Walk 11: Ivinghoe Beacon

Date: Sunday 10th July
Route: Tring Station to Ivinghoe Beacon then back via Ashridge Estate, Bridgewater Monument and Albury
Distance: 8.3 miles

This walk at the start of the Ridgeway Path is one that we have done a number of times, though this was the first time that we had done the shortcut version from The Time Out Book of Country Walks Volume 2, where it is walk number 5.

It starts near Tring Station (actually quite a long way out of Tring), then follows the Ridgeway through woods and over several chalky hillsides to reach Ivinghoe Beacon, the official start/ end of the Ridgeway (if you've got a week to spare you can follow it all the way to Avebury). All of the climbing takes place in the first half of the walk but it's not too strenuous and there are fantastic views over a huge chunk of countryside, so always a good reason to stop and take a breather! You can also crash out at the top of the hill and watch the model aircraft enthusiasts at play.

The second part of the walk is all downhill, on very straightforward paths through the Ashridge Estate, one track all the way to the Bridgewater Monument through some pleasantly shady woods, with occasional breaks for hillside views and wandering deer (and a couple of benches to picnic on - the view is best from the second one). This would be great to cycle down too (as many people were doing) and ends up at a monument to the man who built the Bridgewater Canal. You can either climb up the monument or visit the tea hut, depending on how energetic you are feeling.

After the monument, the walk continues to the village of Aldbury, complete with two pubs, a shop, a pond and some stocks (no touching!), then through butterfly-heavy fields to return to the station. Aldbury has the rare distinction of appearing in both The Dirty Dozen and Bridget Jones films!

This is a really good walk, which means it is quite popular (especially with spaniel owners, it would appear!) - next time we will do the longer (11 mile) version.