Walks took place as part of the Chiltern Food and Drink Festival 2017 and were planned to introduce newcomers to the area and the delights of the Chilterns

Walkers could choose to walk or Nordic walk and those from far afield – Salisbury as well as those nearer to home experienced some real delights both walks and vies and food providers

We met for the first walk at the Chiltern Valley Winery and Brewery http://www.chilternvalley.co.uk/ where walkers had the opportunity to browse in the shop before setting off across the Chilterns. Thankfully the weather stayed dry and our route took us down the hill to Skirmett and back up through beech woods before going down again to Turville  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turville – filming location for a multitude of films. We visited the church to see the John Piper widow http://www.hambleden-valley-churches.org.uk/TURhistory.htm before journeying on along the valley, skirting the Wormsley estate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wormsley_Park which now hosts not only world class cricket but also the opera that used to take place at Garsington. The bluebells were just coming in to bud

The route then turned back up a steep bridleway to Turville Heath where our host Robin prepared a sumptuous lunch in this barn

http://www.thebarnatturvilleheath.com/ It really is a unique place blending history and innovation and Robin was able to tell us the history of the barn – the timbers being from ships from Henry V111. Ships were scrapped and the timbers sold in Henley – on of the most important inland ports

Robin’s family have farmed here for generations and have a great affinity with the land and the area. Much of the craftsmanship in the barn in recent years has been done by Robin himself

Now full of food we journeyed on across the top of the hills to Southend and back to Luxters farm