Sunday Walk - Wendens Ambo Circular (Audley End Station)

Length: 23.7 km (14.7 mi) or 17.5 km/10.9 mi 

Ascent/Descent: 258m (full walk) 

Net Walking Time: ca. 5 ¼ hours (full walk) 

Toughness: 4 out of 10 or 3 out of 10

 

Take the 09.27 Cambridge North train from Liverpool Street (Tottenham Hale 09.41), arriving Audley End at 10.22. 

Return trains: at xx.10 and xx.47. Buy an Audley End return.

 

This is a relaxing walk in the quiet chalky uplands of north-west Essex, on the borders of Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, very much off the beaten track, and with gently rolling hills, plenty of woods and copses as well as some pretty villages. Right from the start the walk takes you past picturesque thatched cottages with ample examples of pargeting, a decorative medieval plastering technique, and on through some farmland to the early lunch stop in Arkesden, one of the prettiest villages in Essex with one of the best pubs and loveliest churches.

The route then gently ascends to Chrishall, the dedicated lunch stop on the full walk, along field boundaries and green lanes. Chrishall village is close to Essex’ highest point and the approach offers fine views into the Hertfordshire plain and back down the wide ‘winding valley’ that gives Wendens Ambo its name. After lunch you follow the Icknield Way to Elmdon, with views north out across the Cambridgeshire plain to Cambridge, then alongside a high hedge with views off to your right into the winding valley back to Wendens Ambo.

A slightly longer , more westerly route (25.7 km/16.0 mi) takes you over Essex’ highest point itself.

Lunch: The Axe & Compasses in Arkesden (4.9 km/3.0 mi) but you will pass it before it opens for lunch (unless you start an hour later and do the short walk). So, there is only The Red Cow in Chrishall (13.1 km/8.2 mi, food to 16.00). 

Tea: The Bell Inn (open all day), 10 minutes from the station.

For walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.116