Record of HELC Walks from 08/06/2004 to 22/04/2020
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Record of HELC Walks From 08/06/2004 to 22/04/2020 DATE Place Organiser Att'ce Detail Reports 2020-04-22 Tring Park Jack Blackett Walk cancelled owing to the Corona Virus pandemic. Walk cancelled owing to the Corona Virus pandemic. 2020-03-25 Ayot St Vernon Clough This will be more of a gentle stroll than a walk. Just 3 miles around Ayot St Laurence. Mainly on dry Walk cancelled owing to the Corona Virus pandemic. Laurence paths with the occasional short muddy stretches. No stiles to clamber over. We will meet at The Brocket Arms at 10.00, pre-order lunch, and set off about 10.30. The Brocket Arms car park has a limited capacity. There is usually parking space on the road nearby. The walk will head out passed Ayot House to Abbottshay and down to the Kimpton Mill. From here we will pick up the Hertfordshire Way alongside the river Mimram. Reaching Codicote Bottom we take the track leading back to Ayot St Lawrence. Stopping to admire the views over the valley, we make our way back to the Brocket Arms. 2019-11-26 Studham & Alan Falconer The November walk will be led by Alan Falconer and will start from The Red Lion at Studham, LU6 No writeup was forthcoming for this walk. Whipsnade 2QA. Please come to the pub for 10 o’clock to place lunch orders (and use the facilities) We will head towards Whipsnade Wildlife Park, skirting Holywell outbound and return to Studham for lunch (see map below). If time allows, we could check the church. There is very little road walking, no stiles and only gentle gradients through woodland and clearer ground with distant views. It is about 4 miles long and will take about 2 hours. Lunch has been booked for 12:30 so it would be good to set off soon after 10 o’clock, allowing for chat and photos if we’re lucky with Autumn colours, or even animals! Although there is some parking at the front of the pub, there is also a public parking area at the entrance to the common where Kensworth Road meets Dunstable Road and opposite the war memorial. If we can double park here it will leave more room for the pub regulars. Regrettably, some of the field paths may be muddy and slippery, so strong footwear and walking poles are recommended. 2019-10-09 Four Woods Tony & 10 This walk, originally scheduled to take place in September has been moved to the above date. Ten walkers (and one dog) gathered at The White Horse in Burnham green on a bright morning, and Two Greens Rosemary We meet at 10:00 at The White Horse in the historic hamlet of Burnham Green (post code AL6 placed our orders for lunch and set off across the village green. ausing briefly at the Ordnance Rudkin 0HA) to order lunch, etc. before setting off at 10:30 for a leisurely 3½ to 4 mile walk taking in the Survey triangulation pillar we reflected on the claim that, travelling due East, there is no higher four woods (Barnes Wood, Harmer Green Wood, Foxley Grove and Lockleys Wood), making our point until one reaches the Ural Mountains. way back to Burnham Green via Harmer Green for lunch at 12:30. From Burnham Green we walked to Harmer Green and crossing the East Coast railway line began a There are no stiles to negotiate and most of the route is on well used footpaths. We do have a fairly steep descent beside Lockleys Wood and then over open farmland to reach the lowest point short distance to walk on country roads between footpaths. in our walk. Our path then took us past Foxley Grove and into Harmer Green Wood where a Burnham Green has two claims to fame – looking east the next highest land is the Ural mountains thoughtfully placed bench provided a photo opportunity before we crossed the railway line again. and a ghost of a headless white horse is said to haunt the lane at the side of the pub. We reached our fourth wood (Barnes Wood) and then joined the long path up the slope to The pub has plenty of parking space and its food gets good reviews. You can even sample the Burnham Green and back to the White Horse for an excellent (and filling) lunch. ‘Headless Horse’ beer. HELC WALKS Updated 200426.xlsx Page 1 of 41 Updated 22/04/2020 Record of HELC Walks From 08/06/2004 to 22/04/2020 DATE Place Organiser Att'ce Detail Reports 2019-08-21 Moor Mill Irene Cowan 8 Although there was no information about the August walk in the July HELC Newsletter Irene Irene Cowan led our party of 8 (9 including her walk marshal