ONCE upon a time it was known for its cherry and apple orchards.
These days it’s easy to miss the little hamlet of Three Households, perched on the edge of a Domesday Book village with a much better known high street.
Instantly recognisable as Walmington-on-Sea in the 1971 film version of Dad’s Army, Chalfont St Giles is where John Milton retired in 1665 to escape the Great Plague of London and complete his epic poem, Paradise Lost.
His cottage is still one of the main local tourist attractions, along with the pretty church, 18th-century cottages and picturesque duck pond.
But at the upper end of the village, Three Households is a liminal space close to the Seer Green parish border and to the impressive 250-acre expanse of Hodgemoor Woods, with its welcoming network of footpaths and bridleways.
And while it might seem almost as unremarkable as its name suggests to the casual motorist whizzing past, Three Households is a gateway to the great outdoors that locals really relish.
Being on the edge of the village, the footpaths here skirt paddocks and fields where horses graze contentedly: a world of farms, livery stables and substantial country estates where the lights of the village instantly fall away as evening dog walkers disappear into the dusk.
During the day, ramblers can enjoy big skies and sweeping views, a pleasant contrast to the dappled depths of Hodgemoor, where it’s only too easy to lose your bearings on a circuitous path through the ancient trees.
With little light pollution, it’s the perfect place to see the stars, or even capture the aurora borealis on one of those rare occasions when the light show can be seen in the south of England.
2024 saw a number of nights when the Northern Lights were visible in the area, bright, swirling curtains of lights in the night sky that range in colour from green to pink and scarlet.
They’re caused by charged particles from the sun hitting gases in the Earth’s atmosphere, and here those particles put on a real display, just yards from the main road.
Sunsets and sunrises can be equally dramatic around these parts, and skirting along the edge of Hodgemoor Wood, it doesn’t take long to pick up the Chiltern Way north of the woods, with more dramatic open vistas to enjoy.
From there, ramblers can head further afield towards Coleshill, loop back round through the centre of Chalfont St Giles or head back through open fields towards the cover of Hodgemoor.
Armed with a Chiltern Society handbook, you could also explore a substantial part of the Chilterns Heritage Trail, a 52-mile circular walk through the Chiltern Hills created as a millennium project and revived by the society in recent years.
Locally, the trail runs from the Ivy House on the Amersham Road across the fields to the edge of Hodgemoor and on to Seer Green, Jordans and Chalfont St Peter before looping back to Chalfont St Giles.
Back at Three Households, those wanting to linger a little closer to home can just enjoy an evening wander through the fields and take in those dramatic skies without straying too far afield.
As views go, you couldn’t ask for a better outlook.