Photo of crowd of people watching racing cyclists pass by

The Tour de France passing through Brill September 9th 2017.

 Brill Walking & Cycling

Photo of cover of Bernwood Jubilee Way guide book

Public Footpaths and other Rights of Way

Brill is surrounded by beautiful countryside, much of it accessible as common land or Rights of Way. This interactive map (website opens in new tab) shows public Rights of Way throughout the UK.

Brill is also a key point in the 61 mile Bernwode Jubilee Way (Bucks Council website opens in new tab); a circular trail looping through north-western Buckingham. Request a copy of the Bernwood Jubilee Way book by email from the Bucks RoW team - or try this short circular walk linking Brill and Boarstall (pdf opens in new tab), a historic hamlet at the bottom of the hill. (Note that Span Green can be very wet in the winter months. The Parish Council are working with local landowners to alleviate this but it’s a massive project.)

Discover other Bernwode Jubilee Way walking and cycling routes (opens in new tab) on the Bucks Council website.

Report all footpath and bridleway issues (e.g. broken stiles, missing signs, overgrown paths, dangerous animals) to Bucks Council via FixMyStreet (opens in new tab). Download the FixMyStreet app from your app store for quick and easy reporting when out and about.

Read more about keeping RoWs in the Brill Parish clear and the responsibilities of councils and landowners (Bucks Council website opens in new tab)

Ancient Bernwood Forest by bike

The Bernwood Jubilee Way team have designed a series of cycle loops (Bucks Council website opens in new tab). Details are included in the guidebook, available free on emailed request. The routes range from 12 to 34 miles in length and are sign-posted. The Haddenham to Ludgershall Loop passes through the villages of Cuddington, Long Crendon, Chilton, Dorton, Ludgershall saving the best until nearly last; Brill, then Wotton Underwood and Ashendon. The route is 25 miles, but can be shortened to 12 or 16 miles.

Painting of green hills with windmill and rainbow

Brill Hill; a challenge for walkers and cyclists alike dramatically portrayed by Year 6 at Brill School on their Jubilee Flag

For more about cycling in Buckinghamshire, includes guides to the Phoenix Trail (linking Thame and Princes Risborough) and the Chilterns Cycleway, visit this page on the Cycling UK website (opens in new tab).

Shady walks

Take a look at our three shady walks close to Brill for hot, sunny days. If you don’t know the area, you’ll probably need a large scale local map (OS maps open in new tab).

Brill walkers’ maps

Brill is irritatingly close to the eastern edge of OS Explorer 180 (1:25,000) Oxford, Witney & Woodstock (opens in new tab) and only a couple of miles off the western edge of OS Explorer 181 (1:25,000) Chiltern Hills North )opens in new tab). Keen walkers will need both. The Book House in Thame (website opens in new tab) sells maps - and the Oxfam Bookshop, also in Thame (website opens in new tab) generally has an good stock of secondhand local maps.

Oakley walks

Oakley is one of our neighbouring parishes, just down the hill in Oxfordshire. The Oakely Parish Council and Community website (opens in new tab) offers an excellent list of 12 local walks, including a couple up to Brill which could be easily adjusted for Brill-based walkers. The others are almost as handy with starting points just a short car journey away - or maybe you can do something creative with local buses, most of which serve Oakley on the same run?

Browse the Oakley Countryside Walks (opens in new tab).