Grove Mill to Hunton Bridge Locks

 Grove Mill to Hunton Bridge Locks and Just Beyond - 18/07/2020

Saturday 18th July 2020 dawned a bit grey. It had been grey for a few days with the odd spell of sunshine and spells of sunshine were forecast for later this day. So we (my brother Martin and me) girded on our camera bags and after some debate, decided we would head for Grove Mill Lane and hope for a parking spot. We found one and dropped down onto the towpath, heading in the direction of Grove Mill.  

Bridge No. 165 is the first one we came to on the walk. White, ornate and well kept, it originally carried the driveway to the Earl of Clarendon's seat at The Grove. Now it takes you to the Grove Hotel, Spa and Golf Course. Very nice. Very expensive, but at least you can walk round the grounds or through the woods towards Langleybury. Or you can have a meal if you're feeling flush. (I have and it's worth being pampered).

The field to the right here had just been mown and the long grass was lying in waves reminiscent of a sea. I was surprised it hadn't been gathered into bales, but it made for some interesting photos, as did the reflections of the bridge.  

We walked on and the sun began to push through and as we approached bridge 163 we passed first a black life capsule and then the Ovaltine Boat, which you can generally find at Rickmansworth. it was starting to warm up. Bridge 163 is a Turnover Bridge (or Roving bridge) and I rather like them. They really convey a sense of canal history and it's nice to imagine the horse clopping over the top to change to the other towpath. They were constructed in such a way as to allow a horse towing a boat to cross the canal when the towpath changes sides. Often it involved unhitching the tow line, but on some canals they were constructed so that there was no need to do this by placing the two ramps on the same side of the bridge. 

As we stood on the top ourselves, a lady approached, hurrying along the towpath and made an act of pretending to hide her face with her handbag - "no, no, it's too early for the paparazzi" she joked, edging past us and our cameras and she continued to play the part of the hounded celebrity (she was quite well dressed and made up) as she dashed away from us. It was all very amusing as I pretended to take photos of her. For all we knew she could have been a celeb! 

The canal turns quite sharply to the left at this point. There are some rather lovely gardens across the water, but a short walk brought us to our first lock of the day at Lady Capel's wharf. Two girls were sat on the bank fishing and one lifted a fish out as I drew level. Interested to see what she'd caught I went forward and she unhooked it and put it into my hand. From my limited knowledge, I think it might have been a chub. Whatever it was, I returned it to the canal and caught up with Martin. Overhead a couple of buzzards soared. I just love hearing the ‘mew’ of birds of prey.

The next bridge is 162C and it carries the M25/A405 at Hunton Bridge. It's quite ugly. Even if you're a fan of concrete (and I personally don't mind a bit of Brutalism) you'd be hard-pressed to like this high, purely functional sub-way. Beyond this the canal expands out forming what was once (I assume) a turning point for boats, but it's now silted up with water plants such as bullrushes, yellow iris and great water dock. Lots of butterflies and insects about. There's a footpath to the left that takes you to Langleybury (and which I must explore at some point) but we went on, under the Hunton Bridge footbridge – slight more ornate – and a little further on passed a blue life capsule. There are quite a few of them now on the canal, in varying colours – orange, blue, white, black. Interesting, but I think they must be quite dark inside.

At Hunton Bridge Locks there are two very pretty cottages on either side of the canal. Photos taken we walked on a bit further to Bridge 162, overhung with foliage and which afforded a nice view through.

But at this point we decided to turn back, as much because Martin’s knee was playing up as anything. We did walk further another time, all the way to Apsley, but I’ve yet to write that one up.

On the way back we decided to leave the canal and go up onto the Hunton Bridge footbridge and walked along to the café “Bean Here”. Due to lockdown, it was takeaway from the service window, but at least you could sit in the garden to eat. It’s only a small place, but very nice and worth a detour if you’re in need of refreshment.

Suitably replete, we then walked through the long subway underneath the motorway where I spotted an orchid on the bank of grass. And then we found a footpath that led back down to the canal and brought us out by the turnover bridge. It was then just a short walk back to Grove Mill Lane.

 A lovely walk under blue skies and in warm sunshine.