Pete's Walks - Circular walk round Harpenden (page 2 of 2)
I crossed the Harpenden-Wheathampstead Road (I remembered driving along here on my journey to and from work in Welwyn Garden City in the mid '80s) and took a pleasant field path down into the valley of the River Lea (or Lee). Here I picked up the course of an old railway line running through the valley, and followed it westwards and then north-westwards. After passing another golf course on my left, I was soon walking through the north-eastern edge of Harpenden, with Batford across the river on my right.
Start of the path down into the Lea (or Lee) valley
Near the end of the path down into the Lea valley
Near the start of the old railway line through the Lea valley
The old railway line through the Lea valley - again golfers were playing on the frosty course on my left
The river Lea near Batford
The old railway line, here running through the eastern edge of Harpenden
I had forgotten that when I walked this route in the opposite direction back in September they had just resurfaced the stretch of the old railway line between Harpenden and East Hyde. They had also put in a convenient bench (where the track passes Hyde Mill Farm) where I stopped to eat my sandwiches about 1pm. I had a brief detour at East Hyde to photograph the river (no Little Egrets today but I did see some Gadwall), then set off up Cooters End Lane towards Harpenden.
The old railway line through the Lea valley, just north of Harpenden. You can see that it had been tarmac'd fairly recently.
The Lea valley near East Hyde
The old railway line
River Lea at East Hyde, looking south-east
River Lea at East Hyde, looking north-west
Looking back along Cooters End Lane, towards East Hyde
Cooters End Lane
The short section through the north-western corner of Harpenden wasn't too bad, uphill through alleys between allotments and garden fences. I passed a school on the edge of the town and entered open countryside once more, soon reaching the Nickey Line, a former railway line that ran to Hemel Hempstead. I followed it gently downhill all the way back to Redbourn.
Looking back down the alleyways of Harpenden
Looking back along the Nickey Line
The Nickey Line, approaching Redbourn
This was a pleasant enough walk, but the re-surfacing of the old railway line between Harpenden and East Hyde means that there is now too much of the route on hard surfaces for my liking (there were already a couple of lengthy sections along lanes). I might have a look at changing the route, but I'm not optimistic about being able to get round the problem. I was also a little disappointed with the weather conditions - as I drove to Redbourn there were places where it had definitely been a hoar frost with white trees and bushes, but I didn't really see much of that at all on the walk.