Arlesey to Letchworth Garden City (Main Walk) Short Walk & Morning Extension 1st walk check 2nd walk check 3rd walk check 1st walk check 2nd walk check 3rd walk check 13th Sept. 2014 05th April 2021 25th March 2021 Current status Document last updated Tuesday, 06th April 2021 This document and information herein are copyrighted to Saturday Walkers’ Club. If you are interested in printing or displaying any of this material, Saturday Walkers’ Club grants permission to use, copy, and distribute this document delivered from this World Wide Web server with the following conditions: • The document will not be edited or abridged, and the material will be produced exactly as it appears. Modification of the material or use of it for any other purpose is a violation of our copyright and other proprietary rights. • Reproduction of this document is for free distribution and will not be sold. • This permission is granted for a one-time distribution. • All copies, links, or pages of the documents must carry the following copyright notice and this permission notice: Saturday Walkers’ Club, Copyright © 2014-2021, used with permission. All rights reserved. www.walkingclub.org.uk This walk has been checked as noted above, however the publisher cannot accept responsibility for any problems encountered by readers. Arlesey to Letchworth Garden City Start: Arlesey Station Finish: Letchworth Garden City Station Arlesey station, map reference TL 190 378, is 8 km north of Hitchin, 39m above sea level and in Bedfordshire. Letchworth station, map reference TL 217 328, is 5 km north east of Hitchin, 84m above sea level and in Hertfordshire. Length: 25.4 km (15.8 mi), of which 6.8 km (4.3 mi) on tarmac or concrete. Cumulative ascent/descent: 200/156m. For a shorter walk, see below Walk options. Toughness: 4 out of 10 Time: 5 hours 30 minutes walking time. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow at least 8 hours. Transport: Arlesey station is on the London Kings Cross to Peterborough East Coast Main Line but is also served by Thameslink trains via St. Pancras International. Trains usually call at Finsbury Park. Journey times are 40 minutes Mondays to Saturdays (two Thameslink trains per hour), and 37 minutes on Sundays (hourly King’s Cross service). Letchworth Garden City is on the London Kings Cross to Cambridge Main Line, the first stop after branching off from the East Coast Main Line at Hitchin, but also served by Thameslink trains from Cambridge. Journey times are 37 to 51 minutes (two to four trains per hour). Buy a return to Letchworth Garden City. You may then have to buy a Hitchin-Arlesey ticket on board the train. Saturday Walkers’ Club: Take the train closest to 9.30 hours. OS Landranger Map: 153 (Bedford & Huntingdon) and 166 (Luton & Hertford) OS Explorer Map: 193 (Luton & Stevenage) Walk Notes: This not too challenging walk in the Bedfordshire/Hertfordshire borders leads straight from the platform into the wildlife-rich riverside meadows of the Hiz River, a meandering high quality chalk stream, followed for a few kilometres. It then leads west along field boundaries and through RAF Henlow Camp to the linear hilltop village of Meppershall, past its manor house and a motte-and-double bailey. The following stretch offers far views south to the Chilterns and north to the Greensand Ridge, before heading to the imposing hilltop church in Shillington, dubbed the ‘Cathedral of the Chilterns’ by John Betjeman. After lunch green lanes lead to the pretty village of Pirton, with more impressive remains of a motte-and- double bailey and traces of an abandoned medieval village. The Icknield Way leads you to one of the very few British lavender farms and then to the World’s first and Britain’s best Garden City: Letchworth. Walk options: An optional – flat – Extension right at the start adds 2.2 km. Mutually exclusive Shortcuts around lunch reduce the length of the walk by either 3.0 or 1.4 km. An infrequent bus service (lines 79 and 89, Mon-Sat only) gets you from Meppershall, Shillington and Pirton to Henlow Camp, where you can connect to the more frequent service to Hitchin. That bus can also be caught 5 km from the end, on the A600. Lunch (details last updated 01/04/2021) Roger’s Bakery 105 High Street, Meppershall, Bedfordshire, SG17 5LZ (01462 813 398). Roger’s Bakery is located 7.8 km (4.8 mi) into the full walk. Open 8.00-17.00 Mon-Fri and 7.30-13.15 Sat. The Crown 104 High Road, Shillington, Hitchin, Bedfordshire, SG5 