McGresty
as it happens
Hyde Heath
Taking a bus to a village can be good and other times terrible. Like a trip through a town named Hemel Hempstead. First of all a train to reach the town from London's Euston Station was an outright nightmare, it is similar to Heathrow Airport (worst airport in Europe, with Madrid trying very hard to grab the title). The train was finally boarded and once at the town spent two miserable hours searching for the bus stop. I went back to station and asked a lady in the ticket office and she checked the bus route out, it only ran twice week, so I left. I'll never bother with the place again.
A church and the village shop. The church is Baptist and 200 years old, there must have been some sort of settlement here then. A couple of people said at one time there was a St Andrew's church, but it closed down and was rebuilt into a house. There are some attempts at aging Hyde Heath but they are a bit contradictory and weak at the most. Let's say around the 1850s.
The heath is huge with the cricket ground, some tables and playground stuff for the kids plus a wood behind it. Weatherwise was nice and dry, a little breeze with mixed heavy clouds and some warm sunshine. It is Autumn, so the temperatures are dropping and England's usual rain soaking the whole country.
Some buildings are made with flint embedded in Portland Cement, which really took off around the mid 1800s. I reckon the village is really about 175 years old, much of it has very modern housing which I didn't bother with. There are around 1000 people living here.
There are some ways into the wood, but Idecided to not go in. The bridle way above means people ride horses around here, but where the stable is I don't know.
To get the bus back to Amersham is from this stop. Be careful, because if you sit on the seat the bus driver will not see you and continue on. The driver on the way to here told me the times of the return buses. I caught the 3pm one, which came 10 minutes early. I made sure to stand outside the shelter so I could be seen.
Once at Amersham Station I was a bit confused due to the sign not stating where the train was going and it looked a lot like the Metro (Tube) ones. I was hoping to completely miss rush hour. However I had to wait another half hour for the next "Chiltern" train which does go to London Marylebone Station. By the time I arrived at Charing Cross Station the rush hour had just begun but I manage to get a seat and returned home.
Reaching Hyde Heath
Over the years I've taken the train to Amersham for write ups and just hiking around the area. Getting to the village from the town was easy. I had no idea what the place was like. To get there I needed to take the number 51 bus from a stop on the same side of the street as a supermarket, the driver was helpful. Once off the bus I did my usual sense, shrugged my shoulders and thought, okay hmm...A church and the village shop. The church is Baptist and 200 years old, there must have been some sort of settlement here then. A couple of people said at one time there was a St Andrew's church, but it closed down and was rebuilt into a house. There are some attempts at aging Hyde Heath but they are a bit contradictory and weak at the most. Let's say around the 1850s.
The heath is huge with the cricket ground, some tables and playground stuff for the kids plus a wood behind it. Weatherwise was nice and dry, a little breeze with mixed heavy clouds and some warm sunshine. It is Autumn, so the temperatures are dropping and England's usual rain soaking the whole country.
The pub.
A small cricket pavilion, the cricket ground is slightly behind where I took this photo.
A flint cottage.
Some buildings are made with flint embedded in Portland Cement, which really took off around the mid 1800s. I reckon the village is really about 175 years old, much of it has very modern housing which I didn't bother with. There are around 1000 people living here.
There are some ways into the wood, but Idecided to not go in. The bridle way above means people ride horses around here, but where the stable is I don't know.
To get the bus back to Amersham is from this stop. Be careful, because if you sit on the seat the bus driver will not see you and continue on. The driver on the way to here told me the times of the return buses. I caught the 3pm one, which came 10 minutes early. I made sure to stand outside the shelter so I could be seen.
Once at Amersham Station I was a bit confused due to the sign not stating where the train was going and it looked a lot like the Metro (Tube) ones. I was hoping to completely miss rush hour. However I had to wait another half hour for the next "Chiltern" train which does go to London Marylebone Station. By the time I arrived at Charing Cross Station the rush hour had just begun but I manage to get a seat and returned home.
It was an afternoon out.
Oct 23, 2026
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