The Crong

Brilliant mature beech woods on a steep slope next to the nature reserve. This spectacular bend is known as the Crong - a name which I think stems from the same old English word which eventually became 'crank', a right-angled bend. This can be quite a difficult road to negotiate in the best weather and is seriously demanding in a bad winter. I recently discovered that in the 1920s and 30s it was the place where the Bugatti Club held some of their competitive speed hill-climbs. Only about two miles away is Aston Hill, the next steep road up the Chiltern hills, which gave its name to Aston Martin cars because of the famous hill-climbs held there.