About 2 ½ miles to the pub with another 3 if you extend the walk right round to the swing bridge and back to Pitstone that way.
Starting from the Memorial Hall go out of the car park and turn right into Vicarage Road.
Continue up the road until you turn right into Church Road.
Keep straight along Church Road and onto the public footpath across the quarry.
When you get to Westfield Road keep left to the roundabout.
Go across the roundabout and a few yards up Northfield Road till you come to a stile on your left. (For those who cannot manage stiles there is a gap in the hedge a little further up.)
Continue along this footpath until it veers to the left to go up the hill. At this point you will find a gate into Northfield Road on your right. There is a footpath here along the verge which makes this safer.
Taking care cross the road at the entrance to Park Hill Farm. Continue down the drive through the farm and the wide gate. Cross the bridge over the railway and past two more houses on a metalled road. This road goes towards Tring. Follow it only until you come to the canal. If you continued you would come out by Grove Road School.
Take the towpath on the other side of the bridge to the right which can be wet in winter. This will lead you along the Tring summit to the Grand Junction Arms. You can also visit the garden centre further up the road past the pub.
On the way back this walk can be varied in three ways:
- About 200 yards back along the towpath there is footpath signed up to the right. This goes along the field edge to the road and is drier is winter.
- When you cross the canal bridge at the end of the summit, instead of continuing up the road take a footpath to the left which is clearly marked. It goes around the chicken farm (Chickens are all protected by electric fencing) and diagonally across a field to the railway which it follows to the bridge on the B488. Here care needs to be taken in crossing the bridge and following the road up to the roundabout though most of the verge is well trodden. Here it is possible to cross a low stile to your left and follow the extension of the footpath which comes out further down Westfield Road. Here you cross the road and follow the original route back to the Memorial Hall.
- It is of course possible to complete the circuit by continuing along the towpath of the Grand Union through Marsworth passing the Water’s Edge Marsworth Cafe, Angler’s retreat and the White Lion (now closed). If you chose this route you can leave the canal at Cook’s Wharf and turn left down Cheddington Road which will take you back to the Memorial Hall.