Walks And Walking – Hertfordshire Walks Buntingford Walking Route

Walks And Walking – Hertfordshire Walks Buntingford Walking Route

As we all enjoy our traditional British summer of wind and rain I was trawling through my trusty 1001 Walks In Britain, published by the AA, reminiscing over past walks in better weather. Buntingford is a delightful Hertfordshire town and was a walking route I completed after walking Deacon Hill earlier in the morning. This was an easy Hertfordshire walk that I completed in just over 2 hours and covering 8 miles of country tracks, lanes and village roads.

You can find the original walking route online here.

Walks And Walking – Hertfordshire Walks Buntingford Walking Route

I parked the car in the main Buntingford car park in the High Street crossing over to Church Street passed the Fox and Duck pub where I then walked left in to Wyddial Road turning right across the River Rib ford in to The Causeway. I continued my walk along the lane turning left at the public bridleway signpost in to St Bartholomew’s churchyard where I then walked down the green lane to the road turning right uphill. As the road bent I walked left at the bridleway signpost across the wide grassy path between fields to the road where I continued my walk to Wyddial parish churchyard walking along the road turning right at the bend by the footpath sign keeping the hedge on my right hand side.

Walks And Walking – Hertfordshire Walks Buntingford Walking Route – Beauchamp’s

At the end of the field I walked left over the footbridge and walked straight ahead keeping the hedge on my right hand side and then my left hand side to the access road by the farm where I then walked right to Beauchamp’s keeping right by the hedge and then left on to a wide grassy path to a track on the hill where I then walked right passed Beauchamp’s Wood where I then walked down to the valley turning left to climb again up the next hill. I then walked right next to the concrete pile down to the metalled track on my left hand side to the road crossing over to Alswick Hall where I then walked passed the pond and farm buildings to Owles Hall.

At Owles Hall I then walked right on to the lane down to cross the valley at Haley Hill Ditch where I then walked up and back towards Buntingford passing the Sainsbury depot on my left hand side turning right at the end of Owles Lane where I then joined the Roman Ermine Street to then turn left passed the Railway pub in to Aspenden Road to Luynes Rise.As the walk then came to its end I walked right at the footpath signpost following the River Rib and back to the High Street and the car park.

Walks And Walking – Hertfordshire Walks Forty Hall Enfield Walking Route

Walks And Walking – Hertfordshire Walks Forty Hall Enfield Walking Route

Forty Hall Enfield was built in 1632 and has undergone extensive refurbishment with the aim of being Enfield’s star attraction offering an excellent Hertfordshire walks. The weather was a constant drizzle so I had my waterproof walking jacket on which normally lives in my rucksack. I also decided on gaiters anticipating the mud after all this rain we have been having. However, the walking routes were mainly on very well maintained pathways, solid tracks and lanes so I hardly got muddy at all.

Walks And Walking – Hertfordshire Walks Forty Hall Enfield Walking Route – Forty Hall

This walking route starts at Forty Hall Enfield where I parked up in their car park and then walked up to take a quick photo of Forty Hall before walking back down to the road and walking left up Forty Hill road to join the London Loop at the signpost and stile on my left hand side opposite Forty Hill Primary School.

I then walked to the next London Loop signpost with Turkey Brook now on my right hand side entering a truly delightful woodland area with large ponds on my left hand side where I spotted a Heron. I continued on the London Loop following the main footpath sign posts to a metal stile and then on to the Local Heritage Trail signpost at New River to the next London Loop waymarker where I then crossed straight over the road by the Rose And Crown Pub car park.

Walks And Walking – Hertfordshire Walks Forty Hall Enfield Walking Route – Heron at Turkey Brook Ponds

Walks And Walking – Hertfordshire Walks Forty Hall Enfield Walking Route – Local Heritage Trail New River

I then entered Hilly Fields Park walking passed the London Loop Enfield section information board keeping right as the tarmac path forks at the next london Loop waymarker downhill to the meandering stream turning right at the end and on up to the lane and church. I then walked left down the lane crossing over the railway tracks now joining the Chain Walk all the way up through the golf course to the road at Crews Hill where I turned right and walked down through the garden centre capital of the world! As the road then bends sharp right I turned left up the private road passed the converted Glasgow Stud buildings on my right hand side walking straight up underneath the M25 along Burntfarm Ride passed the delightful Burnt Farm Cottage.

Walks And Walking – Hertfordshire Walks Forty Hall Enfield Walking Route – Burnt Farm Cottage

Walks And Walking – Hertfordshire Walks Forty Hall Enfield Walking Route – Chain Walk

At the junction of paths by the signposts I then walked right still keeping to the Chain Walk keeping right at the next signpost for Silver Street to then join Oldpark Ride all the way along to Temple Bar crossing over Broom Hills with the roundabout to the left hand side to the newly built school where I then walked right along the pathway following the signposts to the large metal green footbridge over the canal. I then walked right underneath the road to then cross over the next road following the signposts for the New River Path.

