Pete's Walks - Wigginton and Wendover Woods (page 4 of 4)
Across a lane, the byway (now called Leafy Lane, according to a fingerpost) continued past a couple of residences. A little further on I turned left, into a similar hedge-lined byway. Ignoring a couple of paths on the left, I followed it as it soon curved right to reach a T-junction with another byway just inside the edge of Grove Wood. Here I turned right, and started plodding slowly uphill through the wood.
Leafy Lane (the southern continuation of Fox Lane after crossing a lane)
Leafy Lane
The byway after I turned left, that curves round to Grove Wood
The byway that curves round to Grove Wood
The byway that climbs up through Grove Wood
The byway that climbs up through Grove Wood
The byway that climbs up through Grove Wood
At the top of the hill I passed a garden on my left, and then followed a drive into Hastoe. I turned left onto a lane at the end - this lane almost immediately went left, but I continued straight on down Church Lane (the track called Brown's Lane, which I crossed earlier, went right here). After almost half a mile I reached a T-junction, where I went two or three hundreds yards left before taking a path going right. This immediately entered Bishop's Wood, part of Tring Park.
The byway continuing from Grove Wood into Hastoe
Church Lane, Hastoe
The road at Hastoe, after I turned left at the end of the lane
The path through Bishop's Wood, the first part of Tring Park
The path continued along the wooded King Charles's Ride (Charles II and Nell Gwynne were once guests at Tring Park), with occasional views down the slope on my left over Tring Park, Tring and the Vale of Aylesbury beyond. After approximately three quarters of a mile, I turned right at a big path junction to leave Tring Park, running in front of some cottages to reach Fox Road on the edge of Wigginton.I turned right and followed the road through the village. When the road turned left, I entered the park in front of me, turning left and walking round two sides of the park. Beyond a short side street I crossed a road and followed a path straight on to return to the playing fields where my car was sitting in the car park.
King Charles's Ride, Tring Park
View out over Tring Park
King Charles's Ride, Tring Park
I enjoyed this walk more than I had expected to, despite the muddy conditions today. I remembered it being very flat, with just two significant ups and downs, but that didn't seem to bother me today. At 12.6 miles, it was the furthest I'd walked since I had (very minor) long covid. I was very tired at the end of the walk, but not as bad as on some other walks I've done this year. The walk took me about five hours and 5 minutes, which was 20 minutes longer than it took me the last time I walked it in July 2021, but some of that extra time was definitely down to the muddy conditions.