National Grade: Moderate  Distance: 10.5miles / 16.9km  Leader: Richard and Alison  Date: March 18th 2026

Richard’s walk from Tring enticed 19 of us including new walker Eileen to come together on what promised to be a glorious sunny early Spring day. John and I tried to drum up support for interest in the used jigsaws that we had both brought but no takers this time. Jigsaws back in the car and with the briefing over we set off into Tring Park over the A41 footbridge and turned along a gently rising path leaving the traffic noise of the A41 behind and birdsong a very pleasant alternative. The skylarks were up and about and filling the air with their charming song. After around 20 minutes we started to ascend more steeply up the wooded hillside. Although becoming quite steep, the warm sun on our backs helped a lot and layers soon started to come off with many of us in shirt sleeves before we arrived at the top. We stopped for a snack stop in a sunny clearing in the woods. For a short while we were walking along The Ridgeway long distance path and met several other groups of walkers along the way. Our route weaved around through fields of brassicas and winter wheat and some still apparently unsown. We like to identify the crops but our phone apps were not being helpful today. The ground was muddy in a few places but mostly soft and clean. We passed by Buckland Common and eventually arrived into Wiggington where we had our lunch on the green. Hot drinks and cakes were enjoyed by some at the Community cafe and some others enjoyed the refreshments available at The Greyhound pub. The fine day had brought out the locals too so some of the seating was already taken. The green gym provided an alternative form of seating for a few others.

Heading away after lunch we noticed Buzz Lightyear looking out at us from his repurposed phone box in a garden. Our route then joined the Icknield Way trail where clearings in the trees gave us magnificent views into the distance. The sky remained cloud free and clear all day so we could see for miles. Our route today was full of twist and turns and we doubled back towards Tring after a walk through Hastoe village. Emerging from Grove Wood, we enjoyed a gentle downhill walk on soft grassland with the sun on our backs again. We had a great view over Tring as we made our way along. Arriving at Hastoe Lane we walked along the lane to quickly arrive back at the Natural History Museum car park and our cars. Maybe we had gained a little suntan and boosted our Vitamin D levels today. We thanked Richard and made our respective ways home.

Report by Simon Thornhill