Pete's Walks - Gaddesden Row and Piccotts End (page 6 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.
After almost a mile the track passed Puddephats Farm on my right and came to a junction with Puddephat's Lane. Here I took a footpath on the left, which crossed a field and then a large paddock (going right of a line of telephone poles), before following a short track that led past Upper Wood Farm on my right. On reaching the far side of the farmyard, I turned right (so I walked past two sides of the farm and its yard, not through the farmyard), following a bridleway that was soon running between Teakettle Wood on my left and the wooden fences of some paddocks on my right. On reaching a minor road I turned right, but after short distance turned left (the OS Map shows the footpath running left of a hedge, but there seems to be a permissive bridleway to the right of the hedge).
Approaching Puddephat's Lane (the lane has an apostrophe in its name, the farm doesn't) - I took a footpath going left at this junction
The path from Puddephat's Lane to Upper Wood Farm
The path from Puddephat's Lane to Upper Wood Farm
The bridleway after I turned right at Upper Wood Farm
The short road section after I turned right
The path after I turned left from the road
At the end of a field I came to a path junction where I turned right (or half-right) along a hedge-lined byway (this is just shown as a track on the OS Map, but there are signs at each end saying it is a byway). This soon passed Newland's Wood on my right, then ran between ploughed fields, before dropping slightly downhill through Babies Wood to reach another minor road. I crossed over and took a track called Dean Lane going half-left. After a third of a mile or so, a footpath went left, running between fences with sheep pastures each side to reach a small play ground and then the road at Jockey End where I had started from.
The byway after I turned right
Further along the byway
Further along the byway
Further along the byway
Further along the byway, now in Babies Wood
Dean Lane
Dean Lane
Dean Lane
The path to Jockey End, after I turned right from Dean Lane
This was another good walk, the fourth one I've managed to fit in over the festive season. It was a route I'd been wanting to walk for a while now, and it made for an excellent way to start 2019. It was a shame it was generally pretty grey, but I was lucky that the sunniest spell coincided with the prettiest section of the route - the Gade Valley around Water End is very charming.