Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
Walk 11 : Tring to Wendover
Reservoir nature reserves & Wendover Woods
| Length | 21.5km (13.5 miles), 6 hours 30 minutes. For the whole outing, including trains and meals, allow 9 hours 15 minutes. |
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| OS Landranger Map | No.165. Tring, map reference SP 952 122, is in Hertfordshire, 13km east of Aylesbury. Wendover is in Buckinghamshire. |
| Toughness | 6 out of 10. |
| Features | This walk has plenty of variety - completely flat the first half of the day, starting along the quiet tree-lined banks of the Grand Union Canal, then past 'twitchers with bins' (aka birdwatchers with binoculars) beside nature reserves-cum-reservoirs. In the afternoon, the public footpath passes alongside RAF gliders being whipped into the air by a whirling wheel on a stationary lorry. For the last 3km the land changes completely, as you make your way up into a popular part of Wendover Woods (complete with exercise bars and gargantuan signposts), nearly to the highest point in the Chilterns, and then descend steeply into Wendover. |
| Shortening the walk | You could get a bus along the A41 from Aylesbury to Tring (ask at the pub), catching the bus on the main road in Aston Clinton after lunch and then taking the train from Tring (which means you can use a return ticket). Or, before lunch, at point [5] on the map, you could turn left along the B489 - this brings you, in 600 metres, to the A41 and the Rising Sun pub for lunch (and the bus to Tring). Or, later in the day, to avoid hills and woods, turn right on to the Wendover Arm Canal after lunch (see the asterisk [*] in the walk directions) and follow it all the way into Wendover. |
| History |
The water from the Tring Reservoirs (opened between 1793 and 1805) keeps the Grand Union Canal navigable. The first UK nesting of black-necked grebes was noted here in 1918. The Church of All Saints, Buckland, was built in 1273. At the time, the Lord of the Manor was Hugh le Despenser who, with his son, was executed by his erstwhile friend, Edward II, in 1326. A later Lord of the Manor, the Earl of Warwick ('Warwick the Kingmaker'), was killed by his one-time friend, Edward IV, at the Battle of Barnet in 1471. After lunch the route goes through the grounds of the Halton House estate, once owned by the Rothschild family - teams of zebras used to take them to their favourite picnic spot - and now given over extensively to the RAF. Construction of the Wendover Arm Canal started in 1793 to supply water to feed the Grand Union Canal at Tring. It became known as the leaky canal - despite partial relinings in 1803 and 1856, it had to be closed in 1904. Boddington Bank is an Iron Age hill fort overlooking your final destination of Wendover. Saturday Walkers' Club Take the train nearest to 9am (before or after) from Euston Station to Tring. Trains back from Wendover run about twice an hour, and return to Marylebone. Journey time 40 minutes on the way out, 45 minutes for the return. |
| Lunch | The Oak Inn pub (tel 01296 630 466) in Aston Clinton is 12km from the start, so allow enough time. Excellent and reasonably priced home-cooked food - with some dishes taking 45 minutes to prepare - is served from midday to 2pm Monday to Friday; midday to 3pm winter weekends; midday to 9pm or 10pm summer weekends. Groups of more than ten are asked to book in advance. |
| Train Travel | The route out and back are by different train companies. It is possible that you will have to buy 2 singles rather than a day return ticket. |
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| Major Updates | Detour to cross a new motorway, by going under it, alongside a canal. [details] |
| Warning | This text was taken from an older edition of the book, and is a little out of date. Please check the updates for this walk. |
Walking Instructions
For a map and detailed walking instruction, please see Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
