Pete's Walks- Gaddesden Row and Briden's Camp (page 3 of 3)
If you are considering walking this route yourself, please see my disclaimer. You may also like to see these notes about the maps and GPX files.
The bridleway now ran for several hundred yards along a broad strip of grass along the edge of a huge ploughed field, with a mature hedgerow on my right (there were many Oak trees in it and some Ash as well). Further on the bridleway passed a small wood on my left, called Garmer Spring according to the OS map. The bridleway then started to drop down into the valley of the river Gade, with a nice view ahead of me into a side-valley near Potten End. On reaching a field corner, I left the bridleway (which went straight on to Water End) by taking a footpath going right - this ran along the right side of a hedgerow (the map shows it on the other side, but I've always walked it on this side and the position of the waymark at the other end indicates it's this side). On reaching a small wood the path turned left for a short distance, then went right to follow the edge of the wood and continue on to reach a road at Briden's Camp.
The long bridleway towards Water End
The long bridleway towards Water End after it starts to descend, with a nice view ahead to a valley near Potten End
The footpath to Briden's Camp, after I turned right from the bridleway to Water End
The footpath to Briden's Camp
I turned right along the road, soon passing the village pub which seemed to be doing a good trade this Sunday lunchtime. I followed the road as it turned left and then right, then I turned left along a drive to Home Farm. There was obviously an equestrian event on here, as there were a couple of marshals in high-visibility jackets here and I saw someone else in one with 'RDA' on it (the nearby Gaddesden Place is a Riding for the Disabled Association centre). I turned right onto a path beside London Wood on my left, and as I walked along it I met three or four pairs of horse riders coming the other way. Beyond the wood the footpath continued along a grassy strip between two rows of trees, with several horse-jumps along it.
The road through Briden's Camp
The path beside London Wood
The path beside London Wood
The path continuing past the horse jumps
I turned left at the end of this, and followed a farm track to reach a drive coming from Golden Parsonage, a large house to my right. I turned right, towards the house (which apparently is just one wing of what was once a much larger building), but then immediately went half-left across the park land surrounding the house. I went through a gate and continued on past some huge Sweet Chestnut trees to another gate. Beyond this the path went half-left alongside a hedge to return to the drive to The Lane House.
The path after I turned left, approaching the drive to Golden Parsonage
The path across the park around Golden Parsonage
The path across the park around Golden Parsonage
The path continuing to the drive to The Lane House - from there I retraced my steps back the way I'd come at the start of the walk
It was now just a matter of retracing my steps back to Jockey End. I took the path from The Lane House, now with the wildfowl pond on my right, went half-left across a paddock and then along a hedge on my left in the next paddock. I continued along the headland between stubble fields, then crossed the lane and continued along the path between the numerous paddocks. Beyond this I reached a meadow, where after a short distance I turned right to follow the path through the allotments and return to the road where I'd parked.
The first paddock by The Lane House
The second paddock by The Lane House
The headland between the stubble fields (I forgot to take another photo of the water tower)
The start of the path through the paddocks
The path through the allotments
This was a nice walk on a very pleasant September day. It was a very flat route, with no very steep ups or downs at all, and was mainly on field paths with just a few sections through or beside woods. It was also a very quiet route, in that it didn't go through any settlements at all apart from Briden's Camp (which is no more than a hamlet). There were no spectacular views, the view over the Gade valley from the bridleway to Water End being the best, but there were pleasant views over mainly arable farmland almost throughout the walk. I was very pleased to have revisited this area after an absence of five or six years, and I was gald that I managed to include a few paths I'd not walked before.
I'd have enjoyed the walk more if I hadn't felt so tired towards the end of it - the combination of the post-viral fatigue and the remains of a cold meant that I was a bit below par today. And because I've not been able to do anywhere near so much walking as usual, since having that first virus about 30 months ago, my leg muscles have definitely decreased markedly and I felt sore and stiff for the rest of the day.