Pete's Walks- Studham Common and Nettleden (page 2 of 5)
I crossed the road and continued down the drive to The Lane House. Just before a gate across the drive I turned left, and followed a hedge on my right. On reaching a corner, the path went half-right, soon crossing the grounds of a property named Golden Parsonage (there are some large Chestnut trees here). Through a gate in a fence, the path continued in the same direction to reach a drive as it passed through a hedgerow. Here I turned left along a track for two or three hundred yards, before turning right along a grassy avenue of tall trees (there are some horse jumps along the right-hand side).
The drive to The Lane House
The path after I turned left from the drive to The Lane House
The path continuing through the grounds of Golden Parsonage
The track after I turned left
The path after I turned right
After two or three hundred yards, the path left the avenue of trees on the left-hand side and continued for several hundred yards beside London Wood on my right. At this point I realised I'd strayed from my intended route. Being on auto-pilot, I was just following the route I usually use here, heading to Briden's Camp, when I'd meant to go straight on where I'd turned left down the track. Fortunately it didn't matter, a quick look at the map confirmed I could just use a different path (which I'd walked even less often than the one I'd intended to take). So on reaching a drive (going to Home Farm, to my right) I turned left along it for a short distance, then took a footpath on the right. This crossed a large empty pasture (with Home Farm over to my right) and then an empty paddock - I'm calling it a paddock, but the prints in the mud showed there'd been sheep in it as well as horses. I then crossed a larger 'paddock', that extended further to my right, that did indeed contained both sheep and horses. On leaving the second 'paddock', there was a nice view half-right along the Gade Valley. The footpath now went half-left to reach a gate in the fence - there was a nice view over Great Gaddesden from this section of path.
The path continuing beside London Wood
The path continuing beside London Wood
The path after I turned right from the drive to Home Farm
Further along the path, just before it reaches the first paddock
View half-right along the Gade valley, from just after the second paddock
The path continuing half-left after the second paddock
View over Great Gaddesden in the Gade valley
The path continued on in roughly the same direction through the next field, which was close to a grand house called Gaddesden Place up to my left. The path then went through a corner of another field (which had sheep in it), going through a clump of trees to a gate. The path then dropped straight downhill through another sheep pasture to reach the road through Water End.
The path continuing near Gaddesden Place (it goes roughly through the centre of this shot)
The path continuing near Gaddesden Place (there is a gate just left of the small tree on the right)
The path continuing near Gaddesden Place (there is a gate behind the clump of tress)
The path continuing downhill to Water End