Aldbury is a picturesque village at the foot of wooded hills belonging to the National Trust Estate of Ashridge.

It has some fine half-timbered houses, together with a Norman church and two historic pubs.

The original village stocks can be found by the duck pond. This is a gently undulating walk, offering fine views of the Chiltern Hills and the Bridgewater Monument.

Distance: Complete walk 3 miles (allow 2 ½ hours) or short cut 2 ¼ miles (allow 2 hours).

Start: The Greyhound Pub, Aldbury. Tring Station is ¼ mile away or there are buses to Aldbury village. Parking in the village near the duck pond From the Greyhound pub (1), turn left up a lane (Stocks Road), past some cottages and away from the village centre and follow it for about ¾ mile with views on your right of the wooded slopes of Ashridge Estate.

Go past Stocks Farm then Stocks House on your left, a large building set back from the road.

Further along you come to a house on your right called ‘The Garden Wall’. Just past the house, and opposite a bridleway sign on your right, turn left along an unsigned path (soon to become a signed bridleway) which goes along the edge of a wood (2).

Follow the path through the wood and also when it continues along a hedge line, with the golf course always on your left.

The path soon meets more woods on your right, and ascends gradually with views back in the direction of Aldbury, as well as Ashridge Woods and the Bridgewater Monument.

Ignore crossing footpaths as our route continues to wind between the golf course and woods.

The path descends to meet a crossing bridleway. (3) Here, if you wish to take a short-cut back, turn left along this bridleway (signposted Aldbury) and follow it all the way back to the road and turn right for the village.

To continue the main walk, turn right along this bridleway but, after a very short distance, at a junction of paths, turn left to emerge at a road.

Turn left down the road for about 200 metres to a sharp left hand bend. (4) Cross the road carefully to a bridleway on your right and follow it to a road just outside Aldbury village. (5)

Turn left along this road, following it past The Valiant Trooper pub and back to the village centre.