Tringford, Little Tring, 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, head Northwards towards the Nora Grace Hall. Passing the hall on your left, keep on the main path across the Pond Close play area and walk beside a flint wall.

When the wall ends ignore all paths to the left (leading to houses) and contnue on the main path which runs below tall ash trees. Below lies the Sreamside Walk environmental area, to which the path gradually descends.

(1) Cross Silk Mill Way to a footpath with tubular fencing to its right and continue on path to another road junction ahead.

(2) Bear slightly right and cross New Road. Take the path left, beside the ‘feeder stream’. Keep to the tarmac path until it reaches the Upper Icknield Way, once an ancient track linking East Anglia with the Wiltshire Downs, but now a busy road.

(3) Cross carefully. There’s a pedestrian crossing just to the right. The path continues to follow the stream until it flows into the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal.

(4) Turn left and continue along the canal to the old ‘stop lock.’ Just before the stop lock opposite is Tingford Pumping Station (A), which pumps water from the Tring Reservoirs into the Wendover Arm whence it flows into the Grand Union Canal at Bulbourne. Keep walking beside the canal, up to the road bridge. Climb the steps and cross the road at Little Tring to the footpath opposite.

(5) Continue to follow the path with the canal still on your right to a junction and then bear left, whilst the canal curves away to your right to its current (2018) terminus. Follow this path to a gate and a four-way path junction.
At the gate, continue straight on, with a fence to your right. When the fence ends, take the gate on the right and continue to the next field gate.

(6) Go through the next gate and turn left onto the well-defined track between hedges towards Miswell Farm. This track joins the farm lane which climbs to the right up the hill towards Tring in a deep and steep cutting beneath Beech trees.

(7) Cross the busy Upper Icknield Way again, into Miswell Lane, noting on the left the old Windmill and on the right the rookery in the trees beside the road. Continue down Miswell Lane, crossing Windmill Way to Goldfield playing fields on the left.

(8) Take the path to the right towards the school with playing fields to the right. At the three-way path junction continue straight on to eventually meet Christchurch Road.

Turn right and go down the hill to Friars Walk. Turn left into Friars Walk and continue, keeping right, to a T-junction with the Black Horse pub opposite. Cross the road and return to the car park.

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) Tringford pumping station was built in 1818 and worked in tandem with other stations at Whitehouses and Marsworth until these two were closed in 1836 and 1917 respectively. When Whitehouses, situated above Wilstone reservoir, was shut down, an underground culvert was constructed to connect with the Tringford station. To this day, all the Tring reservoirs are inter-connected by culverts and water can be pumped from one area to another. For over a hundred years water from the reservoirs was lifted using a steam engine. In 1927 diesel pumps were installed; these have now been replaced with electric pumps. Also in 1927, the building was lengthened and remodelled as a much lower structure, using round-headed windows brought from a redundant engine house at Foxton near Leicester.

The six-mile length of the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal was once a busy trade route to London’s markets, carrying livestock from Wendover. Grains and other local produce were loaded at the New Mill and Tring wharves. A cow transported to market by canal boat was much fatter and cleaner than one driven on the old cattle trails and a better price could be had for it. When the channel began to leak, much effort was spent to maintain it in good condition, but it was a losing battle. With increased competition from the railways, the Arm fell into disrepair.
In 1904 the Wendover Arm was finally closed. It is currently only navigable as far as Little Tring. However, the road bridge has been rebuilt and the leaky sections of the canal are progressively being lined in concrete, and re-watered. The future of the Wendover Arm looks much more promising. It is possible to walk the entire length of the Arm following the towpath. From Little Tring Bridge follow the path down past Wilstone reservoir (on the right) and on to Drayton Beauchamp. It is well worth an afternoon’s stroll to the Arm’s source in the market town of Wendover.