The New River is neither New or a River as it was originally built in 1609 as an aqueduct to bring fresh spring water from Ware all the way down to Islington in London. I then walked along the New River Path turning right at the next signpost along a track and then up some steps where I then walked left over the M25 bridge. I then walked left at the junction and then followed the road right at Capel House back down to Forty Hall car park taking me just over 3 hours and covering a very easy 10 miles.

Walks And Walking – Hertfordshire Walks Forty Hall Enfield Walking Route Map

 

Hertfordshire Walks – Deacon Hill Video

Walks And Walking – Hertfordshire Walks – Deacon Hill Video

Walks And Walking – Hertfordshire Walks – Deacon Hill Video.

This video was taken on a 7 mile circular Hertfordshire walk to Deacon Hill. The chalk downs in Hertfordshire offers excellent walking. This walking route includes a steep climb up to Deacon Hill for a wonderful view of the chalk downs and then tracks around beautiful green lanes and field paths. The full article can be found here Walks And Walking – Deacon Hill Hertfordshire Walking Route

Walks And Walking – Hertfordshire Walks St Albans Ver Valley Walking Route

Walks And Walking – Hertfordshire Walks St Albans Ver Valley Walking Route

The purpose of this walk was two-fold; to meet up with my good friend Jez for a walk in his neck of the woods and to also test out my free trial of ViewRanger that promised to turn my SmartPhone in to an outdoor GPS. I will write out the walking route first and then add my ViewRanger review at the end of this post.

It was a great walk, mainly along well country road, tarmacked lanes and only a few slightly muddy tracks so kept to the usual walking clothes, walking boots,  waterproof jacket in my rucksack with a few walking essentials in case of rain as the clouds were looking bruised overhead.

You can view all of the photographs from today’s walk here: St Albans Ver Valley Walking Route

Walks And Walking - Hertfordshire Walks - St Albans Walking Route - St Albans Cathedral

We started our walk from the car park at St Albans Waitrose on Mayne Avenue walking down to King Harry Lane with the school on our right we then crossed over the road to a gap into open fields, through the spur of woods and straight ahead into the open parkland with St Albans cathedral in the far distance on our right hand side. We kept on the same direction until we reached the Roman Mosaic and Hypocaust where we then continued straight ahead passing the Inn on the Park crossing over the bridge at the lake. We then turned left at the river and then right onto St Michaels Street by the ford.

Walks And Walking - Hertfordshire Walks - St Albans Walking Route - St Michaels Street Ancient Ford

We then walked left into Branch Road turning left to cross Verulam Road to the recreation ground crossing over the main road to the drive where we then walked along the pathway turning left onto a bridleway following the edge of the golf course where we picked up the Number 5 Ver Valley Walk Blue Waymarkers and The Hertfordshire Way. We followed this pathway all the way through Ladies Grove Wood to the Childwickbury House estate and Childwick Green Church before crossing over Harpendon Road A1081 following the footpath signposts and waymarkers to Ayres End Lane. At the lane we turned right and then left at the waymarkers to pick up the white bridleway signposts that were clearly signposted all the way up to Cross Lane where we then turned left to rejoined Harpendon Road at the St Albans Road signpost.

Walks And Walking - Hertfordshire Walks - St Albans Walking Route - Red Kite

We then turned left and walked down the main road turning right down Beesonend Lane keeping left following the blue waymarkers all the way down this lane to the end. We then turned right crossing over two footbridges and fords to Redbournbury Mill before turning back on ourselves and heading down the River Ver Trail following the blue waymarkers. As we meandered along the water meadows we then passed by Shafford Mill to Redbourn Road where we then crossed over to the footpath opposite entering Gorhambury Estate. It was here that we were lucky enough to see a Red Kite in full flight above us. We then continued to follow the blue waymarkers by the mill stream until we reached the Pre Mill building taking the estate road over the river turning left at the t-junction all the way down the tree-lined avenue to the Roman Theatre.

We then crossed over Bluehouse Hill back into St Michaels Street and straight into the Six Bells pub for a pint of the local ale and some very decent pub grub. We then ended our walk by continuing down St Michaels Street to the ford retracing our steps into the park, passing the Hypocaust and back to the Waitrose car park after a good 8 miles and leisurely 4 hours.

Now, the View Ranger!

I’m not going to list a step by step guide on how I set it up, mainly because I can’t remember exactly how I did it. The View Ranger website isn’t very easy to navigate and you never really know if you have completed the steps correctly. I thought mobile applications were supposed to simplify such complex web operations but it really is a case of doing what you think is right but not really knowing if it is. I registered online, just about managed to set up the Beacon thing, downloaded the app from my Android SmartPhone Market and did what I thought looked about right. In the application I went to Create, Create Route, OK, then went back to Beacon & Tracker and set Beacon Repeat On, went in to Trip View and pressed Start and off we set on the walk. Every so often I went in to Beacon & Tracker and pressed Send Beacon Now just to see if it made any difference and at the end of the walk I pressed Upload. I then went onto the View Ranger website and was amazed to see my walk mapped out…. et voila!

