Anyone for golf?

Yesterday’s walk took us up the hill on the towpath side, a change from going over the canal into the park.  We had a feeling we’d been this way before but realised that we hadn’t.

It was raining lightly all day as we walked passing a golf course to our left

 … and a lone pheasant on a green on our right

The greens cross Lime Walk here and we’re warned to ‘look left and cross without delay’.  The lime trees which line the path were planted circa 1720!

Stopped to look at directions at the red dot centre right, we’ve walked Lime Walk (yellow dots) from the right and decided to continue along the red dots to the car park in the hope that it will bring us back to the Grand Union Canal not far from where we’re moored.

Fungi - I wonder if they’re edible, best not eh?

We walked through the car park, over the road and were surprised to find ourselves in another, or may be another part of the same golf course. Neither George nor I are golfers so I apologise if I’m using all the wrong terminology, but I wonder why the various courses are called Black, Silver, Gold and …. Aubergine???

We discover that this is West Herts Golf Club and this is their impressive Golf Club house (both pictures taken from the same spot)

We’re following the Ordnance Survey map that George has loaded onto his iPhone which shows even these ‘buggy’ paths on the golf course.  We’ve come from bottom right and need to continue along the upper path in the photo

 … which hopefully will take us to the canal which we think runs along those trees below.

It was as we walked on the path below these golfers that a light came on in my head! When coming this way on the canal we pass a golf course which follows the very edges of the canal so we must be near Grove Mill

… and here we are at the rear of a photo I take practically every time we pass on Still Rockin’. Click here or here or even here for pictures of the mill taken from ‘the other side'

I love Silver Birch trees, especially at this time of year and can’t help wanting to ‘peel’ a piece of the bark off to reveal the new pinkish layer underneath.

Grove Mill was constructed in 1875 and operated as a mill until 1922, the mechanism for controlling the water flow is now nearly buried beneath the ground (interesting PDF download here of the history and current listing of area)

 The mill pond/race flows from left to right in this picture

… and just look where we emerged from the golf course - we’ve never walked over this bridge before in all the times we’ve passed underneath it!

 It is of course bridge number 164 The Grove Bridge

 Arrr, is it just a babby?

Gold at Cassiobury top lock - we’ll be stopping there on Monday morning - early!