Warden Hills Hill Road
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alking gets you fit and keeps you healthy you keeps and fit you gets alking W THE NORTH CHILTERNS TRUST CHILTERNS NORTH THE certain paths can get muddy at times. at muddy get can paths certain margins, with gates and stiles, and stiles, and gates with margins, These routes include hills and field and hills include routes These • el 01582 486983 01582 el T John Dory Field Centre. Field Dory John walking along country lanes. country along walking Borough Council. For information contact the contact information For Council. Borough golf course and the A6, and when and A6, the and course golf Galley and Warden Hills are managed by Luton by managed are Hills Warden and Galley Be especially careful when crossing the crossing when careful especially Be • Email: [email protected] Email: so you may meet up with horse-riders. with up meet may you so any of the routes are public bridleways, public are routes the of any •M 1582 412225 1582 0 y y these areas. these Bedfordshire. outes - please keep dogs on leads in leads on dogs keep please - outes r the natural environment in Luton and South and Luton in environment natural the 4 miles, allow 2 hours 2 allow miles, 4 Walk: Fields Streatley There may be grazing animals along the along animals grazing be may There • North Chilterns Trust Chilterns North looks after looks The The Please be considerate in the countryside the in considerate be Please 2 miles, allow 1 hour 1 allow miles, 2 Walk: Hill Galley Once your there your Once 1.75 miles, allow 1 hour 1 allow miles, 1.75 Walk: Hill den r Wa Alternatively, parking is at the Chequers pub. Chequers the at is parking Alternatively, . 676060 1604 0 or Maps, such as No.193 (Luton and Stevenage) and (Luton No.193 as such Maps, 1234 212852 1234 0 on Stagecoach phone details own routes using Ordanace Survey Explorer Survey Ordanace using routes own from Luton to the Chequers pub. For more For pub. Chequers the to Luton from Alternatively, you may like to discover your discover to like may you Alternatively, For the Streatley walk you can get a bus a get can you walk Streatley the For 1582 412225 1582 0 on Trust Chilterns in at the top of Warden Hill Road, off the A6. the off Road, Hill Warden of top the at in These can be obtained from The North The from obtained be can These Alternatively, parking is at the Links way pull- way Links the at is parking Alternatively, ’ series of circular routes. circular of series ’ Side s on the Wild the on s Walk ‘ the are available Also . 608 2 608 0870 for details on details for Arriva Phone Road. Hill Galley and Warden Hills Warden and Galley or visit www.chilternsaonb.org visit or 271300 Galley Hills routes is on the A6, at Warden at A6, the on is routes Hills Galley 1844 0 contact please Board Conservation The nearest bus stop for the Warden and Warden the for stop bus nearest The For more information about the Chilterns the about information more For -Take the bus the -Take Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Beauty Natural Outstanding of Area Start your walk with a phone call phone a with walk your Start Country walks Country through the Chilterns the through Chilterns Country Chilterns series of Chilterns of series This is one of a a of one is This Around the Hills Bunkers and Boundaries Streatley Village Warden and Galley Hills is one of he most important From the top of Warden Hill there are excellent views over As you walk along The Icknield Way, you are areas of chalk downland in Bedfordshire, and lies within the town. Beyond the golf course and Cardinal Newman following an ancient trackway dating from Neolithic the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The area Catholic School at the foot of the hills, see if you can spot times. This was part of an ancient trading route is open for your enjoyment, and is Luton's oldest Local the flats at Five Springs and Hockwell Ring, Bramingham stretching from Norfolk to the coast of Dorset. Later, in Nature Reserve. Woods, and the Sundon water tower. The hills on the the early medieval period, the route was used as a 'salt opposite side of the Luton valley are Dallow Downs. way' from the East Anglian fen edges. The hills are home to a wide range of wild flowers, many of which will only live on the thin poor soils of the chalk The South Bedfordshire Golf Club course borders downland. These flowers in turn attract over 20 different much of the hills to the north and east. Around the top of butterflies. Warden Hill you can still see a number of earthworks, which look like ancient archaeological sites but are actually the Chalkhill butterfly remains of golf course features abandoned many years ago! on Horseshoe Vetch Running east - west from the base of Warden Hill are Drays Ditches. These started as a Bronze Age boundary earthwork These very special, and rare, separating neighbouring tribal groups. Later, in the Iron Age, grassland landscapes are a they were built up to control traffic along the Icknield Way. result of traditional farming methods. Without man's intervention the grassland would return to woodland and the flowers and their butterflies would vanish. The St Margaret's Church traditional method of keeping trees and shrubs under control was by grazing them with cattle Mentioned in the Domesday Book, Streatley's Anglo- - and though this continues today, changes in farming Saxon name means 'the clearing by the street'. Much means that this is no longer a profitable activity, and many of the village is a designated Conservation Area. slopes are no longer farmed. When this happens conservationists help by cutting down the scrub. If you The oldest building in the village is St Margaret's would like to help with this work contact The North Church, dating back to the 14th Century. Close by is Chilterns Trust on 01582 412225. Drays Ditches the Chequers pub - which was destroyed by fire in 1908, and had to be totally rebuilt. The field at the base of Warden Hill is part of the nature Close to the top of Galley Hill there are two Bronze Age reserve and is rich in lime-loving wild flowers, including burial mounds, known as barrows. Although these are Further down the road, and opposite the pond, you some quite rare species. You can also find the remains of barely visible today, in the Middle Ages a gallows was built can find the 17th Century ' Thatched Cottage', and its Warden Hill Farm, still surrounded by bushes and garden on one of the barrows. In the early 1960's the barrows neighbour which used to be the Red Lion pub, though plants. were excavated and theremains of 14 burials were found this closed in the First World War. in the larger of the two. KEY STREATLEY Streatley route Galley Hill route Warden Hill route George Wood Gates and stiles Pasque Hospice Other rights of way A6 P Parking Swedish Cottages Q U AN TO CK RIS E BIR DS FO New Farm O T L A N E D R L L I H N E School D R A A6 W P Golf Course Maulden Firs WARDEN HILL GALLEY HILL Bradgers Hill N Red route - Galley Hill Blue route - Streatley Purple route - Warden Hill A two mile route incorporating the historic A longer route of four miles across the fields from Streatley A one and three quarter mile circuit, with great views Icknield Way village, this time avoiding the hills. of Luton from the ridge of the hill. •From the Links Way pull-in, head left on the grass path, • The start point is the Chequers public house in Streatley. • The start point is the pull-in at the end of Links following the hedge-line alongside the golf course. Way at the top of Warden Hill Road, by Cardinal •Take the footpath to the left hand side of the pub, enter the Newman RC School. • Follow the Icknield Way signs past the club house, churchyard and follow the path towards a gate and lamppost. and join the Icknield Way. •From the pull-in, head right and follow the field •Through the gate take the left hand fork and head towards boundary along the bottom of Warden Hill. • At the 'crossroads', at the edge of the woods and a stile. Continue on the right hand side of the hedge, then next to the IW board turn right and cross the golf through a kissing gate and turn left. • At the first Icknield Way fingerpost, turn left and course, following IW signs - keep a lookout for follow the right-hand side of the earth bank, and on •Cross the stile into Bury Lane, turn left at the end and then flying golf balls! up the hill. Head towards the kissing gate on the right. immediate left following the footpath signs past the pond. • Through a kissing gate, and follow the track up the hill. • Go through the kissing gate and follow the fence- •Cross the field to a kissing gate in the far corner, then cross line, keeping on past the steps until you reach a T- •Keep to the crest of the hill, with the golf course the next field towards another kissing gate. Follow the junction by a kissing gate. below you to your right.