Walks And Walking - Hertfordshire Walks - St Albans Walking Route - ViewRanger

So, how does this compare to how I would normally plan a walking route? Well, I go on to the internet and check out the area I want to walk, buy the appropriate Ordnance Survey Map, map out the walk so I know exactly where I am going, see if there is anything else worth checking out on the route, do the walk, take photos, video if there is something exciting to watch and then write it up and post it on this website.

I really don’t think that using ViewRanger is worth all the faffing about so I think I will stick to my old school methods of walking until they bring out a mobile application that is simple to use and doesn’t cost too much. On the subject of costs, the ViewRanger prices are even more complicated to work out. When I clicked on the shop link it took me round in circles until I finally found the correct page. From what I could work out the initial charge is quite low, just a few pounds, but you then need to download the maps of where you want to walk which cost “from” £15 to £40. Ordnance Survey Maps are about £8 each, or sometimes 3 for 2, and they are always there in real hard copy format, with mobile applications after a while you get bored and don’t use them anymore making them a waste of money in most cases.

Thoughts please?!

Walks And Walking – Hertfordshire Walks Hertford Heath Walking Route

Walks And Walking – Hertfordshire Walks Hertford Heath Walking Route

It was a clear blue Sunday morning today so we decided to get our Epping Forest and Lee Valley, Hertford and Harlow Ordnance Survey Map 174 and plotted out a walking route in Hertford Heath just slightly up past Broxbourne Woods, another great place to go for walks.

It was a bracing January morning so we wrapped up in our walking clothes, although I was carrying Tedi in the child carrier so didn’t need too many layers to keep warm. As this Hertfordshire Walks walking route mainly covers bridleways, field paths, some roads and a canal tow path we didn’t need much in the way of outdoor gear but stuck to my favourite walking boots, The North Face Jannu II.

Hertfordshire Walks Hertford Heath Walking Route Hertford Heath Village Sign

There weren’t many cars about so parking was easy on Mount Pleasant Road just off the B1197 road in Hertford Heath. We then went right and headed eastwards along Mount Pleasant and then took the left hand fork at the Mount Pleasant sign to a metalled track for a while before the bridleway went right into a wooded heathland and then left at bridleway waymarker. There are plenty of signposts and waymarkers on this route so navigating our way around the walk was really easy.

Hertfordshire Walks Hertford Heath Walking Route at Golding's Wood

We then walked downwards through Golding’s Wood spotting the well marked waymarkers as we went until we reached a sunken lane where we then turned right out of the woods and then left to cross the access lane. We continued left and walked slightly downhill by the embankment of the A10 where we then crossed under turning left by the stile signposted Walnut Tree Walk to then continue straight ahead to a high chain linked gate.

We continued our walk straight ahead climbing slightly upwards where we then reached a metalled lane where we then turned right to reach the road. To our right was the Van Hage Garden Centre (well worth a visit as it’s huge and sells virtually everything!) but we turned left up the road to Amwellbury Lodge and then right in to Church Path where we then followed the footpath to Great Amwell before passing the George IV pub and then turning right in to the churchyard.

Hertfordshire Walks Hertford Heath Walking Route Church at Great Amwell

We then walked down the churchyard steps and crossed the lane and then down to New River with the Myddleton Monument Urn Island on our left hand side. Here we turned right to follow the New River canal tow path down, passing Amwell Marsh Pumping Station, until we reached the road where we turned right and walked uphill to turn left passed Hillside Lane through to a restricted byway signpost.

Hertfordshire Walks Hertford Heath Walking Route New River Canal Tow Path

We continued along this track through fields and crossed over the A414 and then the A1170 where we reached two stiles before turning right and down to the A10. We then turned left underneath the A10, crossed over to the byway signpost and turned left up the bank where we saw a magnificent sight… a common buzzard swooped down along the path ahead with its wingspan almost touching each side of the bushes! We then turned right to walk along the side of the woods at Haileybury College chatting away about such a great sighting.

Continuing our walking route straight ahead with Haileybury College on our left hand side we then reached a tarmac drive until the college road merged with the B1197 road where we then turned left at the College Arms pub through The Roundings heathlands. When the road started to go left we forked right by Meadow Grange on to the heath and through the trees turning left on to the grassy path walking straight ahead until we reached a road, turning right on to the track.

The track was an old Roman Road called Ermine Street that we then followed all the way upwards until we merged with the B1197 and it was only a short walk before we were back in Hertford Heath where we turned right at the Country Stores in to Church Hill and back to the green and Mount Pleasant some 3 hours and just under 7 miles later.

Hertfordshire Walks Hertford Heath Walking Route Ermine Street Roman Road