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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Sunday 9 April 2017

Sunday Walk: Broxbourne to Bayford - a Hertfordshire hike

Broxbourne to Bayford SWC Walk 168
Toughness: 5 out of 10
Length: 18.8 km. 11.7 miles
After winding its way out of Broxbourne along a canal and through a park, this strenuous walk ascends through the Spital Brook valley into Broxbourne Woods National Nature Reserve, an assortment of varied, ancient and wild woods, serrated by a plethora of streams. Most of the distance and the ascent are covered before lunch, but the lunch pub serves food all afternoon, so no need to hurry.
The shorter option to Bayford is suggested but feel free to do the whole 15.1 miles back to Broxbourne if you prefer. A shortcut before lunch would shave a further 930m off the length.
Trains
Get the 9:28 Cambridge train from Liverpool St (Tottenham Hale 9:40) arriving Broxbourne at 9:53
From Bayford, trains return to Moorgate at xx:22 and xx:52. (Earlier stops include Highbury and Islington and Finsbury Park).
If finishing in Broxbourne, trains return to Liverpool St. at xx:16 and xx:47.
Broxbourne is within the Oyster Pay-As-You-Go area (in Zone 8), while Bayford is not. The stations are on different lines. A Hertford (All Stations) return ticket covers both. This should be the cheapest option for the short walk. Neither station is within the Freedom Pass zone..
Lunch 
The Woodman & Olive, in Wormley West End. (01992 463 719)
Note that this is 14.5 km (9.0 miles) into the walk. You might want to bring elevenses.
Tea
For Bayford - The Farmer’s Boy  Brickendon (01992 511 731). Closes at 6
If finishing in Broxbourne there are several choices (see notes).
Directions here
There are a lot of paths in the woods, both signed and unsigned, so following the detailed written directions is essential. A map and compass are recommended.
T=swc.168 

6 comments:

Marc Ricketts said...

Now I might do the Walk on Sunday. But I can't Guarantee I will. Depends on my plan's. But if I do. For my convienance. I would take the Bus instead of taking the Train as it's nearer Home. And I can meet you and wait for you at Broxbourne Station.

Colin said...

Six turned out for this much enjoyed walk. The four who did the Bayford finish were unanimous that this variation was not strenuous as had been described in the posting. Would be well to avoid the s-word in the next description as this may explain the low numbers.

Anonymous said...

n=6 w=hot-and-sunny

Mr M Tiger said...

Thanks Colin (and anonymous). "Strenuous" is from the online description. I was very tempted to take it out but, as Ive never done this walk, I thought it fairer to leave it in than be economical with the (perceived) truth. The long walk to lunch can;t have helped numbers. (Good title for the next posting?)

Sandy said...

The remaining two of us had a picnic lunch on the Wormley Wood loop, missed out the pub (it was past 2 pm) and went on to complete the circuit back to Broxbourne. We sped up after lunch, aided by more straightforward navigation, and when we got to the turning for Bayford it seemed a bit early to go home.

Sandy said...

PS Just read Saturday's walk reports and perhaps the huge turnouts at two of them also help explain the low numbers here. I make that 100 walkers over the weekend - wow.