Pete's Walks- Ashridge and Berkhamsted Common (page 4 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 continued along the bridleway, with trees on my right and a more open area of bracken and grass with occasional trees or bushes to my left. After several hundred yards I turned right onto a crossing bridleway, going straight on after a short distance at a second bridleway crossing. I was now back in the woods, as the bridleway made its way towards Frithsden Beeches. I went straight on at another bridleway crossing (this is possibly where Frithsden Beeches begin), and soon reached a corner of a huge meadow surrounded by woods. Here I took a faint path through the magnificent beech tree just to the right of this meadow. When I reached a drive, I continued along the edge of the meadow, soon turning left in another corner.
Further along the bridleway
The bridleway after I turned right
The same bridleway after crossing another bridleway
The bridleway continuing towards Frithsden Beeches
Frithsden Beeches
The huge meadow encircled by woods, by Frithsden Beeches
Frithsden Beeches
The path around the huge meadow
The path around the huge meadow, after turning left in a corner
When I drew level with a small copse in the meadow, I took a path that entered the woods on my right. There used to be one or two forks in this path that could cause confusion, but today the path was very obvious and easy to follow. After a few hundred yards, I entered a small area of beech trees where I saw a couple peering intently at a fallen tree trunk. I expected they were looking for fungi, but when I asked they told me they were looking for slime molds! This was a first for me, I'd never met anyone looking for slime molds before, though I know one or two of my wildlife friends have occasionally photographed them. The one's they were interested in were just black dots, the size of a pinhead, but there were some slightly larger brown ones. They showed me a photo of these, which showed a ring of 'eyelashes' round them. I've since googled 'slime mold eyelash' and think they must have been Common Eyelash slime molds. I don't really know anything about slime molds, except that they're not plants, animals or fungi but a category all of their own. The couple also pointed out some purple fungi in the leaf litter - I've now finally ordered a book on common fungi so that I might be able to identify them in the future. I then continued along the path, which after a few hundred yards entered an open area of bracken where it curved right.
The start of the path after I turned right from the huge meadow
Further along the same path
Further along the same path - this is where I met the couple searching for slime molds
Common Eyelash slime mold, I think
Purple fungi
Further along the same path
Further along the same path