THE DOGS of Wooburn Green really do have it made.
Not only can they sniff their way round one of the friendliest parks in the Chilterns, but footpaths lead off in virtually every direction across the valley offering the prospect of more adventurous outings.
All credit to the local parish council for making Wooburn Park so welcoming to different sectors of the community.
For somewhere that’s so busy with four-legged friends of all shapes and sizes, it’s kept remarkably clean and litter free.
From young footballers to weekend cricket matches and floodlit tennis, it’s not just dog walkers who are catered for here, but somehow the different needs are met with the minimum of conflict.
In any major city, the sheer number of users would quickly see such a substantial park rapidly becoming a mess. But it helps that as well as regular patrols to empty the litter bins, the locals are happy to chip in too.
There aren’t any statistics to prove just how many people own a dog round here, but it sometimes seems as if there’s a four-legged friend on every street corner, and certainly all breeds are represented at Wooburn.
They’re a considerate bunch too: it’s rare to see someone not bothering to clean up after their pooch and organisers of those football clashes are also good at making sure their young charges don’t leave their rubbish behind.
Bins are well used, with local litterpickers helping to sweep up any odds and ends that may get blown into the undergrowth.
Other well cared for open spaces range from Hervines Park at Amersham to Gold Hill Common in Chalfont St Peter and Gerrards Cross common.
But Wooburn is not only bigger than most but also well fenced in and in a glorious location, with views over the valley opposite and the Wye chalkstream running cheerfully down one side.
Behind the park, footpaths lead up the hill to Farm Wood or the Chequers Inn, where you can pick up the Berkshire loop of the Chiltern Way.
Across the road lies the old railway trackbed into Bourne End, or a more challenging climb to Flackwell Heath and beyond.
And at one end of the park lies the Warren Nature Reserve, a delightful enclave of woods and wildflowers by the river, which provides the perfect habitat for many wildfowl and other birds, from herons and kingfishers to swans, ducks and geese.
Once home to a medieval manor house with chestnut trees lining the main path, today the 5.7 acre reserve boasts an array of English woodland trees and a picturesque wildlife pond, as well as a number of paths winding through the ashes, oaks, limes and elms.
Back in the days of the Domesday Book, the manor boasted a couple of dozen households. Before the Norman conquest it was owned by Earl Harold; afterwards it was confiscated by William the Conqueror and split between two of his supporters.
At that time, the picturesque River Wye generated enough power to drive 20 mills and in later centuries the Wye Valley became a major centre for papermaking.
Soho Mill opposite the Old Bell closed in 1984 and Glory Mill was the last mill to close in 1999, part of the building now preserved at the Chiltern Open Air Museum.
Back in the park, there are cheerful shouts from the children’s play area while a dozen different breeds chase balls and each other until energy levels start to flag.
Perched on the edge of Wooburn Town, where the picturesque church of St Paul’s has been a holy place for over a thousand years, the park is as welcoming as it is bustling, a green space in the heart of the village catering for visitors of all ages, whatever the weather.