WALK REPORT These photos are from a test run of a walk I did on Sunday with Lizzie, Katie, and Jonny to Tring and the Ivinghoe Beacon. The Beacon is an outcrop of the Chiltern Hills that lie to the northwest of London; from it you get some amazing views out over the surrounding English countryside. Thanks to my St Albans friend Graham Williams for suggesting the route. I may incorporate it into the schedule as one of my autumn walks. Scroll down for the full-size images, with captions.

20 photos in this set:

Here we are at Tring station, having just got off the train. L to R: Jonny, Lizzie, and Katie.

First order of business: the pub. From Tring it’s just a one-mile walk into the village of Aldbury, where we stopped for lunch at the Valiant Trooper, one of two pubs in town. This was the scene at the table opposite ours.

Lizzie surveys her chicken and bacon salad.

If you don’t like liver, look away now. This was my lunch – liver, mashed potatoes, and apples – and quite tasty it was too.

A honey bee on a purple flower I have yet to identify. This was taken after lunch, on our stroll up through the back streets of Aldbury.

Lizzie modelling a cluster of yellow berries on the path nearby.

A snail clutching onto a vine leaf, also in Aldbury.

On the hill above Aldbury we came across a country fair. All sorts of things to do here … we took an archery lesson, ate some ice cream, and watched this wood sculptor at work.

The 108-foot tall Bridgewater Monument is part of the National Trust’s Ashridge Estate and was built to commemorate Francis Egerton, the “father of British inland navigation”. Egerton started building canals for coal transport in the mid 18th century.

We followed this tree-lined path north through the Ashridge Estate towards Ivinghoe Beacon.

Lizzie and Jonny fooling around on the roots of a fallen tree on the path near Moneybury Hill.

This path is popular with mountain bikers and horse riders. Taken on the trail near Clipper Down.

Can anyone identify this curious fly that settled on Lizzie’s arm?

Rolling countryside at Incombe Hole.

There’s always a breeze on top of the Ivinghoe Beacon, so it’s a popular spot for flying model gliders.

Great skill is required to keep a model glider airborne in these gusty conditions. The man in the red jacket is holding the remote control.

Picnic tea break at Ivinghoe Beacon. Lizzie, me, and Katie.

Eating some plums that Jonny brought along.

Lizzie with her giant plum. A poorly executed perspective gag.

Here we are heading home on the path across Pitstone Hill. A scenic end to an exhilarating day out!

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Lizzie, Jonny, and Katie – thanks so much for joining me on this trial walk!

— DW