Circular walk from Christmas Common

Hi aardvarkkrill,
Thank you for taking the time to give this incredibly detailed feedback. Yes, this walk is like an alternative to The Fox and Hounds Route 3 that's why it has been agreed to keep both options from those two different authors. We are going to see how to adjust the description.
Enjoy your walks 😉

Date of walk : 08/07/23
Clarity of route description : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Clarity of route map : ★★★☆☆ Average
Walk interest : ★★★★☆ Good

This is a lovely walk, and apart from the choice of starting place is largely equivalent to The Fox and Hounds Route 3 (#4668546), (except for a small part in the middle arriving at Northend.) This year (2023) the valley leading in to Fire Wood has been left fallow and is full of wild flowers.

I like to walk just reading the instructions when I can -- it leaves me free to look at the scenery without checking GPS or map-reading. However, the instructions are much too vague to allow this. In addition, the GPS line is rather approximate in places, so even with GPS we were sometimes in doubt. Better words could be copied from #4668546, as suggested below.

Some suggestions:
(D/A) ... continue for under 200 metres to join a footpath on your left
ADD: immediately before the road junction

(1)Follow this path as it turns right and then Delete: left
ADD: take the left branch where it splits, to go between hedges and houses and joins a track.
Delete: Previous walkers have made a sho... (grid ref. SU735934).
The "previous walkers route" is less pronounced than it was and adds little. Instead I would just follow the marked path, and use this text from the other walk:

• Follow this path which leads through a mixed woodland with some ancient coppiced oak trees, and carpets of bluebells in May. The path begins to go downhill; at the next path junction go to the right. Note the long bank here, probably an old boundary. As you move down the slope the woodland changes to a stand of mature beech trees. On your right you will notice some hollows, perhaps where building materials, clay or flints were dug up. The path continues gently downhill through woodlands for about 1.25 miles/2km. You gradually leave the beech woodland and move into a younger mixed woodland, with glimpses through the trees of this quiet, remote feeling valley where there are no public roads. The path crosses a small area of open grassland, a vista with an old stone urn on the left, and beyond that a Haha and a walled garden.

This gets you to (2).

(2)Replace: Turn sharp right and follow the... to reach a road at Northend (grid ref. SU730927).
Instead: Cross straight over the clearing, ignoring the path splitting off to the left (there is a way-post there), and instead bending round to the right following white arrows on trees up the steep hill

Replace: "Cross the road and continue fo... perhaps this was easy to follow in 2016, but the post is down, the chiltern way sign is missing and the path is overgrown. So instead, "enter the access road marked 'Brackendale'. The public footpath is on the left, but may be overgrown and the signpost missing. The public footpath then goes through a narrow gap in the wall between two houses. Follow this as it bends to the left and you arrive at a gate looking out into a v-shaped valley of fields. Turn right through the gate and at the bottom of the valley turn left, following the bottom until you get to the woods."

Turn right here and follow the Oxfordshire Way as it passes through Fire Wood Add: . Take the right fork at the possib... to reach a quiet tarmac road (grid ref. SU717928).

(3)Bear right along the road and almost immediately ADD after about 50m and passing a couple... take the continuation of the Oxfordshire Way on your left ADD and then take the first right behind.... This leads through the northern part of Queen Wood to a road (grid ref. SU714930). Turn right along this road and continue past the first junction. At the next junction, turn left and the start of the walk is a short distance along Hill Road on your left.

Date of walk : 01/04/21
Clarity of route description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Walk interest : ★★★★★ Very good

We chose a beautiful day for this walk and it takes you through some lovely woodland.
We walked through Shotridge Wood to the junction with the Chiltern Way then turned sharp right as instructed. Nowhere does it warn you however that this is a really steep path up to Northend!!! One person in our group found the slope really difficult but managed- taking it slowly.
At the top we were greeted with a herd of deer running across the path-a real unexpected surprise-a nice one nevertheless!! Make sure your dog is on a lead!
The rest of the walk was uneventful but would thoroughly recommend it!

Date of walk : 07/11/20
Clarity of route description : ★★★★★ Very good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★☆ Good
Walk interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Enjoyed this walk to blow out the cobwebs! Parking is alongside a cow field where upon arrival the tractor was serving up hay bails for feeding time. Several calves present so an enjoyable watching spot. The walk passed a little field with lamb and sheep in too, they were friendly and came over for a pet. The woodland walk was longer than anticipated, but thats because we stopped on several points - lots of mushrooms this time of year. A beautiful walk to blow out the cobwebs - it took us about 3 hours in total to complete. Will recommend.