Hertfordshire villages - Recommendations?

[Dave200]

Right, this is just about as bizarre a request as is customary in here. I have decided to take a young lady out of London and into the countryside for the evening. As we will be driving from North of Central London, the obvious destination is Hertfordshire, somewhere - however, not being a Hertfordshire (nor South-East) local, I am struggling for destinations.

Can anyone recommend a village within easy reach which isn't tainted with the usual London-ness? The presence of a nice "local" pub would be a huge bonus...

[cinque]

http://www.thechequersmatchinggreen.co.uk/ just over the border in SW Essex

[crossle]

Aldbury.

Village pond, foot of the Chiltern hills, lovely.

Used as film/TV location

Pubs: Greyhound (near the pond) - Traditional old village pub,good food, excellent accomodation (if you get lucky...)

Valiant Trooper (in Trooper Road) Traditional old village pub, great ales, great food, lousy service...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldbury

http://www.greyhoundaldbury.co.uk/

http://thevalianttrooper.co.uk/

Edited by crossle on Monday 26th January 14:47

[V8mate]

Sounds like a good plan for during the day at the weekend or a summer's evening, but is there much point schlepping from one dark, rain-sodden location to another dark, rain-sodden location?

[Chris71]

Dave200 said:

Right, this is just about as bizarre a request as is customary in here. I have decided to take a young lady out of London and into the countryside for the evening. As we will be driving from North of Central London, the obvious destination is Hertfordshire, somewhere - however, not being a Hertfordshire (nor South-East) local, I am struggling for destinations.

Can anyone recommend a village within easy reach which isn't tainted with the usual London-ness? The presence of a nice "local" pub would be a huge bonus...

Essendon is quite nice and very close to the M25.

Northaw is even closer and looks quite nice.

The Hadhams (east Herts) are very pleasant.

Where exactly do you need to be near? Essex is a good call if you can go a bit further round - it's a bit more genuine - it doesn't have quite the same feeling of 'stockbrokers playing at farmers' as some of the other leafy areas near London.

[largerandrock]

Harpenden or Redbourne

Edited by largerandrock on Monday 26th January 15:12

[Landlord]

www.theswordinhand.co.uk

Buntingford. Fabulous place. Great food.

[largerandrock]

woburn?
Sounds like you want somewhere to hide the body!

[Freddie328]

www.axeandcompasses.co.uk

Superb pub in Arkeseden, near the Herts border in Essex. Very pretty village too. Won several food awards.

[Zippee]

Freddie328 said:

www.axeandcompasses.co.uk

Superb pub in Arkeseden, near the Herts border in Essex. Very pretty village too. Won several food awards.

Seconded!

Where abouts in N. London are you? The Herts/London border is quite big and you are also reasonably close to Bedfordshire & Bucks.

[furtive]

Freddie328 said:

www.axeandcompasses.co.uk

Superb pub in Arkeseden, near the Herts border in Essex. Very pretty village too. Won several food awards.

thirded. The Axe is a lovely little pub

[neilsie]

crossle said:

Aldbury.

Village pond, foot of the Chiltern hills, lovely.

Used as film/TV location

Pubs: Greyhound (near the pond) - Traditional old village pub,good food, excellent accomodation (if you get lucky...)

Valiant Trooper (in Trooper Road) Traditional old village pub, great ales, great food, lousy service...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldbury

http://www.greyhoundaldbury.co.uk/

http://thevalianttrooper.co.uk/

Edited by crossle on Monday 26th January 14:47

agreed, worth a visit.

[Truckosaurus]

The Green Man in Offley between Luton and Hitchen (so, either M1 or A1 out of Londinium) has excellent views from the beer garden. Although, probably not in the evenings at the moment.

[Sheaver1]

I'd recommend the Brocket Arms in Ayot St. Lawrence. This is a very old coaching in and very intimate. They do some pretty good food there as well as I recall. It's also just a few yards down the road from George Bernard Shaw's house, so you can introduce her to a bit of culture as well.

Good luck!

[allister88]

largerandrock said:

Harpenden or Redbourne

Edited by largerandrock on Monday 26th January 15:12

Really?!

[AstonZagato]

I think he probably wants a pub that has overnight rooms too...

[NickXX]

Sarratt is nice.

[Asterix]

Chorleywood (bit of a big 'village') any of the Chalfonts are nice.

Sarratt as mentioned but a bit further away from the Metropolitan line if that's how you commute.

Used to live round that area - very nice.

[JRM]

Chris71 said:

Northaw is even closer and looks quite nice.

I grew up near Northaw and it's ok, but very much Londer's in the pubs though as it's so close.

Try Little Berkhampstead - I think it's the 5 Horseshoes pub opposite the village cricket pitch. I've not been there is years but the food used to be gerat and a lovely place to spend a cosy evening

[Dave200]

Wow! I just came back to this to check, as I am planning a similar excursion at the weekend...

We will be travelling from Angel, so chasing the outermost borders is probably a bit unfeasible post-work. Somewhere not too far from the M25 represents a reasonable distance.