A walk beginning and ending in Hitchin. Actually the first leg was a bus ride to St. Paul's Walden. I arrived on the dot of opening time so stopped for a pint in the Strathmore Arms. I was the only customer and sat by a window watching rabbits running across the field opposite in bright sunshine.

 Then I strolled off through the highways and byways disturbing the occasional pheasant. There are a good many hereabouts and I saw a shooting party in the distance. Man with shotgun vs. waddling bird that can barely fly doesn't seem like a very even contest to me. I suppose there are people who enjoy that sort of thing.

 It was a glorious late autumn day with a distinct chill of winter in the air. I know this stretch of countryside well but still managed to walk in circles at one point trying to find the right path. I decided to adjust the route I had planned to take in a pint at the Red Lion in Preston. Quite by chance some friends were having a drink there and we had a chinwag before I wended my way back to Hitchin. 

 The countryside hereabouts is rolling and undulating; these are the outer reaches of the Chilterns. There are some big arable fields, a certain amount of grazing land and numerous pockets of deciduous woodland.