Pete's Walks- Gaddesden Row and Potten End (page 5 of 6)
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.
I turned right, away from the centre of Potten End, but for no more than a hundred yards before turning left along a gravel drive (unusually there was no footpath or Chiltern Way sign). I passed a couple of houses, then the path reached a field and a waymark showed where it switched to the right of a hedgerow. I did now remember the rest of this section of the Chiltern Way, and as I followed the hedgerow I suddenly recalled that there was a really fine viewpoint coming up - I was surprised I'd forgotten about it, as it was one of my favourite viewpoints on the whole of that long-distance path. Sure enough, just after the hedgerow ended a view opened up ahead of me over a junction of valleys near Nettleden - my photos really don't do it justice. I then turned right at a path junction in a field, this path taking me to Heizdin's Wood. I followed the path on through the wood, going straight on at a path crossroads (which seemed much further into the wood than the OS map shows). There were more nice views as I left the wood, the path then dropping downhill through a field to reach reach Nettleden Road.
The footpath from the other side of the road in Potten End
View from near Potten End towards the area around Nettleden
The path to Heizdin's Wood
View towards Nettleden
Heizdin's Wood
Heizdin's Wood
The footpath continuing from Heizdin's Wood, to Nettleden Road
View over Water End towards Gaddesden Place
I turned right along the road for a short distance, then took a footpath on the left. This followed a fence on my left for a few hundred yards, then went slightly right across a water meadow to reach a footbridge over the River Gade. From the far end of the bridge I went straight on for a very short distance before curving left to a gate and a short alley leading to the road through Water End.
[Nostalgia mode ON]
One time when I was a schoolboy at Kensworth Primary School (way back in the middle of the last century!) there was an epidemic of some childhood illness (mumps or measles or chicken pox) and one particular day hardly any children made it to school - I think some of the teachers may have been off sick too (or had to look after their own sick children). So instead of having normal lessons, the teachers brought us all to Water End to look for tadpoles in and around the River Gade.
[Nostalgia mode OFF]
The start of the footpath from Nettleden Lane to Water End
Approaching the footbridge at Water End
The River Gade at Water End
Cuckoo-flowers at Water End
The path continuing from the footbridge - the path goes straight on from the bridge for a short way then curves left to a gate that is not in view
I crossed the road and took a path on the other side that led uphill through an empty pasture, heading towards the grand house at the top of the hill, Gaddesden Place. On going through a gate, the path turned half-left, going through some trees and on to a another gate in a fence. Beyond this there wasn't a clear path to be seen in the next empty pasture, but I soon spotted a waymark on a post - so the path turned a little right after the gate, aiming just left of some trees and bushes to the left of Gaddesden Place. Once I reached the waymark, it was obvious the path continued on to a pedestrian gate next to a metal farm gate, beyond which I could see there was a large paddock containing a number of horses.
The footpath climbing uphill towards Gaddesden Place
Looking back over Water End, towards Heizdin's Wood
View back from near Gaddesden Place
View over Great Gaddesden from near Gaddesden Place
The path near Gaddesden Place (the horse by the gate is very friendly!)