Tring to Hastoe and back through Tring Park

Start The Forge car park, High Street, Tring (HP23 5AG). Grid ref. SP 925 115

(S/E) Leave the car park by the main entrance and turn right along the High Street. Take the second left up Akeman Street, past the Natural History Museum (A), to the T-junction at the top.

(1) Turn right on Park Road, then immediately left into Hastoe Lane and go under the flyover to a footpath on the right signposted to Stubbings Wood.

(2) Turn right passing through a gate onto a concrete track. The track becomes a path that runs parallel to the A41. After 200m bear left (South-West) uphill keeping to the right of a hedgerow. At the brow of the hill look back to see the fine views over Tring and beyond. Keep climbing on the wide track between the fences and then along the edge of a wood on your right for 300m to a gap in the trees (B).

(3) Enter the wood following the footpath post, turn immediately left uphill for 130m to a path junction. Ignore the paths on the left and take the right path continuing gently uphill for a further 300m to the next junction. Fork right and follow the path as it drops down steps to a major track. Turn left up past the wooden gate and bear left (South-East) along the rough lane to a road junction.

(4) Turn left and, at the bend, continue straight ahead into Church Lane to follow The Ridgeway National Trail. Walk past the village hall (C) and continue to the junction of Church Lane and Marlin Hill..

(5) Turn left (North) up Marlin Hill and after 200m turn right (North-East) past the wooden barrier into Tring Park. The next section is called King Charles Ride (D) and there are extensive views over the Vale of Aylesbury. After nearly a mile the Ridgeway turns right. Do not follow it, but continue ahead and down to a white building – the Summer House (E).

(6) Follow the main path as it bends sharp left downhill to the obelisk. Continue in the same direction (South-West) down to a kissing gate. Go through it, turn right and then across the open area of the Park towards a footbridge over the A41.

(7) Go through the gates and cross the footbridge over the A41. Follow the fenced path to a lane and go straight over on the path towards the town. Where the path opens out, turn immediately right and walk down to the High Street. Turn right to return to the car park. (S/E)

We hope you have enjoyed your walk. Please remember to rate the walk and add comments. We are interested in how we could improve the instructions or the route and would like to hear about any issues with paths on the walk.

Terrain: Easy walking on paths and lanes with one gradual climb.

Start and Finish: The Forge car park, High Street, Tring (HP23 5AG). Grid ref. SP 925 115

Food and Drink: Plenty of pubs and cafés in Tring. None on the walk

Parking: The Forge car park (chargeable), High Street, Tring HP23 5AG. There is free parking on Hastoe Lane and also in the new car park on the left after the flyover on Hastoe Lane - join the walk at Waypoint 2.

Local Transport: There are various bus services to Tring from Aylesbury, Chesham, Hemel Hempstead, Leighton Buzzard, Luton and Watford. Tring is also served by mainline trains out of Euston, although the station is located on the outskirts of the town.

Tring is a small market town lying at the edge of the Chiltern Hills, where the Roman Akeman Street meets the ancient Icknield Way. Probably the most famous resident of the town was Lionel Walter Rothschild, whose family bought the Wren-designed Tring Mansion in 1872.

This walk was created for the book "50 Great Walks in the Chilterns" available from the Amazon 50GW

(A) Natural History Museum: Rothschild was a keen naturalist and built a private zoological museum. It contained one of the largest natural history collections in the world. In 1937 the Rothschild family gave the museum and its contents to the nation and it became part of the Natural History Museum.

(B) Stubbings wood is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and one of the best examples in Hertfordshire of ancient semi-natural beech woodland.

(C) Hastoe Village: Probably first recorded in the 13th century and most notably connected with the Rothschild family. On the right along Church Lane is the magnificent village hall built by the Rothschilds in 1898. Nearby is the highest point in Hertfordshire, standing at just over 800ft.

(D) The Ridgeway and Tring Park
The Ridgeway has been described as Britain’s oldest road and is thought to have connected the Dorset coast to the Wash. It is now an 87 mile National Trail, opened in 1973.
Tring Park dates back to 1066. For centuries it was linked to the manor of Tring and eventually became part of the Estate. In 1937 the Rothschild family sold the Estate but kept the Park. When it was threatened with development, it was bought by Dacorum Borough Council and leased to the Woodland Trust.

(E) The Summer House and Obelisk: Both monuments are thought to have been designed by James Gibbs, who was also responsible for St Martins in the Fields. They are reputed to have been dedicated to Nell Gwynn who, local legend says, is supposed to have visited the Park with Charles II.