Self-guided walk no 13. Starting at Pishiobury Park Car Park. 4 miles. Distance: 4.0 miles. Easy, slightly undulating walking, with no stiles, on a minor road, tow path, an unofficial path and Pishiobury park. General: The walk includes a section of the River Stort and one lock. It crosses Pishiobury Park and the Marigold Recreation Ground in Old Harlow. Start: Pishiobury Park car park. Harlow Road, Sawbridgeworth, Herts, CM21 0AU is close by. OS Explorer Map 194. Grid TL 475 139 The paragraph numbering relates to the numbering on the map. 1 At the kissing gate exit the car park and turn half right. Head to a gap between a small copse on the left and a back garden on the right. At the corner of the garden turn right. Continue for a short while until the path turns left. You are now walking parallel to the backs of Pishiobury Drive houses on your right. This avenue was the original road to Pishiobury House as laid out by Capability Brown. Shortly there is a boggy spring with a board walk over. Take this board walk and the following foot bridge. Work has been done to encourage water plants and animals. Look out for frog and toad spawn in the spring. 2 At the boundary fence turn right and through a kissing gate. Continue on this path. After a second gate cross Pishiobury Drive and continue straight ahead on a track between two houses. This track crosses a stream which is the outfall water from the lake behind Pishiobury House. You will see the feed water to the lake on a later part of the walk. Immediately after the stream the path turns right and heads towards the river Stort tow path. Follow the tow path to the rear of some modern industrial buildings. On the left of these buildings there is a kissing gate. Pass through the gate and shortly after cross over two water spills that keep the navigation water level constant. Continue until the path reaches the main A1184 (Harlow to Stortford) road. 3 At the road, turn left and take Old Road also on the left. Continue along this road keeping to the left hand pavement. Cross over the railway bridge (Liverpool St. to Cambridge line). Cross over the mini roundabout. 4 At opposite to house number 53 take the footpath on LHS. This short path enters Marigold Recreation Ground. At the end of the path enter the recreation ground. Turn half left and follow the path to some building site fencing. Ignore the foot bridge to the right of the fencing, and take the footbridge at the end of the hedge in front. The path bears immediately left, with the fencing on your RHS and intermittently a stream on LHS. This path is not on the Essex foot path map, but is well used. Ignore the foot path on LHS. Continue along the path as it gently ascends and descends. At the end there is a turn to the right, and you will now have the railway on your LHS and the building fence on RHS. At the end of the fencing there is a gap, pass through and descend to the footpath. 5 At the foot path turn left and go through the foot tunnel under the railway. At the end of the tunnel turn half right and head for the River Stort navigation. At the river turn right along the tow path. Continue past Feakes lock. At bridge 28, cross over the navigation and continue over the foot bridges which bridge the weirs. Immediately after the second weir, turn left onto a short section on board walk. You are walking along the cutting that feeds the lake behind Pishiobury House. This was made to the instructions of Capability Brown, who landscaped the grounds of Pishiobury. 6 Just before the next kissing gate turn left onto a board walk that wanders through the osier beds. The osiers provided the material for Rivers Nursery baskets used to export their trees. After the board walk exit into Pishiobury Park and turn half left and follow the path flat at first and then uphill to cross Oak Walk. At the top is a tile art work on a brick plinth called “Timeline” Continue in the same line as before, descending to go over a wide foot bridge and then into the kissing gate in the car park. You have now completed this walk. This walk was devised and written up by Richard M. for Thorley U3A. Please enjoy it and if you spot any errors or omissions please email rj.masters@talktalk. Thanks. 05/05/20 .