I have so many memories of Chenies, the river Chess, and Chorleywood.
We lived in Chorleywood in the 1970’s and my father (an engineer) was asked to help identify the route of the tunnel from the Manor House (I think it may have originated in the Priest’s Hole) to the coppice wood. Access at the ‘wood’ end was via a ladder in a pigsty. I walked the entire length of the tunnel from the house to the pigsty several times. I clearly remember walking the length of the tunnel all alone, finding it extremely creepy and being relieved to see the daylight appear from the ladder to the improvised exit at the pigsty!
A traction engine caused a tunnel collapse and no one knew where it went after the collapsed section. I seem to recall he stepped back from further tunnel exploration as it would have required serious structural work to excavate and make the tunnel safe where it had collapsed. This was beyond what he could provide as a mechanical engineer! I think Blue Peter visited.
Col MacLeod Matthews told me about the ghostly footsteps on the stairs and he wondered if they were Henry VIII’s as he lumbered upstairs in search of Catherine. I think there was a peephole window from the study to see who was coming up the stairs. I would have been about 13/14 years old.
We stayed in the Bedford Arms for a night or two upon our return from Africa before moving back into our Chorleywood house.