IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Oak Lawn, TRING, HP23 6AH

Nos 20 and 21 High Street, Tring, are both buildings occupied by banks. No. 20 (Natwest) is a Grade II listed building (described at this https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1068619 ).

The archway that allows access to this garden is currently well blocked by wooden fencing, but in the past the well-trodden pathways into it attested to many people entering and exploring - almost certainly mostly youngsters. I think it belongs to the NatWest bank which borders the High Street. See Image] This photo was taken over the top of the barricade seen in Image] - a photo I would not take of a private house's grounds, but am happy to take of this company's land, especially knowing its former ease of access.

This view of Akeman Street is from the front of the Akeman Street Baptist Church Image . See also. . . . Image; Image; Image; Image; Image; Image

This ogee-topped archway leads into a garden at the back of the NatWest bank in Tring. It currently has quite a sturdy wooden barricade preventing access, but in the past only a ramshackle barrier allowed many a youngster to explore this rather mysterious secret garden. The gap at the top allows a view into the garden though (see Image]) See also Image] taken five years ago.

The Victoria Hall in Akeman Street, erected in 1886 to a design by local architect William Huckvale (1848-1936), set out as in life as a playhouse, failed, and has since had a varied career, serving out part of its time as a pickle factory. Today it houses council offices and provides function rooms. The Hall has a small, but tastefully refurbished auditorium (I understand this to be 36 ft. by 70 ft with seating for up to 500), with a good acoustic, but its small stage and lack of adjacent dressing rooms limit its use for concerts and other entertainments - a great pity. This is another of Huckvale's frontages that doesn't work for me (the Rose & Crown and Zoological Museum being other examples). The stone embellishments (including two orders of Italianate pilasters) don't sit comfortably with the red brickwork (capped by chimney stacks) and give the Hall a pretentious appearance that is out of context with its role and the neighbouring architecture. And (it seems quite naturally in our age) all is at any rate spoiled by the application of a crude sign (on the left of the porch) and a clutter of electrical fittings, not least of which being the ubiquitous burglar alarm.

This view of Akeman Street is from the front of the Akeman Street Baptist Church Image . See also. . . . Image; Image; Image; Image; Image; Image

This view of Akeman Street is from the front of the Akeman Street Baptist Church Image . See also. . . . Image; Image; Image; Image; Image; Image

This view of Akeman Street is from the front of the Akeman Street Baptist Church Image . See also. . . . Image; Image; Image; Image; Image; Image

This view of Akeman Street is from the front of the Akeman Street Baptist Church Image . See also. . . . Image; Image; Image; Image; Image; Image

Well ok, not all that secret, but I'm not sure who owns it, probably one of the banks that fronts onto the High Street. There is a bench and no "Keep Out" signs so it seems not to be "Private" as such. At the far end an archway leads out to Image] near the back of the Image], this archway used to be blocked with boards but these have now gone and the well marked pathways in & out suggest that children at least regularly visit this bit of land. This end was accessed via Image