Stargazer is away
Length: 25.6 km (15.9 mi) [with shortcuts down to 20.8 km/12.9 mi]
Ascent/Descent: 355m
Net Walking Time: ca. 6 hours
Toughness: 6 out of 10
Sunset is at 16.11, giving light for walking until 16.45, with the
last 15 minutes or so under streetlights anyway.
Take the Royston bound Thameslink train from St Pancras
at 09.01 (East Croydon 08.31, London Bridge 08.46,
Blackfriars 08.52, Farringdon 08.56, Finsbury Park 09.11), arriving Hitchin
09.37.
Return trains (to St Pancras): xx.11, xx.25, xx.41;
plus the xx.03 (to King’s Cross).
This Hertfordshire walk covers the hilly area west of Hitchin. The
morning route leads along farm tracks, field boundaries, shaded grassy lanes
and through a few woods across the most north easterly ridge of The Chilterns,
in Great Offley, to the steep chalk downlands of Pegsdon Hills and Knocking Hoe,
dissected by quiet flat-bottomed valleys, which form the scenery around the
lunch stop in Pegsdon, where the terraced pub garden provides stunning views
overlooking the hills.
From Knocking Hoe the ancient Icknield Way leads to the pretty
village of Pirton, with its impressive remains of a motte-and-double bailey
and traces of an abandoned medieval village.
On the outskirts of Hitchin, Oughtonhead Common Local Nature Reserve
is a mature alder and willow fen woodland, whose diversity of habitats is
surprisingly large. From there the route follows the high-quality chalk river
Oughton all the way to its wellhead. The final stretch leads past a very
charming farm gate café to Hitchin’s old town, which has kept its medieval
market town feel and has many fine Tudor and Georgian buildings.
Pass St. Mary’s Church, the largest parish church in Hertfordshire
and evidence of how Hitchin prospered from the wool trade, and brave a final
steep ascent through a park to then re-trace part of the morning route back to
the train station at the easterly end of town.
This is a stile-free walk.
Lunch: a couple of early pubs in Great Offley; then The View
in Pegsdon (13.7 km/8.5 mi, table booked for 12.30) or - on the short
walk - The Motte & Bailey in Pirton (14.4
km/8.9 mi, food to 14.30), this also makes for a good tea stop on the full
walk.
Tea: plenty of options, see the pdf.
For walk directions, map, photos, height profile
and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.234
4 comments:
Hi does anyone know if an Oyster card can be used to exit Hitchin station. Thanks
No. Oyster can only be used up to stations in TfL Zone 6 on that line. Contactless can be used as far as Welwyn Garden City but Hitchin is further out. See https://tfl.gov.uk/maps/track/national-rail.
6 off the train, with 1 other having just missed it and starting half an hour behind. Fog was in evidence from the train once we had left London behind, but it had all burned off by the time we started walking (at 9.40). So, just sunny blue skies all day, with the ground frozen, apart from on a few field boundaries that were bathing in the sun, where it was a bit soapy. Hoar frost almost everywhere, fine vistas, happy locals, a good walking pace, it was simply a brilliant day out.
We got to The View at 12.35 for our pre-booked table (for 6, the picnicker marched on and got the 16.25 train). Food service was a tad slow in coming and some people (ok: all) insisted on 'puddings', so it took us 105 minutes to get going again.
That meant that on the last ascent to the first houses in Hitchin we only got to see the tail end of the longed for (by some) sunset, which was straight from the Photoshop Library: bright orange skies with some fluffy clouds and the moon towering in another corner.
In town then, for once on this walk we eschewed The Half Moon and settled fot The Albert Inn, the pub closest to the station.
17.41 train. n=7 w=sunny-frosty-day
Supplementary info to the main report. Having been affected by public transport issues, this walker started walking at 10:17 nearly 40 minutes behind the main group and the recommended train he had planned for. Still an excellent walk and glad to have lunch and walk the remainder of the walk not solo. Highlights were the approach into the Pegsdon lunch stop with it’s views of Deacon Hill, the red kite sightings and the unusual meeting of a group walking with #2 Llamas (🦙 on leads). This walk would also work in reverse with the Windmill pub acting as the tea stop. Departing Hitchin at 17:41.
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