Go down South Hills lane, beside The Pheasant, with the windmill on your right. At a private garage and a waymark post, swing left to join a track. Follow it as it curves round to the right to a pair of garages, and enter an enclosed footpath, right. This is very narrow, and may be overgrown and boggy; there are wooden stepping blocks. Keep to the enclosed footpath and head over three stiles before crossing rolling grassland. Head straight across the field (no path) towards a large house and a kissing-gate, left. Go through the gate and turn right onto the road.
Pass a public footpath sign on the right, then just before a bend, on the right, is a small parking area leading to a bridleway. It is waymarked but this may be obscured by trees. Go 50yds (45m) along the track, then look left for a stile and cross into the field. Head diagonally right over the brow (no path) and down the field to a plank bridge and stile. Aim left down the adjoining field, making for a metal kissing gate just to the right of a large cream-coloured house with dormer windows. Turn left and follow a footpath towards the cottage. Keep left, cross the grassy frontage of the end house, walk along the lane to the main road and turn right.
Take the first path left, opposite Little London Farm. Over a stile, head diagonally left into the field (no path), pass under power lines and make for the right-hand of two steel field gates. Go through and cross the field, walking straight ahead to a waymarker and a galvanised field gate. Continue ahead across the next pasture to a metal kissing-gate and track. (The farm below, right, is London Farm.) Turn left uphill towards Leatherslade Farm and take the narrow, overgrown bridlepath to the left of the farm gates, signed 'Beware Guard Dogs'. Go between hedges, and skirt the house and outbuildings. The present Leatherslade Farm House was built to replace the original farmhouse used by the gang during the robbery.
Once clear of the farmhouse buildings, the overgrown bridleway bears left and keeps climbing, passing a boarded gate right, then a junction with wooden farm gates to left and right. Continue and eventually come to a galvanised gate. Continue ahead, with the field boundary on your right. Pass several more footpaths on the right and keep going until you reach a field gate in the top boundary. Follow the track ahead to the road by the entrance to a house.
Keep left here and walk along the road to Brill. Pass the chapel; over to the right across the green is the village church and The Pointer pub. Pass a turning on the left to Oakley and look for the barometer in the wall. Bear left into Windmill Street and return to the car park.
After successfully holding up the night mail train from Glasgow to London in the early hours of Thursday 8 August, 1963, the Great Train Robbers journeyed 27 or so miles (43.5km) west across country to a farm near the village of Brill. This was to be their hideout, where they could lay low for a... day or two after the robbery. Remote hideaway Leatherslade Farm was just what they wanted – remotely situated on high ground and well away from the road. The men chose the site in the same way that the Romans and the people of the Iron Age chose their hilltop settlements – so they could spot any sign of an approaching enemy. Initially they had considered using a fleet of high-powered, 3.8-litre engined Jaguars as getaway cars. That way they could be back in London in an hour. But driving at high speed through Buckinghamshire's country lanes in the middle of the night was perhaps not the wisest option. After careful consideration, they hit upon the idea of looking for a suitable hideout within half an hour's drive of the hold-up site. In June the men spotted a farm advertised in the local press and after viewing it, made an offer of £5,550, which was accepted. The owners moved out at the end of July and a week later, on the morning of Tuesday 6 August, members of the gang began to arrive at the farm. By midnight the following evening they were ready for action. A clean sweep They returned to Leatherslade Farm after the train robbery and began digging a hole in the garden to bury the mailbags. They cleaned the farm from top to bottom, wiping down the surfaces and burning all the shoes and clothes that had been worn during the raid. Using several vans to carry the money, the gang eventually left the farm late on the Friday night – nearly 48 hours after the robbery. The following Monday, a local farm labourer walked up the track to Leatherslade Farm to look at some of his cows. He noticed that the windows had been blacked out. Climbing through the hedge into the yard, he spotted a five-ton army truck in the shed. Somewhat suspicious, he rang the police, who were busy taking up to 400 train robbery-related calls a day. Eventually they arrived at the farm and discovered the lorry, two Land Rovers, a half-dug hole and the remains of a bonfire. Both inside the farm and out the police found numerous clues indicating that this had been the Great Train Robbers' hideout. But they needed proof, and the gang had removed any incriminating evidence that could link them to the farm – or so they thought. Ronald Biggs had left his prints on a tomato sauce bottle in the kitchen. It was just what the police had been looking for.
Buckinghamshire is a land of glorious beech trees, wide views and imposing country houses, such as Stowe and Waddesdon Manor, set amid sumptuous gardens and dignified parkland. The Vale of Aylesbury is a vast playground for leisure seekers, and rising above it are the Chiltern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty where you can also find the woodland rides of Burnham Beeches.
