) and follow the map live. I went with a friend and although I do think that my children could do this too it is a nice grown up walk, especially if you are looking to stop at the café or browse the craft store at The Maker Space.
