Pete's Walks - Studham and Little Gaddesden (page 2 of 4)
At the bottom of a small valley, I turned left and followed the new path through some attractive woodlands, part of the vast Ashridge Estate. After some distance, the path crossed a drive going to Ashridge House, and on the other side it followed the drive a short distance right. It then bore slightly left into Golden Valley, here an attractive swathe of grass with woods at the top of the slopes either side. After a quarter of a mile or so, I took a path on the left, a track going uphill through the woods. At a hairpin bend, a path went right, climbing through the trees to reach a small playing field on the edge of another part of Little Gaddesden. From the far right corner of the playing field an alley led between hedges to a junction with a similar alley, where I turned left and soon returned to the road that runs through the village.
The path through the woods, just south of Little Gaddesden
The path through the woods, just south of Little Gaddesden
The path through the woods, just south of Little Gaddesden
The path about to enter Golden valley
Golden Valley
Golden Valley
The path out of Golden Valley, heading back to another part of Little Gaddesden
Approaching the small playing field in Little Gaddesden
Another path started on the other side, running half-right through a paddock containing two horses (one of which came up to me). The path then entered a huge corn field, occupying both sides of the mile-long valley ahead of me. The path dropped gently to the floor of the valley and followed it onwards. I really loved this long lonely valley the first time I came here and it was all one huge hay meadow. It's not quite so nice when put to crops, but it was still a pleasant section of the route and I did see numerous Field Pansies and my first Redshank of the year. I passed a solitary tree near the end of the valley, shortly before I reached a road just as it entered the village of Nettleden.
Until 1895 Nettleden was a hamlet within the parish of Pitstone in Buckinghamshire, though it was entirely surrounded by Hertfordshire. Its name comes from the Saxon for ‘valley of the nettles’. It sits in an attractive valley setting on the edge of Ashridge Common.
The paddock at the start of the long valley between Little Gaddesden and Nettleden
The long valley between Little Gaddesden and Nettleden
The long valley between Little Gaddesden and Nettleden
The single tree at the end of the long valley between Little Gaddesden and Nettleden
Approaching Nettleden