Tring is a small market town and also a civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in Hertfordshire, England. Situated north-west of London and linked to London by the old Roman road of Akeman Street, by the modern A41, by the Grand Union Canal and by rail lines to Euston Station, Tring is now largely a commuter town in the London commuter belt.

Geography

The four Tring Reservoirs – Wilstone, Tringford, Startops End, and Marsworth – were built to supply water for the canal. These have been a national nature reserve since 1955, and identified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest since 1987. Nearby, within the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty that almost surrounds the town, is the Ashridge Estate, part of the National Trust and home to Ashridge Business School.

Tring railway station is about two miles (3 km) from the town. The town's bypass from 1973 until 1987 was the former A41(M) motorway now down graded to be part of the A41 trunk road.

Climate

History

The Manor of Treunga is described in the Domesday survey of 1086. In 1682 the mansion of Tring Park designed by Sir Christopher Wren was built for the owner Colonel Guy, Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to Charles II. A later tenant was Lawrence Washington, great-grandfather of George Washington, first President of the USA.

In the late 19th century the estate became the home of the Rothschild family, whose influence on the town was considerable. Nathan Mayer Rothschild's son Lionel Walter Rothschild (2nd Lord Rothschild, 1868-1937) built a private zoological museum in Tring. This housed perhaps the largest collection of stuffed animals worldwide. As The Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum, it has been part of the Natural History Museum since 1937. In April 2007 the museum changed its name to the Natural History Museum at Tring in order to make people more aware of the museum's link to London's Natural History Museum.

Gerald Massey (1828-1907) – poet, literary critic, Egyptologist and Spiritualist – was born nearby at Gamnel Wharf, New Mill, on the Wendover Branch of the Grand Union Canal. Goldfield Mill is a converted windmill in Tring.

The 2nd Lord Rothschild also released the edible dormouse into Tring Park. He used to ride around the town in a zebra-drawn carriage and the town's symbol has been the head of a zebra ever since.

Stanley Lief (1890--1962) converted the stately home Champneys into a Nature Cure sanatorium which he ran in the 1930s for about 20 years.

The former livestock market in Tring, redeveloped in 2005, was believed to be the last remaining example of its type in the UK . It is now the home of weekly Friday Market and fortnightly Saturday farmers Market. Some of the former livestock pens have been retained. The old livestock market office is now the home of the Tring Local History Museum, which opened in September 2010.

In 2008 Tring became a Transition Town with the support of Tring Town Council.

Sport

Tring is the former home town of Premiership referee and 2003 FA Cup Final referee Graham Barber, now retired in Spain. It is also home to the retired FA and World Cup referee Graham Poll.

Tring is home to two football clubs, Tring Athletic and Tring Corinthians, both of which play in the Spartan South Midlands Football League, and to a youth football club, Tring Tornadoes, which field sides for boys and girls up to 16. It is also home to a rugby club, Tring Rugby Union Football Club, which won promotion to London Division One in 2008, Tring Hockey Club, with six mens and three ladies sides, and Tring Park Cricket Club, in the Home Counties Premier Cricket League.

Local economy

Tring brewery has been operating in Tring since 1992.

Heygates Mill is a flour mill. Originally it was a windmill, and the company was run by William Mead. The windmill was demolished in 1910 to make way for a wheat storage silo. In those days, Mead lived on site, in a house next to the yard, and owned half the area taken by the mill of today. The remaining space was occupied by boat-builders, Bushell Brothers, who built narrowboats for the canal.

The Heygate family took over Mead’s business in 1945, and today mills 100,000 tons of wheat a year, resulting in 76,000 tons of flour. This is mainly bakers' flour, but there is also a commitment to wholemeal digestive for biscuits, bulk outlets, and a large output of 1.5 kg bags from the pre-packed flour plant.

As in the days of Tring windmill, only two men operate the system - but in those days they milled half a ton per hour, and now, with a computerised installation, more than 12 tons an hour are produced.

Heygate’s Tring mill has 80 employees, and 16 trucks delivering throughout the south of England.

Pendley Manor a hotel , conference and arts centre is situated about a mile south of the town , near the railway station.

Education

Tring Park School for the Performing Arts (formerly known as the Arts Educational School, Tring Park) is an independent specialist performing arts and academic school. It is located in Tring Mansion, Tring Park, and has 300 students.

Tring has four state junior schools, Bishop Wood CE Junior School, Dundale Primary and Nursery School, Goldfield Infants and Nursery School and Grove Road Primary School.

Tring has a Youth Club – The Tring Youth Project – for those between 11 and 18 at the Temperance Hall in Christchurch Road.

Tring also has a Theatre Youth Group, Court Youth Theatre which is connected to the Court Theatre, Pendley Manor. This has three sections to it: juniors, intermediates and seniors.

Notable people

Gallery

References

External links

Category:Tring Category:Market towns in Hertfordshire Category:Civil parishes in Hertfordshire