3LP (01462 711 667, http://crownshillington.com/). Open Mon-Thu 12.00-15.00 and 17.30-22.30, Fri 12.00-15.00 and 17.00- 23.00, Sat 12.00-23.00 and Sun 12.00-22.30. Food served Mon 12.00-14.00, Tue-Fri 12.00-14.00 and 18.00-21.00, Sat 12.00-14.30 and 18.00-21.00 (Snacks 14.30-18.00) and Sun 12.00-18.00. The Crown is located 11.3 km (7.0 mi) into the main walk and is a family run country pub and restaurant with log fires in winter and a large garden in summer. The Musgrave Arms 16 Apsley End Road, Shillington, Hitchin, Bedfordshire, SG5 3LX (01462 713 519, https://www.themusgravearms.co.uk/). Food served Tue-Fri 12.00-14.15 and 18.00-21.30, Sat 12.00- 21.15 and Sun 12.00-17.45. The Musgrave Arms is located 12.9 km (8.0 mi) into the main walk. The Motte & Bailey 1 Great Green, Pirton, Hitchin, Bedfordshire, SG5 3QD (01462 711 117, https://themotteandbaileypirton.com/). Open all day every day. Food served Tue-Thu 12.00-14.30 and 18.00-21.00, Fri-Sat 12.00-15.00 and 18.00-21.30 and Sun 12.00-16.00. The Motte & Bailey is located 16.1 km (10.0 mi) into the main walk, and 13.1 or 14.7 km if taking one of the shortcuts, and it is a family- run pub with a pretty garden by the green. The Fox High Street, Pirton, Hitchin, Bedfordshire, SG5 3PS (01462 459 304). The Fox is located 16.4 km (10.2 mi) into the main walk, and 13.4 or 15.0 km if taking one of the shortcuts. Currently looking for a new tenant. Tea (details last updated 01/04/2021) The Motte & Bailey (as above). The Motte & Bailey is located 9.3 km (5.8 mi) from the end of the walk. The Fox (as above). The Fox is located 9.0 km (5.6 mi) from the end of the walk. The Plume of Feathers Upper Green, Ickleford, Hitchin, Herts, SG5 3YD (01462 432 729). The Plume of Feathers is located 5.2 km (3.2 mi) from the end of the walk. The Old George Inn Arlesey Road, Ickleford, Hitchin, Herts, SG5 3UX (01462 629 538). The Old George is located 5.2 km (3.2 mi) from the end of the walk. Café at Hitchin Lavender Farm Cadwell Farm, Ickleford, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG5 3UA (01462 434 343, https://www.hitchinlavender.com/visit-us/our-cafe.aspx). The Café is located in a 17th century barn, and provides a range of lunches and home-made cakes. Open until 17.00. Broadway Hotel & Carvery The Broadway, Letchworth, Hertfordshire, SG6 3NZ (01462 480 111, http://www.broadwayhotel.co.uk/). The Platform Station Road, Letchworth, Herts, SG6 3AN (01462 486 807, https://www.craft- pubs.co.uk/theplatformletchworth). No 12 Coffee Lounge 12 Leys Avenue, Letchworth, Herts, SG6 3EU (01462 487 600, https://www.number12coffee.co.uk/). Open 07.00-18.00 Mon-Sat and 08.00-17.00 Sun. The Grapevine 14 Leys Avenue, Letchworth, Herts, SG6 3EU (01462 677 522, https://www.thegrapevineletchworth.com/). Crafty’s Micropub 15 Leys Avenue, Letchworth, Herts, SG6 3EU (http://www.craftysbeershop.co.uk/). The Three Magnets 18-20 Leys Avenue, Letchworth, Herts, SG6 3EW (01462 681 093). A Wetherspoon’s. Esquires Coffee 27 Leys Avenue, Letchworth, Hertfordshire, SG6 3ED (01462 675 755, https://esquirescoffee.co.uk/store/esquires-letchworth/).Mon-Fri to 18.00, Sat to 17.30, Sun to 16.00. Cultivo Lounge 32 Leys Avenue, Letchworth, Herts, SG6 3EW (01462 686 903, https://thelounges.co.uk/cultivo/#). The Cakey Lady at the Bake House 16 The Wynd, Letchworth SG6 3EL (07932 337 980). Garden City Brewery 22 The Wynd, Letchworth SG6 3EN (07932 739 558, http://gardencitybrewery.co.uk/). Open to 22.00 Wed-Sat and 14.00-20.00 Sun. Oh My Cod ! 5 Station Parade, Letchworth, Hertfordshire, SG6 3AW (01462 683 586). A Fish & Chips. La Concha Wine & Tapas Bar Station Place, Letchworth, Hertfordshire, SG6 3AN (01462 673 804, http://www.laconchaletchworth.co.uk/). Open Tue-Sat 11.00-23.00. Food served Tue-Sat 12.30-14.30 and 18.30-21.30. A formerly derelict part of the station building lovingly converted by the proprietors in 2005. 2 Copyright © 2014-2021 Saturday Walkers’ Club, used with permission. All rights reserved. Notes: Hicca Way A linear waymarked path of 13 km (8 mi) length, opened in 2012. The choice of name for this path which meanders along the River Hiz is based on history going back to the days of King Offa of Mercia who founded a religious settlement in Hitchin. The path follows the route the Hicca tribe (‘the people of the horse’) might have followed from Hitchin to the Danish Fort south east of Henlow, where the Saxons would have regularly had to pay their ‘Danegeld’ tax.