Pete's Walks- Ashridge and Berkhamsted Common (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.
The path ended when it met a bridleway, where I turned left (a drive to Ashridge House was now a hundred yards or so to my right). I photographed a few more fungi along here, and at one point had to make my way very awkwardly under the branches of a fallen tree that blocked the path. After a few hundred yards (sooner than I expected) I crossed a drive near Woodyard Cottages and continued along the bridleway, which fairly soon ended when it met another bridleway running along beside a huge pasture, where I turned left.
The bridleway after I turned left at the end of the path
Fungi
Fungi
Further along the bridleway
The bridleway after I crossed a drive
The bridleway after I crossed a drive
This bridleway was very familiar to me, I can remember walking it frequently as long ago as the 1980's. After a few hundred yards I reached a corner of the huge pasture on my right, where I turned right on a path that stayed close to the pasture. Somewhere along here I went wrong - when the edge of the pasture went half-right I should have gone straight on through the wood. So when I came to another point where the pasture went half-right I was a little confused. But I worked out what had happened and turned half-left and crossed a major track, continuing along an unofficial path to reach Prince's Riding - this is a grassy ride, about a mile and a half long, between Ashridge House and the Bridgewater Monument.
The bridleway after I turned left, beside a huge pasture enclosed by woods
Beech tree
Further along the same bridleway
The path after I turned right, folowing another side of the huge pasture
Further along the same path
The path after I crossed a major track, approaching Prince's Riding
I turned left and followed Prince's Riding toward the monument. I soon crossed a drive (this is where I would have reached Prince's Riding if I hadn't made that mistake) and after a few hundred yards I reached a road. After crossing the road I had the drive to the monument just to my left, and in just under another half mile I reached the car park where I'd started (on the other side of the drive).
Zoomed in shot looking left along Prince's Riding to Ashridge House (I didn't go this way)
Zoomed in shot along Prince's Riding towards the Bridgewater Monument
Prince's Riding
Prince's Riding after crossing the road
Prince's Riding, approaching the Bridgewater Monument
The Bridgewater Monument
This was a very enjoyable walk, more so than I thought it would be. I've done so many walks in the Ashridge area over the years (far more than I've put on this website) that I thought I'd be over-familiar with many of the paths. That wasn't the case at all, and I was delighted to 'rediscover' the delightful path along the edge of Berkhamsted Common that used to be a favourite of mine. The World War I practice trenches added some historic interest, and the two long chats I had with people about wildlife were an added bonus. But it's very much a woodland route, so not for people who get bored with woods after a while. It was also very flat, with only a couple of very minor bits of uphill. But I'd certainly be very happy to walk it again.