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Tubewalker: The Tube, on Foot

Metropolitan Line: Chorleywood to Amersham and Chesham

Scenery near Latimer House
Scenery near Latimer House

'Scattered heavy showers' said the weatherman, and he wasn't kidding. As I fell out of Neal's car into the paltry shelter of the bus stop at Chorleywood station, the rain cranked up from light drizzle to power shower, and all of a sudden my decision to travel lightly didn't look so clever. For the first time, and hopefully the last, I wished I'd brought my proper walking boots rather than my trainers, because out here, it's proper countryside, and proper countryside is no place for trainers.

Chorleywood to Chalfont & Latimer

A muddy path in Carpenter's Wood
A muddy path in Carpenter's Wood

Until this walk, I've pretty much ignored my Ordnance Survey maps, apart from the odd confirmation when my printed Google Maps have been a bit ambiguous: in the city, Ordnance Survey maps are practically useless, as you really need a map with road names rather than contours. But out here it's different, and I tucked my printed maps into the depths of my pack, away from the looming rain clouds, and pulled out Explorer maps 172 and 181, which promptly got soaked before I could stuff them into my plastic map carrier.

St Michael's Church, Chenies
St Michael's Church, Chenies
Chenies Manor House
Chenies Manor House

Chalfont & Latimer to Amersham

Raans Farm
Raans Farm

Little Chalfont is sliced in two by the Metropolitan line, and the suburbia on the northern edge of the line is not particularly stunning; indeed, the estate to the east of Bell Lane is perhaps best summed up by the fact that one house had a locked trailer parked in the drive proclaiming it sold excellent burgers, which I suppose makes a nice change from mouldering caravans or cars with bricks for wheels and tangleweed in the carburettor. Indeed, the estate was spotless, and suffered only from slightly uninspiring architecture rather than anything approaching inner city decay, and this is perhaps not surprising, as after a stretch through yet another dripping wood and past Boughton Business Park, the path suddenly bursts out into farmers fields. This is Raans Farm, and even though it is bound to the south by the Metropolitan line track (which it shares with mainline trains at this point) and hosts an amazingly busy mobile phone mast at its western end, there's a definite rural feel to this part of the world.

The car park in Amersham
The car park in Amersham

Chalfont & Latimer to Chesham

Scenery in the Chess Valley
Scenery in the Chess Valley

At a little under four miles (well, 3.89 miles to be exact, according to Transport for London), the Tube line between Chalfont & Latimer and Chesham is the longest section between two stations on the whole of the London Underground, which perhaps shouldn't come as a surprise, as zone 9 clearly has its own rules. It also turns out to be one of the prettiest sections, which again shouldn't ruffle any feathers. What is surprising is just how out in the sticks this part of the world feels, yet it's joined to the City by a Tube line. That, frankly, is bizarre, especially as that service is essentially one train every half an hour that shuttles between Chalfont & Latimer and Chesham, effectively making the spur to Chesham its own little self-contained line (OK, some trains from London do head to Chesham instead of Amersham, but they're a rarity). I can only assume that London Underground runs this section of the line at a loss in a spirit of public service; if so, then thank goodness for government-run services like this, as they manage to make walking the Tube that little bit more interesting.

The ivy-clad old rectory in Latimer
The ivy-clad old rectory in Latimer
The lush Chess Valley
The lush Chess Valley
A cow-pat
Proof that we're in the country
Protective swans on the River Chess
Protective swans on the River Chess