16.3 km (10.1 miles) 4/10
An exhilarating start along the Ridgeway to the Chiltern escarpment and Ivinghoe Beacon, then by contrast, into the beechwoods of the Ashridge Estate. If it's too muddy on the approach to the Bridgewater Monument, a hard-surface alternative is possible. Finally a gentle descent back to Tring station, with tea at the Monument Cafe or the pub in Albury.
Travel: 1009 from Euston, arriving at Tring at 1051. Four returns trains an hour.
Lunch: the only possible pub lunch stop is the Bridgewater Arms, Little Gaddesden (01442 842 408). Located 10.2km (6.3 miles) from the start of the walk, this traditional country inn, now owned by Greene King, serves food all afternoon daily either in its restaurant or bar area. It also has a small garden. Fast walkers might be able to lunch at the Monument cafe – see below – especially if you short cut to avoid Little Gaddesden.
Tea: There's nothing by Tring station, but the Monument Cafe by the Bridgewater Monument on the Ashridge estate is a popular place for tea. It is self-service, with outside seating. Open till 4pm in winter, and 2.5 km from the end of the walk. Alternatively, the Greyhound Inn (01442 851228) in the village of Aldbury, describing itself as "a chocolate box village pub simply oozing charm and character," should be open for drinks. It's even nearer the end – say 25 minutes to be on the safe side. I think there's a village shop in Aldbury too.
Shortening the walk: You can go directly from Ivinghoe Beacon to the Bridgewater Monument, 4.7km (2.9 miles) for the most part on an easy gravel track through beech woodland but with occasional escarpment views. This misses out Little Gaddesden (and the lunch pub) and shortens the walk by about 2 miles.
For walk directions, map and GPX click here
T=2.5
2 comments:
with rain forecast, it was a surprisingly bright start for the 8 who arrived at Tring on the posted train, but the weather closed in as we got on to the ridge. Two had got separated - I think one took the short cut and another pressed ahead to try and beat the weather - so there were six of us as we battled through wind and rain to reach the Beacon, before we all agreed to stop at the Bridgewater Arms to dry out. All had something to eat, the service was speedy and morale improved. The front runner didn't avoid getting wet but had been and gone before we got to the pub, caught up on an early starter and walked to Berkhamsted.
The sun was out before long in the afternoon (so all in all #bright-heavy-rain-bright-again)and we spotted the first bluebell of the year. Soon we met a another walker who had been on a later train, making a total attendance of #10.
We didn't stop at the cafe but two of us sampled the reopened Valiant Trooper before getting the 1623 train. (We were too late for this, but the Trooper also seems to have a Barn serving teas, coffee and cake till 3.30.) So it all worked out well despite the midday rain.
Today I found out there was another early starter, so #11
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