The community path in Blenheim Park bypasses the busy A4095 between Bladon and Long Hanborough, and runs alongside both the Rivers Evenlode and Glyme. Shaded by trees and next to water, the route provides welcome respite from the summer sun. Total distance seven miles.
Assuming a start in Woodstock town, head out to Blenheim Park, perhaps via the Water Meadows, and enter at the Old Woodstock gate. Turn right and at the Fisheries Cottage, turn sharp left towards the Grand Bridge. Once the Column of Victory comes in to view, leave the road and head diagonally across the grass up the hill to it. The column commemorates the first Duke of Marlborough and his victories in the battles of the early eighteenth century against the French in Belgium and Germany. Continue straight on and cross the Park Farm road, down the hill to the valley at the edge of the Lake. Through the gate and up the valley to the road, turn left and up the hill to Combe Gate. Leave the Park, turn right towards Combe and then left down Bolton’s Lane to Combe railway station. As one might expect from its isolation, it is one of the least used stations in the country. Go under the railway bridge, past Combe Mill on your right and over the Evenlode bridge. Immediately take the rough track on the left, through a gate and turn right on the footpath following the hedge up the hill. Near the top, go through a gap in the hedge and continue on following the hedge on the other side. Through another gap and past houses on Park Lane. At the main road, turn left down the hill on the side walk/cycle path, past the North Oxford Mini garage. Take a track on the left, through a gate, past the Watermeadow Lodge, over the Evenlode again on a delightful bridge and follow the community path. This has a fine gravel surface, which tends to be flicked up and annoyingly falls inside the backs of running shoes. The Evenlode meets the Glyme about halfway, where a weir can be seen. Over the Lince Bridge, this time the River Glyme is crossed and after a short hill, Bladon Lodge is reached. Exit the park, turn left at the White House pub, through Bladon on the side walk next to the main road and pass the next exit from the park, Eagle Lodge. Instead, go straight on through two gates on a footpath across a field with the wood cabin accommodation on the right and eventually the Cowyards, now repurposed as architect’s offices on the left. The main A44 road is reached and can be crossed at the pedestrian crossing.