Everything about Tring totally explained
Tring is a small
market town in the
Chiltern Hills in
Hertfordshire,
England. Situated 30 miles (50km) 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
Tring is positioned at a low point in the Chiltern Hills which has been utilised by communications links since ancient times as a point of easy crossing. It is located at the summit level of the Grand Union Canal and there has been extensive excavation of cuttings for both the canal and railway as they pass through the vicinity.
Tring railway cutting is 2.5 miles long and an average of 40 feet deep and is celebrated in a series of coloured lithographs by
John Cooke Bourne showing its construction in the 1830s.
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 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 from the town. The town's bypass from 1973 until 1987 was the
A41(M) motorway
.
Population 13,000
History
The Manor of Tring is described in the Domesday survey of 1086. In 1682 the Mansion designed by Christopher Wren was built for the owner Colonel Guy. 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) built a private zoological museum in Tring which, as The
Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum, has been part of the
Natural History Museum since
1937. In April 2007 the museum changed it's 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.
The 2nd Lord Rothschild also released the
edible dormouse (
Glis glis) into Tring Park. He is remembered for riding around the town in a zebra-drawn carriage, and the town's symbol has been the head of a
zebra ever since.
Gerald Massey – poet, literary critic, Egyptologist and
Spiritualist – was born nearby at Gamnel Wharf, New Mill, on the
Wendover Branch of the Grand Union Canal.
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 monthly Saturday farmers Market. Some of the former livestock pens were retained.
Sport
Tring Sports Centre is in the grounds of
Tring School.
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, and
Tring Park Cricket Club, in the
Home Counties Premier League.
Local economy
There is a
Tesco on
London Road a
Co-op on
Silk Mill Way and a
Marks & Spencer food store in Dolphin Square that opened on 9 October 2007.
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
narrow-boats.
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's also a commitment to wholemeal digestive for biscuits, bulk outlets, and a large output of 1.5kg 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.
Education
Tring School is a state secondary school with approximately 1,500 pupils (ages 11-18). It is located on Mortimer Hill on the east side of the town. It is now designated a Specialist Humanities College with History, Geography and English as its lead subjects.
The Arts Educational School is an independent specialist performing arts and academic school. It is located in Tring Mansion,
Tring Park.
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.
Gallery
Image:MG 5184.jpg| Tring High Street
Image:Tringchurch00106.jpg| The Church of St Peter and St Paul
Image:Tres00303.jpg| The Tring Reservoirs at sunset
Further Information
Get more info on 'Tring'.
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