The first thing to know about Clinton is that a lot of it is underwater by design, or rather its neighbours are. Between 1897 and 1908 the state of Massachusetts built the Wachusett Dam across the Nashua River just east of the town, and the reservoir behind it, then among the largest of its kind, drowned much of the old villages of Boylston and West Boylston, including farms, mills and several cemeteries that had to be moved. The water now flows to Boston by aqueduct, and the shoreline is protected woodland.
Clinton itself grew up on the other side of the story. In the 1830s an American inventor, Erastus Bigelow, built a power loom here that wove carpets by machine, and the mills that followed made the town one of the centres of the American carpet industry. Irish, French Canadian, Italian and Polish workers came to run the looms, and the red-brick mill buildings along the Nashua still dominate the centre. The textile trade has gone, but the town still has a working-class dignity, a good number of old churches and a few places for good Italian food.
The riding is some of the best in the district. Roads around the reservoir hug the shore and climb the low hills in gentle bends, with long views across the water through the trees. The dam itself is a handsome piece of stonework, with a road across it, and a walk on the top gives you the sense of how large the reservoir is. Fishing and boating are restricted, which has kept the lake quiet, and eagles and loons have returned. The surface is mostly good, but some of the shoreline roads are narrow, and there is little room if you meet a lorry.
Clinton has fuel, a good selection of diners and a pleasant old downtown, with a population of about seven thousand. South Lancaster and Boylston, a few kilometres away, are quiet villages with a few shops. A fine day in October, with the water flat and the maples red around the reservoir, makes this one of the best ways to spend a Sunday, but come early, because the roads fill up with walkers and sightseers by late morning.