A Wet Tring...

...Or a damp circular walk from Tring station...five and a half miles or so, on Saturday 10th September 2016, led by Jenefer.

Five of us met at Euston Station – plunged into a state of semi-electronic failure so you could only use cash to get your tickets, but that was alright for us and we caught the 9.24 to Tring.

Tring cowroast 160910 104055423artThe group at Cowroast LockIt had been raining at Euston, and it was raining at Tring, though not heavily, so undeterred by such trivialities we accessed the towpath of the Grand Union and walked through the dank and wet cutting, sampling occasional blackberries as we went. We reached Cowroast Lock where, Jenefer told us, they never did roast cows but they did REST them, en route from distant pastures via the drove roads to the London markets. Where we ate them.

Leaving the canal, but gaining more rain, we angled upwards towards the hillier parts, along quiet roads and then through the woods adjacent to Northchurch Common. From something like 400ft. ASL at Tring, we were now at about 650ft, although the slopes were generally not steep and it was easy-enough going. We dropped down more sharply through the wood, then steeply down part of the Chiltern Way, into the pretty village of Aldbury where, apparently, much filming has been done because it looks quaint and they have stocks and things.

We didn't make use of the stocks and things, but we did make use of the pub, where a sit-down and a bit of a dry-off and some liquid refreshment went down well. Leaving the pub, we walked up the street to the pond, where we stood and ate our sandwiches. It was still sort of raining.

It wasn't really very far from there along some mainly well-surfaced footpaths back to Tring Station, where a train was soon found that returned us to Euston.

Thanks to Jenefer for arranging and leading the walk, and to Jill V., Lynne and Fred for joining in a nice enough, though bit wet, walk.

Paul Ferris, 13th September 2016