Pete's Walks - Ashridge, Frithsden, Ward's Hurst Farm (page 5 of 5)
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 went straight on along the path, which soon levelled out and then turned right. I then looked out for a path on the left that took me a few yards to a road, opposite the start of the drive to Ward's Hurst Farm. I then followed the drive towards the farm. On reaching the farmyard the path goes left and then right, with farm buildings either side (yellow waymarks show the way). I made my way to where there were numerous waymarks near a gate on the left, then turned right to pass between more farm buildings (I was now back on the route of the Ashridge Estate Boundary Trail), and would be for the rest of the route).
The path continuing after crossing the bridleway
The path continuing after crossing the bridleway
The drive to Ward's Hurst Farm
The path after I turned right at Ward's Hurst Farm
The path continued across four sheep pastures, following the edge of a wood on the right in the last of these fields. It continued under a 'green tunnel' of overhanging branches for a short way, then continued along the edge of a meadow. Through a gate it continued by the wood, then turned right (near a small reservoir), and joined a drive which it followed to a road on the edge of Ringshall.
The footpath to Ringshall from Ward's Hurst Farm
The footpath to Ringshall from Ward's Hurst Farm
The footpath to Ringshall from Ward's Hurst Farm
The footpath to Ringshall from Ward's Hurst Farm
The footpath to Ringshall from Ward's Hurst Farm
The footpath to Ringshall from Ward's Hurst Farm, after it turns right near a reservoir
The footpath to Ringshall from Ward's Hurst Farm
Across the road I was back in the woods of Ashridge. A path went straight on, close to a large parking area on the right, for about a quarter of a mile. I then turned left at a path T-junction for a short distance, then soon went right at another path T-junction, before going left at a path crossroads. This path led through the woods for about a quarter of a mile and brought me back to where I'd started at the small car park south of Ringshall.
The footpath after crossing the road at Ringshall, now back in the woods of Ashridge
The footpath after crossing the road at Ringshall
The path after I turned left
The path after I turned right
The path after I turned left again
Further along the same path, just before I reached the car park where I'd started
I still had my packed lunch in my rucksack when I got back to the car, I'd walked for just over four hours without having a break (apart from 100+ stops for photographs!). Perhaps I'm getting a bit fitter - I got up the last hill with much less effort than I did a couple of months ago. Once again I felt very grateful that I had such a nice area on my doorstep, I'd really enjoyed the walk despite the familiarity of all the paths. There'd been a few more people out walking than I normally meet, but then it was a wonderful Spring day giving almost perfect conditions for a walk. I enjoyed seeing all the Spring flowers - I was surprised how good the Bluebells still were, I thought they'd be well past their best by now.