Chorleywood Common

“Where shall we go for a walk today, Dex?” asks my mum. “And, no, we cannot go on a round the world trip to see all your friends, before you ask”.

“Wow, a walk with mum and dad, this hasn’t happened for a while” I thought. “If I can’t go and see all my pals, then I will make do with a stroll up to the tube station and walk around Chorleywood Common”. That was it then. It was decided. We were off on a family stroll along one of my favourite routes.

Shackled to my dad, we set off. Through the woods, up the hill, past the church, along the road with the posh houses, past the farm and then into the next set of woods.

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I was trying to go as quickly as possible, however I was being slowed considerably by being attached to my dad. Does he not realise that the squirrels are all getting away? This is fun, but isn’t quite going as well as I planned. Anyway we crossed the road, strolled quickly through the next wooded area and then into Westwood Park. I stopped briefly for some water as apparently, my tongue was “hanging out of my head”. Then it’s off to the tube station. Thankfully its a Sunday so the trains aren’t full. We only have to go one stop but I am anxious to get on with the next leg of the trip, as I know there will be other furs there to woof with, and hopefully squirrels to arooo.

Arriving at Chorleywood we get off the tube train. Hurry up you two, there are creatures to chase, and hedges and shrubs to sniff. Turning right out of the station, we wander quickly along the road and there it is, in all its glory.

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I like Chorleywood Common. It’s open, green, has plenty of paths, great views and is about a 2 mile circuit. Mum and dad wanted to stick to the path which snaked away into the distance. However this isn’t very Beagle-like behaviour so I decided we would go off piste. There are 3 pubs close to the Common so if we needed to take shelter we could have done. Sadly the weather was set fair and it was before opening time so any plan I had to go to the pub was well and truly scuppered. On with the walk then. Some bright spark had the idea of carving woodland creatures into some of the tree trunks that had fallen over in previous years on the common. The trunks themselves have been made into handy benches and the additional sculptures of birds, squirrels, caterpillars and other woodland creatures made them look more fun.

We pressed on and saw plenty of other dogs, all of whom I greeted in the customary Beagle fashion of loudly arooing or completely ignoring them whilst I was on a scent. Mum made friends with a 5 month old puppy whilst I was trying to catch the attention of another Beagle who was halfway across the common. No sooner had we passed the cricket pitch and the golf clubhouse than I saw the other beagle wasn’t going the same way as me.

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Then it occurred to me that we were returning to the tube station again. This could only mean one thing. The adventure was over. I was going home. Ok, that’s two things.

Onto the tube train for the two stops back to my home town.

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We strolled back to the house and I whizzed out into the garden to check that there were no tree based invaders digging holes in my lawn. Once I had ensured that the coast was clear, I flopped satisfied onto one of my six beds. Within seconds I was twitching, snoring and dreaming. I wouldn’t know though, as I was asleep. What an adventure I had. And I was kind enough to take both my parents along to enjoy it as well.

It was as much as I could do to persuade them to take me to the pub in the afternoon. We took our time on the walk to the pub, however I wasn’t going to complain. Shenanigans were complete.