Stubbings Wood, Tring Parish

Start : Frogmore Street East car park (behind Dolphin Square and the Church of St Peter & St Paul) Grid ref. SP 923 115

(S/E) From Frogmore Street East car park turn left into Frogmore Street and at the four-way junction with the High Street go straight across into Akeman Street. (Use the pedestrian crossing to your left to cross the High Street safely.) Continue out of the town, passing the Natural History Museum (formerly the Walter Rothschild Museum) on your left.

(1) Outside the Museum the road bends right into Park Road. Follow the road round and take the next left turn into Hastoe Lane (signposted Hastoe). Continue along this road.

(2) After passing under the bypass bridge, take the footpath on the right signposted to Stubbings Wood. The path climbs beside the bypass for a short distance until it reaches an obvious fork.

(3) Bear left uphill in the direction of a hedgerow. At the top of the rise where the hedge ends, pause to admire the view. (A) Walk straight on across the field to the Blackthorn edge of Tring Woods. Keep straight on, with the woods to your right, until the path enters the wood.

(4) Here, bear left just inside the woods and continue through a thicket of Holly bushes beneath towering Ash trees.

(5) As the Holly thins out, take the right-hand fork where the path divides. Eventually, the path reaches a Holloway, one of the ancient Drover's Lanes that climb up from the Vale.

Go straight across and follow the path with the high chainlink fence to your left. Go through the ‘kissing gate’ and take the path to the right. Keeping the woods to your right, skirt around the hill. Bear right at the next junction, to another kissing gate. This gives access to another Holloway.

(6) Turn right along this path and go downhill, pausing to look across towards Dancer's End. At the bottom of the hill at a four-way junction of paths take the footpath uphill to the right skirting the woods beneath many fine Beech trees.

(7) Continue downhill at the next junction, then bear right at the next one. You will soon reach the big ‘Stubbings Wood’ sign (B). Bear right and follow the path, just inside the woods. The path emerges from the trees close to the bypass and then climbs steeply up beside a field. Enjoy views across Tring.

(3) Carry on (now retracing your steps) to reach Hastoe Lane. Walk down Akeman Street and back to the car park, perhaps taking some time to visit the Natural History Museum. (S/E)

Start & parking: Frogmore Street East car park (behind Dolphin Square and the Church of St Peter & St Paul) Grid ref. SP 923 115

Terrain : This route follows definitive rights of way and quiet roads.

Note : Please follow the Country Code.
• Leave gates in the position you find them
• Leave only your own footprints • Take away your litter
• Keep dogs under control
Do wear sensible clothing for your own comfort. Strong footwear is recommended, particularly after rain; you may encounter some muddy stretches on this route.

Find more information and walks at Tring Town Council here.

(A) Viewpoint, you can see, from left to right:
• Aston Hill
• The Vale of Aylesbury
• Mentmore Towers
• Ivinghoe Beacon
• Pitstone Hill
• Aldbury Nowers
• The Bridgewater Monument, and below you to the right
• Tring Park

(B) Stubbings Wood : Designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1983, the wood grows on a steep north-west facing chalk escarpment which is capped by a glacial residue of clay with flints. The dominant trees are Beech, Ash and Oak, with an understorey of Holly, Yew, Dogwood, Field Maple and the chalk-loving Wayfaring Tree. High on the crest of the hill, a plantation of Larches and Sycamore can be found. Beneath the trees lies a carpet of Dog’s Mercury with pockets of Bluebells and Primroses. Wood Anemone, Sweet Woodruff and Wood Spurge vie for space with the Wood Melick and the rarer Wood Barley. Exotic Species include White Helleborine and Fly Orchid.
All the common butterflies can be encountered along the wooded paths, including the Speckled Wood, Wall and Meadow Brown. At the edge of the trees, Marbled Whites, Brimstones and Small Blues can be seen.
During survey work a total of 53 different species of bird ranging from Goldcrest, Britain’s smallest bird, to Carrion Crow were found using the woods. The species most often seen and heard are the two larger woodpeckers, the Green with its distinctive call of yaffle and the Great Spotted which drums on tree trunks to advertise its presence. From the top of the woods Kestrels. and Sparrowhawks, and Red Kites can be observed hunting in the valley below.
The Kestrels are on the lookout for mice and voles. Other mammals present include the ubiquitous Rabbits, Muntjac Deer, Badgers and Foxes. The Muntjacs are descendants of animals which have escaped from the collections at Woburn and Whipsnade. Another introduced creature is the Edible Dormouse or Glis-glis released into Tring Park in the last century and now living in the surrounding woods.