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.
(I used Alternative 1 as shown on the map)
At the bottom of the slope I turned right along a footpath, following a hedgerow on my left for several hundred yards. The path then turned left along a track through a small plantation, but soon exiting on the right and following a track to reach a road at the hamlet of Briden's Camp. I turned right along the road, following it through the hamlet and round a couple of bends, before taking a path on the left that went along the drive towards Home Farm.
The path after I turned right from the bridleway
The path after it turns left
The path continuing to Briden's Camp
The road through Briden's Camp
The road through Briden's Camp
The drive after I turned left from the road, just outside Briden's Camp
When London Wood started on the right, I took a footpath that followed the edge of the wood. After a few hundred yards, roughly where a hedge came in on the right, the path joined a grassy ride between two tall hedges with several horse jumps along it. There were many Primroses here, which I was hoping to see as I remembered seeing them here in the past. Just before reaching a gate I turned left along a track beside a hedge on my right - I saw my first Small Tortoiseshell butterflies of 2018 here. I then turned right along the drive to a large house named Golden Parsonage, but almost immediately forked half-left from the drive. Through a gate in a fence the path continued past some impressive Chestnut trees to another gate, beyond which the path continued to reach the drive to The Lane House.
The path after I turned right from the drive, alongside London Wood
The path after I turned right from the drive, alongside London Wood
The 'ride' with horse jumps, after London Wood
Primroses
The path after I turned left from the 'ride', approaching the drive to Golden Parsonage
The start of the path forking half-left from the drive to Golden Parsonage
The path continuing past Golden Parsonage
The path approaching the drive to The Lane House
I went left through a gate here, then turned right beside a duck pond. I soon reached a paddock, where I went half-left to reach a metal-kissing gate - this was either redundant or there was an invisible fence here, I decided to err on the safe side and went through the gate anyway (I always used to go over redundant stiles in the middle of fields, but my aching knees discourage me from doing that nowadays). Beyond another gate in the next corner the path continued along a broad headland between fields to reach Ledgemore Lane. A path continued on the other side, running between paddock fences for a few hundred yards. Beyond the paddocks, the path followed the right edge of a meadow a short way to a path junction, where I turned right and followed a path past the Gaddesden Row allotments. On the far side I turned left along a road and soon returned to where I'd started on the edge of Jockey End.
The path continuing from The Lane House
The very wet paddock
The path continuing along the broad headland between fields
The white Water Tower
The path after crossing the lane, running between paddock fences
The path after crossing the lane, running between paddock fences
The path after I turned right, passing the allotments at Jockey End
At last Spring has Sprung! After weeks of wet and grey weather, it was delightful to be out on a warm and sunny day (even though the paths remained very muddy after all the recent rains). I really enjoyed the walk, and would still have done so even if I'd not had the pleasure of seeing so many beautiful Spring flowers. This remains one of my favourite routes close to my home in Kensworth, and I'm sure I'll do it again sometime.