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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, 30 January 2022

Sunday Walk - Rivers, a Bird Reserve and Rolling Landscapes in East Hertfordshire - St. Margarets Circular

Length: 25.7 km/16.0 mi or 19.7 km/12.2 mi
Ascent/Descent: 270 or 204m
Net Walking Time: ca. 5 ½ hours or 4 ¼ hours
Toughness: 5 out of 10 or 3 out of 10
 
Take the 09.40 Hertford East train from Liverpool Street (Hackney Downs 09.46, Tottenham Hale [Victoria Line] 09.50), then all stations via Broxbourne, arrives St. Margarets (Hertfortshire) 10.22. 
Return trains are on xx.17 and xx.47
 
This walk leads along ancient tracks and green lanes through some very quiet, rolling East Hertfordshire countryside defined by wheat fields and woods, in-between extensive stretches along the Ash, Rib and Lea rivers. Cold Christmas hamlet and a haunted, ruined church are passed just before lunch. Long parts of the afternoon route are spent in the scenic Ash valley, before passing through Amwell Nature Reserve, a bird watcher’s paradise. The final stretch leads along the Lea Navigation back to St. Margarets.

 

Lunch: 
[Long Walk] The Anchor is closed, as far as I can see. So it’s just The Feathers Inn (Greene King) in Wadesmill (10.9 km/6.8 mi). 
[Short Walk] The White Horse or The Chequers Inn (food to 14.45) in Wareside (12.9 km/8.0 mi).

Tea: The Jolly Fisherman, The Oak, The Red Lion, all minutes from the station.


For walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.165

1 comment:

Thomas G said...

n=11 walkers, I think (but may have been 12), on a w=sunny day. This included 2 car drivers and 1 first-timer. Virtually mud-free apart from one short fenced and rutted stretch. Very fine views from the minor rises the route entails. Peace and quiet most of the way. The few punters wanting to walk the full walk were talked out of it and the avantgarde group then lunched at The White Horse. Leaving there, we were spotted by the laggards from their table in The Chequers. Everyone was more than happy with their meals and with the pubs' hospitality. The route was then finished as one group again (minus the first-timer who went awol at some point), arriving in time for the 16.17 train. Group Cohesion Factor: 6/10