After a lonely trek through wintry woodland, a pub appears like a pot of gold

In the latest in his series of reflections on memorable walks and pathways, Will Gore describes an afternoon of isolation in the Chilterns

The Chilterns are among the nation’s most easily forgotten hills (Getty/iStock)

I moved out of London eleven years ago. I was never really suited to it anyway; not enough air.

We landed in Berkhamsted, in the northwestern corner of Hertfordshire, by chance. It was the right side of the capital for being closer to our families and we took a shine to the canal and the hills.

The Chilterns, those chalky, beech-backed crinkles that run from Goring-on-Thames to Hitchin don’t get the attention of the Downs (South or North), or of the sterner hills further up England’s pine. They are among the nation’s most easily forgotten humps.