Heading out past Dunstable and the gateway to the Chiltern Hills to make my way into Buckinghamshire to walk and photograph the Ivinghoe Hills starting at the Ivinghoe Beacon and then into the Ashridge Estate.

Planning the Photo Walk

I had already scouted Ivinghoe Beacon and the Dunstable Downs, the weekend before.  Technically I was in the county of Buckinghamshire which makes it south east England, but only just across the border from Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire which are technically in East England.

Using OS Maps online, the plan was to make my way to Ivinghoe Beacon early, before all the day trippers arrived, make my to Gallows hill then across the countryside to the Ashridge estate and the Bridgewater monument.  Then across and around Albury Nowers along the Ridgeway back to the car park.

If your a regular walker and not using OS Maps on your mobile, then you are really missing out.  I would be lost without it.

From Ivinghoe Beacon

It was a beautiful fresh sunny morning on top of the Ivinghoe Hills on the north Chilterns.  Great to be out in the great outdoors.

I was mostly handholding my camera.  I was still missing a screw from my tripod which I lost on top of the Barton Hills.  If you have a Manfrotto Tripod, you can order spares here.  Even though it looks bright, earlier on in the morning you need to keep an eye on your shutter speed if handholding especially if using a polariser.

From Beacon Hill I made my way down to Gallows Hill checking out the views.  I then made my was across open countryside towards some wooded areas then into Ashridge Park.

Ashridge Park

Ashridge park is technically in Hertfordshire, this is how close to the county borders you are in this area of the Chilterns.

There is much to see and photograph, one visit to this area was not going to be enough.  The light was good this morning though.  Using a polarisar to saturate the colours, remove any reflections and highlight the white fluffy clouds.

The Ridgeway

I checked out the Bridgewater monument and  the views from the top.  So many day trippers here though and tourists.  I then made my way around Albury Nowers and then along the Ridgeway back towards Ivinghoe Beacon.

Along the Ridgeway of the Ivinghoe Hills and the views really opened up.  It was now afternoon and I regretted not walking along the Ridgeway during the morning when the light is better.  Still there was some interesting spot lighting hitting the hills and especially the Beacon.

The weather was changing fast and I made it back to the car just as the heavens opened up.  Great walk across the Ivinghoe Hills, its always wonderful to visit and explore a new place like this for the first time.  But I needed to return to capture more landscape photos of this beautiful part of the Chiltern Hills.  I now had an idea of what to expect on the next visit and where to concentrate my efforts.