Pete's Walks - The Chiltern Way
Pete's Walks - The Chiltern Way
If you are considering walking this route yourself, please see my disclaimer. You may also like to see these notes about the maps and GPX files.
Day 9 20/6/05 M1 to Fields End (7.2 miles each way)
Parked in Flamstead, next to church.
This was a very nice walk, probably the best one so far. The scenery was exactly as I expected the Chilterns to be, or perhaps I should say that it was the way I remembered the Chilterns to be, as it went through an area very close to where I was brought up (and have recently returned to). The fact that it was a very warm day with bright blue skies probably helped as well! In fact, I’d almost not walked this day as I was worried that it might be too hot. I drank 2.8 litres of water during the walk, and applied sun cream every hour or so, and thus managed to survive the heat (probably 26-27C).
Started the walk by going from Flamstead the mile back to the M1/A5 junction. A small section of this was overgrown with nettles, but I managed to get through without too many stings (this was, of course, the first time on the Chiltern Way that I’d worn shorts!). From Flamstead, very clear and obviously well-used paths lead across a large field, down a valley and up the other side. A short stretch along a lane and another field path led to Yewtree Spring Wood. What I assumed was the spring inside the wood had obviously been turned into a water feature, some grass had been planted as if to create a lawn, and some new conifers had been planted (Norway Spruce, I know that because they still had labels on them!) Strange that someone was creating a garden in the middle of a small wood surrounded by fields! The path beyond the wood was overgrown with a very tangly weed-like crop. By the time I got to the other side, the lace of one of my boots had been pulled undone and my bare legs were covered with broad red scratches (I wore my waterproof overtrousers to cross this field when I returned in the afternoon, despite the heat!). The walk then continued along very pleasant field paths, eventually emerging beside the school at Gaddesden Row. From there, more paths lead past Golden Parsonage (shown on the cover of the Chiltern Way Guide Book) and then Gaddesden Place with it’s impressive portico. Golden Parsonage looked to be an impressive Georgian House, but was just the one remaining wing of a larger house that was superseded by the building of Gaddesden Place. From there, the path descended quite steeply to Water End in the lovely valley of the river Gade, and then further paths lead on to Potten End and Field End, on the very fringe of Hemel Hempstead.
Looking across the Gade valley, near Water End, to Gaddesden Place 26/10/05
I’d seen two buzzards near Golden Parsonage, and on the return journey I saw another as I approached Water End. It was quite low and unfazed by my presence, but a much smaller bird ‘mobbed’ it and forced it to soar ever higher. Also near Water End, I saw a primary school group by the river Gade, which reminded me of the time when I’d been taken by my primary teachers to go looking for tadpoles at Water End (it was a day when there were few children at school because of an outbreak of measles, mumps or some such childhood disease).
Total distance: 66 miles each way