E R Useful Contacts I For more information about the Icknield Way - H For Walkers: www.icknieldwaypath.co.uk S For Riders: www.icknieldwaytrail.org.uk D R The Icknield Way Association publish a 72 page “Walkers Guide” O which gives further information about the route. See website for further F details and up to date information about the route. T R Maiden Bower near Sewell was a neolithic camp that later For Bus Enquiries – Travelline 0871 200 2233 The Icknield Way is probably the oldest road in E became an Iron Age fort. The battered remains of Iron Age H Britain. It first appeared in Neolithic times, about warriors have been discovered there, showing evidence of an For Train Times – National Rail Enquiries 08457 484950 www.nationalrail.co.uk five thousand years ago when man was first ancient battle. Not far away, Ravensburgh Castle near Hexton T is the largest hillfort in eastern England. This was also built S learning how to grow food and keep animals. It is during the Iron Age and was heavily fortified with timber E part of an ancient trading route that followed the ramparts. Some historians believe it is where Julius Caesar’s W chalk ridge across southern England, from the army finally defeated a fearsome British warlord named Cassivellaunus in 54bc. When they weren’t fighting, the & Norfolk coast across East Anglia, on to the plains of Romans left their own marks on the landscape, imposing order Wiltshire and then down to the coast in Dorset. E in the form of straightened roads. They may have been www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk R Today you can make this journey by following four responsible for the straight section of the Icknield Way from I recreational routes – The Peddars Way National Galley Hill eastwards into Hertfordshire. Not quite so long ago, H Sundon Hills was used for ‘battles’ of its own, as during the S Trail, the Icknield Way Trail, the Ridgeway Second World War it was a firing range used to train soldiers. D National Trail and the Wessex Ridgeway. One of the reasons the Trail doesn’t go through there is the R amount of live ammunition still in the ground! O Natural History F www.hertdirect.gov.uk Nature & Conservation D The original Icknield Way was a series of tracks that followed E the grassy chalk downland. On either side of the downland is The chalk grasslands and woodlands found along the Trail are B home to many special plants and animals. Places like Barton heavy clay, which in neolithic times would have been thick Hills, Dunstable Downs, Sharpenhoe Clappers and Sundon with vegetation. Travelling across this would have been Hills are great places to stop and admire your surroundings and difficult, so the route developed along the easiest line. As at the right times of year, you’ll find Cowslips, Pasque Flowers farming developed, the vegetation was cleared and the rich clay soils were used for growing crops. The chalk slopes were and a variety of orchids. Bedfordshire is also home to www.buckscc.gov.uk Lapwings, Skylarks and Fieldfares, birds that are quite rare in too steep to cultivate and were low in nutrients, so were used other parts of the country. Dormice and Badgers also live along for grazing sheep and cattle. This is still true today, and on the Trail, but you’ll need a sharp pair of eyes to spot them! places like Dunstable Downs you can see the chalk downland, Something much easier to see are the butterflies that love the which is still grazed by sheep, with the patchwork of arable chalkland plants. Through the spring and the summer you will fields around Eaton Bray and Totternhoe on the clay below. see Brimstones, Commas, Chalkhill Blues and many others. Human History This part of the route is within the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) which has some of the The Trail in Bedfordshire is rich in archaeology. The burial finest landscape in England, offering excellent opportunities mounds at Five Knolls and the barrows at Galley Hill are some for walking, riding or cycling at any time of year. The AONB of the best examples on the whole of the Icknield Way. These covers 383 sq.kms of the chalk ridge that runs across southern burial sites are from the Bronze Age, when tribes laid England. It is an area well known for rolling hills, with important people to rest in large tombs surrounded by their magnificent views to the north from the ridge where the chalk possessions. Older flints and axe-heads have been discovered drops away sharply, while the dip slope, with its valleys and close by and many of these are thought to have come from chalk streams, runs gently down towards the Thames basin in This project has been supported by Icknield Way Association, the British Horse Norfolk. Many people used the ancient Icknield Way as a the south. The landscape, cloaked in beechwoods and ancient Society, the Cycle Touring Club, East Anglian Trails. trading route which explains how they came to travel this far hedgerows, also has a wealth of prehistoric features and sites Thanks go to the Chilterns AONB, English Nature, the Highways Agency, the west. National Trust, Sustrans and all the landowners who have assisted, and to Pat & rich in wildlife of all sorts. There are many picturesque villages Charles Baker for the wildlife photographs. with traditional brick and flint cottages, farms and medieval Designed and produced by huttondesign.com churches and ancient routes like the Ridgeway and Icknield Way as well as newer ones like the Chiltern Way. BEDFORDSHIRE & WEST HERTFORDSHIRE The Icknield Way Trail covers 28 miles (45 km) of south The walkers route is all on public paths, and is clearly other areas. If you’re parking next to a horsebox, remember Bedfordshire’s countryside, linking with the Buckinghamshire waymarked with the Icknield Axe, so you don’t need to worry that they need a lot of room to manoeuvre. If you’d prefer to section of Trail and the Ridgeway in the west, and the about getting lost. The paths are mostly easy under-foot, but use public transport, there are regular train services between Hertfordshire part of the Trail in the east. It winds its way there are some short steep bits, and some sections may be Luton & Harlington, and buses from Luton & Dunstable stop through villages & hamlets, visiting some of the county’s best muddy or rutted, especially after rain. at several places along the route. kept secrets – fabulous views, ancient commons and some You’ll need sturdy footwear with good grip on the soles and a Please respect the life and work of the countryside – leave only wonderfully old-fashioned pubs! windproof jacket – even in summer there can be a very cool footprints, take only photos. Please be considerate to other path The Trail is open to walkers, horse-riders and cyclists, and you wind on top of the downs. users. Walkers have priority at all times, and cyclists should also can do the whole thing at once or divide it into sections. give way to horse-riders. Using the Trail involves travelling There are shops & pubs in villages along the route, but you Walkers also have the choice of following the ‘walkers route’ or along and crossing some stretches of road. There is ongoing might like to take sandwiches or a snack to keep you going, and the ‘trail’ route. You can stay in B&Bs, or at campsites, and there work to make this safer, but please take care – make sure you you should always carry water - there’s nothing worse than are even places for horses to stay! At an even pace, a cyclist or can easily be seen, that your equipment (or horse!) is reliable getting thirsty & dehydrated when you’re supposed to be horse-rider could travel this part of the Trail in a day, and a and well looked-after, and that your headgear and other safety enjoying yourself! walker would probably need two or three days. You might equipment is properly maintained. want to allow a bit longer than this if you’d like to stop and You can join the route anywhere along its length; please use explore sites or admire the views along the way. public car parks where possible, and park considerately in.