On 11th July 2021, Dave Babister attempted a full circuit of the Bernwood Jubilee Way (BJW), starting at Tingewick in Bucks.
In theory this route is a 62-mile circular route, which was initially created as a celebration of the Queen's Golden Jubilee. Historically it was the boundary of the Bernwood Ancient Hunting Forest.
It is reasonably well marked on the ground, but digital and paper copy maps are poor, so Dave spent several months recce-ing the route and ultimately has covered the route in both directions. This has allowed him to generate the definitive route, which will be shared with the Long Distance Walking Association (LDWA)
The route includes a few hills, most notable Brill, but is ostensibly flat. Many of the paths are significantly over grown. There is an abundance of wildlife, including buzzards, deer, red kites and Dave even encountered a badger out and about in daylight hours!
Dave set off at 2am, with the intention of having a maximum ay out of 20 hours, but hoping for less. The weather was clear (no moon though) and warm (13 degrees), so t-shirt from the get go. Nav for the first 6 miles was in the dark, but this had been well recce’d and was simple enough. The route through the fields was good as most of the animals were still in their slumber. Buckingham park was quiet.
As the light came up, Dave progressed to Steeple Claydon and got the wrong side of the fence just north of town and despite previous recce’s to the south, the East West Rail works here wasn’t passable at this time. Fortunately a re-route was simple enough, but did add a bit of mileage at OS Grid Ref: SP 71445 26512.
Food drop 1 was at Botolp Claydon. This, as with all stashes, consisted of 2.5 litres of fluid, mostly water, some flat coke and flat tango, various savoury and sweet nibbles as well as pizza (pre-frozen to keep it fresh). Stashed in a bin bag and hidden way. All went as planned as with all 4 drops, except for the last one at the A41 crossing where the mice seemingly got at the hula hoops! Everything else was in a taped up ice cream tub!
The occasional route around the edge of fields to avoid boisterous cows was required. Along with this and the severely overgrown hedgerows around stiles, progress was slowing. Some stiles took several minutes to clear and farmers haven’t done a great job with keeping tracks clear. Added to this, the meadows towards the latter part of the route had long grass, sometimes waist height, which made for heavy going dragging feet through. Perhaps the time of year was not the best for an FKT attempt!
By mile 25 the running legs were fading, although Dave found them again later. Dave was joined by a friend for a few miles from mile 28, which made for a nice respite from talking to himself or the GoPro.
A longer stop to see family and friends at Ickford and again at Brill for a self-heating chicken casserole meal which was very much needed by that point.
With light fading and rain starting, the whole thing seemingly taken much longer than planned a head torch malfunction set a moderate level of panic in! In particular a nav issue owing to a totally over grown stile being invisible from the field side shortly followed by a further nav conundrum on a part that was recce’d many months before. Added to this, electric fences blocking the route at mile 61/62 made for a frustrating few miles which were being run to get into known trails before the light fully faded. Dave just about succeeded in this and the last few miles were in darkness. The clock stopping at 21 hours, 5 minutes and 13 seconds.
Highlights of the route include the butterflies and moths in the meadows, beautiful villages such as Chearsley with its abundant wildlife in the woods to the south, the winding tracks of Bernwood Forest, views from Brill with its windmill and of course the sun rise; always a joy to behold.
It is fair to say, that whilst the route is well signed, this is only where farmers keep the signs clear. It is not well trodden and many of the stiles were impassable without hacking way for several minutes. A machete may have been advisable but I would certainly suggest taking a walking pole at the very least!