dog Teddy) on a fine morning for this Cowan has agreed to lead a walk on Wednesday 21 August starting at Moor Mill, Smug Oak Lane, delightful circular walk along the Ver and Colne valleys starting from Moor Mill off the intriguingly Bricket Wood, Radlett, St Albans, AL2 3PN (map) (OS GR TL 151 024). We meet in time to set off at named Smug Oak Lane, Bricket Wood. 10:30am. There has been a watermill on the site since 1086 and it was recorded in the Doomsday Book. The walk is from Moor Mill, which is now a Beefeater with an attached Premier Inn hotel. The post The rent for the mill was in eels payable to St. Albans Abbey. The mill was rebuilt in 1762 and code may take you into Bricket Wood, so look for the sign on Smug Oak Lane which will lead you converted to a Beefeater pub in 1992, retaining parts of the rotating mill mechanism. Today the down Moor Mill Lane to the mill. Parking is beyond the Premier Inn. area is heavily built up, with Colney Street to the East, Bricket wood to the West and the M25 The route is along the River Ver which meets the Colne & then goes across fields of barley back to immediately north of the pub, so it was a lovely surprise to find ourselves in leafy countryside the mill. It is just under 4 miles easy walking with just one stile to cross. once It is probably easier to order lunch when we return to the pub at the end of the walk, as they are we crossed the lane and walked along the valley of the Ver-Colne river. We continued to the used to bringing up orders fairly quickly (the morning staff are not there at lunch time so pre- confluence of the Ver and Colne, where we posed on the stepping stones, then walked alongside ordering causes confusion!). The place will be open so we can use the toilets before setting off. the Colne, passing livery stables, before returning through barley fields. Teddy supervised our progress, sometimes up with the leaders and at other times checking on the back markers. On the way back we passed the Drop Lane pumping station, unusual in that it was built in a barn-like style at the request of Lady Yule so as to fit in with the rural landscape. We then relaxed over an inexpensive but tasty lunch at the Mill. 2019-07-25 Totternhoe Ian Williamson There are nature reserves, ancient monuments, wonderful views and historic landscapes to enjoy On Wednesday 24 July I tried my proposed July walk, as described in the HELC July Newsletter, and on this pleasant and easy 4.2 miles/6.8km walk around Totternhoe. We meet at 10:00am (for a decided that was both too hilly and strenuous in the heat forecast for Thursday 25 July, and too 10:30am start) at Cross Keys Public house on Castle Hill Road, Totternhoe, LU6 2DA (map exposed to the glaring sun (there was nowhere near enough shade). Consequently, I moved the https://goo.gl/maps/daikmhEZxNFGV3yH6), OS GR (SP 979 218). We have permission to leave our walk to one that was less strenuous and more in the shade that went from the Old Hunters Lodge, cars in the pub car park. Whipsnade, to Chilterns Gateway Centre. An easy 4 miles with no stiles, and lots of shade. After making our lunch choices we set off via Totternhoe Knolls and Castle Hill. This nature reserve On Thursday 25 July, the hottest day of the year, eight of us met at the Old Hunters Lodge, The of Special Scientific Interest is split into three distinct habitats; the Beechwood, a plantation dating Cross Roads, Whipsnade, and placed our lunch order. We set off along a short section of road to from about 1870, Castle Mound, and Little Hills, sited within an important medieval quarrying the Whipsnade Tree Cathedral, which was lovely and cool and shaded. We left by the North area, Tower, and followed the Sallowsprings private road, much of which was in the shade, until it now home to a range of wild flowers including seven species of orchid. Part of the walk follows turned into a track in some woods. Shortly before we came out of the woods we passed a the microwave relay tower that was being dismantled. One man was working by himself cutting up all Sewell Greenway, a path created from a former railway embankment and cutting: the railway the waveguide sections, they looked like Waveguide 16 or possibly WG15. We walked east across once the Dunstable linked Leighton Buzzard and Dunstable. We pass Maiden Bower, a truly historic site, although only Downs to the National Trust Chilterns Gateway Centre where we had a relaxing coffee break.