A summer evening pub walk with a sunset view

Why the last three hours of daylight are the best three hours

Hertfordshire is quietly brilliant for evening walking. The chalk hills in the north-west, the shallow river valleys cutting through the middle, the old drovers' paths that link one village to the next — it is all close enough to London to be overlooked, which is exactly why a summer evening here feels like a secret.

By seven o'clock the heat has gone out of the day. The footpaths are empty, the stiles are warm, and the light has turned that soft gold that photographers spend hours chasing. A pint in a pub garden at the end of it is not an indulgence; it is the whole point of the exercise.

The trick is to plan your route backwards. Don't decide where to walk and hope for a pub at the end — decide where you want to be sitting when the sun goes down, then work out how to arrive there on foot with a small appetite and a slightly dusty pair of boots.

Time it backwards from the sunset

In Hertfordshire the sun sets at roughly 21:20 in mid-June, around 20:40 by mid-July, and about 19:50 by the end of August. Those are the numbers that matter. Work back from them: you want to be sitting down with a drink at least twenty minutes before sunset, and you want to have ordered food before the kitchen's last orders, which in many village pubs falls somewhere between 20:30 and 21:00.

So for a five-mile walk in late June, leave the car or the station at about 18:30. You will have time to stop at a viewpoint, take a wrong turn, and still arrive unstressed. In August, shift everything an hour earlier.

Two other things worth knowing. First, the sun sets north-west at midsummer and swings round to due west by the equinox, so a garden that has the sunset in June may not have it in September. Second, the best light is not the sunset itself but the forty minutes before it — plan to be on high ground or beside water for that window, and let the pub have whatever is left.

Four routes that finish facing the right way

• Aldbury and the ridge above Tring. A short, steep pull up through beech woods brings you out onto open chalk with a clean westerly view across the Vale of Aylesbury. Four miles, and the descent into the village takes twenty minutes. Arrive with the sun still above the horizon and the garden will be glowing.
• Ivinghoe Beacon from the Ashridge estate. The highest ground for miles, and therefore the best sunset seat in the county. A five- to six-mile loop on the ridgeway; take a torch for the final descent through the trees, because it gets properly dark under the canopy while the sky is still bright.
• The Chess Valley, Chenies to Latimer. The river runs roughly east to west, which means the evening light comes straight down the valley and lays itself across the water meadows. Five flat, gentle miles. It is linear, so either arrange a lift or loop back round by the lanes.
• The Lee Navigation near Hertford or Stanstead Abbotts. Flat, firm towpath that stays walkable after rain, with water on one side reflecting the whole sky. Three to four miles is plenty. Good for mixed abilities and for anyone who wants to talk more than they want to climb.

What to carry, and what to leave behind

• A torch or head torch. Not romantic, but the last twenty minutes after a pint are darker than you think.
• Insect repellent and light long sleeves. The Chess and Lea valleys are midge country after 20:00, and the chalk hangers are not much better.
• Water for the walking part. The pint is a reward, not hydration.
• A thin extra layer. Ridges shed heat fast the moment the sun drops behind the hill.
• A paper map or a downloaded offline route. Signal in the wooded valleys is patchy at best.
• Cash and a card. Rural pubs vary, and you do not want to be that table.

Leave the heavy rucksack, the flask and the ambitious picnic in the car. This is a walk with a purpose, not an expedition.

Choosing your seat in the garden

West-facing, slightly elevated, and away from the building. Those three things will do more for your evening than any amount of research. A corner of the garden with a low wall, a raised terrace above a bowling green, a bench at the top of a slope — all better than a perfectly good table under a tree that blocks the last hour of light.

If the garden faces east, don't settle for a consolation prize. Ask at the bar where people go to watch the sunset; staff in village pubs know exactly which gate leads to which field. Or walk ten minutes up the lane to a viewpoint, watch the light go, and come back for the second half of your drink.

Order food early, before the rush. Eat before you drink properly, not after. And if you are eating outside, remember that a garden can lose the sun an hour before the sun actually sets — check the horizon, not the sky.

Getting home, and leaving things as you found them

Decide before your first drink who is driving, or whether you are walking home, or whether one of you is on soft drinks and the other on the good stuff. Two pints is two pints, and Hertfordshire's lanes are narrow, unlit and full of blind bends.

On the way back: close every gate you open, keep dogs on leads anywhere near livestock, and stick to public footpaths even when the field edge looks tempting. Take a small bag for your own litter, and leave the pub garden as tidy as you found it. The sunset is free. The goodwill of the farmer whose field you crossed is not, and it is what keeps these paths open for the next warm evening.