Go down South Hills lane, beside The Pheasant, with the windmill on your right. At a private garage and a waymark post, swing left to join a track. Follow it as it curves round to the right to a pair of garages, and enter an enclosed footpath, right. This is very narrow, and may be overgrown and boggy; there are wooden stepping blocks. Keep to the enclosed footpath and head over three stiles before crossing rolling grassland. Head straight across the field (no path) towards a large house and a kissing-gate, left. Go through the gate and turn right onto the road.
1 of 5
Pass a public footpath sign on the right, then just before a bend, on the right, is a small parking area leading to a bridleway. It is waymarked but this may be obscured by trees. Go 50yds (45m) along the track, then look left for a stile and cross into the field. Head diagonally right over the brow (no path) and down the field to a plank bridge and stile. Aim left down the adjoining field, making for a metal kissing gate just to the right of a large cream-coloured house with dormer windows. Turn left and follow a footpath towards the cottage. Keep left, cross the grassy frontage of the end house, walk along the lane to the main road and turn right.
2 of 5
Take the first path left, opposite Little London Farm. Over a stile, head diagonally left into the field (no path), pass under power lines and make for the right-hand of two steel field gates. Go through and cross the field, walking straight ahead to a waymarker and a galvanised field gate. Continue ahead across the next pasture to a metal kissing-gate and track. (The farm below, right, is London Farm.) Turn left uphill towards Leatherslade Farm and take the narrow, overgrown bridlepath to the left of the farm gates, signed 'Beware Guard Dogs'. Go between hedges, and skirt the house and outbuildings. The present Leatherslade Farm House was built to replace the original farmhouse used by the gang during the robbery.
3 of 5
Once clear of the farmhouse buildings, the overgrown bridleway bears left and keeps climbing, passing a boarded gate right, then a junction with wooden farm gates to left and right. Continue and eventually come to a galvanised gate. Continue ahead, with the field boundary on your right. Pass several more footpaths on the right and keep going until you reach a field gate in the top boundary. Follow the track ahead to the road by the entrance to a house.
4 of 5
Keep left here and walk along the road to Brill. Pass the chapel; over to the right across the green is the village church and The Pointer pub. Pass a turning on the left to Oakley and look for the barometer in the wall. Bear left into Windmill Street and return to the car park.
After successfully holding up the night mail train from Glasgow to London in the early hours of Thursday 8 August, 1963, the Great Train Robbers journeyed 27 or so miles (43.5km) west across country to a farm near the village of Brill. This was to be their hideout, where they could lay low for a... day or two after the robbery. Remote hideaway Leatherslade Farm was just what they wanted – remotely situated on high ground and well away from the road. The men chose the site in the same way that the Romans and the people of the Iron Age chose their hilltop settlements – so they could spot any sign of an approaching enemy. Initially they had considered using a fleet of high-powered, 3.8-litre engined Jaguars as getaway cars. That way they could be back in London in an hour. But driving at high speed through Buckinghamshire's country lanes in the middle of the night was perhaps not the wisest option. After careful consideration, they hit upon the idea of looking for a suitable hideout within half an hour's drive of the hold-up site. In June the men spotted a farm advertised in the local press and after viewing it, made an offer of £5,550, which was accepted. The owners moved out at the end of July and a week later, on the morning of Tuesday 6 August, members of the gang began to arrive at the farm. By midnight the following evening they were ready for action. A clean sweep They returned to Leatherslade Farm after the train robbery and began digging a hole in the garden to bury the mailbags. They cleaned the farm from top to bottom, wiping down the surfaces and burning all the shoes and clothes that had been worn during the raid. Using several vans to carry the money, the gang eventually left the farm late on the Friday night – nearly 48 hours after the robbery. The following Monday, a local farm labourer walked up the track to Leatherslade Farm to look at some of his cows. He noticed that the windows had been blacked out. Climbing through the hedge into the yard, he spotted a five-ton army truck in the shed. Somewhat suspicious, he rang the police, who were busy taking up to 400 train robbery-related calls a day. Eventually they arrived at the farm and discovered the lorry, two Land Rovers, a half-dug hole and the remains of a bonfire. Both inside the farm and out the police found numerous clues indicating that this had been the Great Train Robbers' hideout. But they needed proof, and the gang had removed any incriminating evidence that could link them to the farm – or so they thought. Ronald Biggs had left his prints on a tomato sauce bottle in the kitchen. It was just what the police had been looking for.
Buckinghamshire is a land of glorious beech trees, wide views and imposing country houses, such as Stowe and Waddesdon Manor, set amid sumptuous gardens and dignified parkland. The Vale of Aylesbury is a vast playground for leisure seekers, and rising above it are the Chiltern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty where you can also find the woodland rides of Burnham Beeches.
