Russell’s Water and Maidensgrove Commons
Take the dog for a walk, fly a kite, pick blackberries or picnic on this large, grassy open common high in the Chilterns.
Most of Maidensgrove common was ploughed during the Second World War so crops could be grown as part of the war effort. These days the common is cut for hay each summer by a local farmer. The common is dotted with islands of scrub which grows in hollows created when people dug clay to make bricks and tiles for their houses.
Russell’s Water common joins Maidensgrove Common. It is more wooded, with recent woodland closer to the village and ancient hazel coppice on the slopes by Pishill Bottom.
You might recognise the duck pond on Russell’s Water Common as it featured in the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang film!