Over Kiddington Loop

You can see the route on an OS Map at Social Hiking

We start from the tiny Hamlet of Over Kiddington in Oxfordshire. Parking is along the side of the road in front of the cottages. We could start the walk anywhere but starting from Over Kiddington means that we should arrive at Charlbury in time for lunch for those of us who like a pub stop on the way around, there are at least 4 pubs that I counted here!

From Over Kiddington we head north towards Kiddington, Radford and then onto Radfordbridge. We need to take care along this stretch just after Mill House and keep to the right hand side of the field or we could end up ankle deep or worse in some very boggy ground. We are likely to come across a few sheep in the field just before we arrive at Radfordbridge, so dogs need to be on their leads. There’s also a nice spot along here where the dogs can take a drink from the stream.

At Cleverly we turn southward and cross the busy A44 and then we have a slight uphill section along Shakespeare's Way which passing Deadman’s Riding Wood. Eventually we find ourselves in Dichley a country house and estate, we will walk right across the front of the beautiful house. Watch out for cattle here as we will probably be sharing the footpath with a few of them!

From Ditchley Park we head west first along Grim’s Ditch and then along Clarke's Bottom, don’t you love these names? Clarke's Bottom is a long straight bridleway through open countryside and leads us into the small Market Town of Charlbury.

As we reach the outskirts of Charlbury we will pass a single bench with a pretty view over the countryside. It’s a good place for a lunch stop for those who remembered to pack their sandwiches!. Alternatively, continue into town and enjoy some pub grub and a drink at one of the many pubs in town, there are at least 4!

After lunch we will leave the town behind us and begin the return leg of our walk. We will start off by heading east towards Dustfield Farm along some narrow footpaths enclosed by trees and hedgerows.

After Dustfield Farm we turn onto a slightly rough and uneven bridleway for a while until we reach the B4437 which we cross and follow the triangular bridleway passing Sheer’s Copse before crossing back over the road.

From here it's a long, straight north-westerly walk to the finish, along a flat metalled road, but don't worry there is hardly any traffic.