On Sunday 25th May, five of us turned up in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, for an 11½ mile walk led by Ian, who grew up in this town. With much local knowledge, Ian was able to provide plenty of information about the history, ancient and modern, of Berkhamsted during the walk.
We started the walk by the remains of the motte and bailey castle, built during the Norman conquest of England in 1066. From there we headed north east and up Berkhamsted Hill, where we had fine views of the town and its surrounding countryside. We could also see a cricket match in progress.
Then into the woodlands of Berkhamsted Common, we continued upwards past Berkhamsted Golf Course to the War Memorial. We passed through the hamlets of Frithsden and Nettleden before turning north-west on a path through wheat fields taking us up to Little Gaddesden.
As we approached Little Gaddesden, we crossed a field with a few horses in it. One of them was very curious and became obsessed with Sue's rucksack. (She had some fresh mellon in it.) This was both comical and intimidating. I made some attempt to distract this young horse. Although I'm quite good with dogs, I know nothing about horse psychology and only succeeded in getting the horse to take an interest in my rucksack.
Leaving Little Gaddesden and the horses, we headed north-east again, into Hudnall Common where we stopped to have our picnic lunch in the corner of a field of buttercups.
After lunch we set off westward back to Little Gaddesden again, where we stopped off for a drink at the Bridgewater Arms Hotel - named after Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, an 18th century nobleman famous as the originator of British inland navigation and the commissioner of the Bridgewater Canal.
Suitably refreshed we continued our walk heading south-west to Pitstone Copse where our route followed the edge of the driving range at Ashridge Golf Club.
We were amazed to see so many deer congregating on the edge of the woods at the end of the driving range. There weren't any golfers using the range at the time. Nonetheless the deer seemed remarkably tame and we were able to get quite close before they fled into the woods.
Our route zigzagged south-east and south-west, through Ashridge Park and Berkhamsted Common, taking us back to the castle.
On the way we passed Ashridge House, a splendid mansion house now owned by the National Trust and occupied by the Ashridge Business College. This was commissioned by the 7th Earl of Bridgewater and was built on the site of a 13th century priory, which had been demolished in 1800.
Another cricket match was taking place on the fields opposite Ashridge House, and we could also see Bridgewater Monument in the distance.
This had been a very pleasant and educational walk with a good mixture of undulating countryside and fascinating facts. The weather had been good to us too, with no rain - unlike the rest of the Bank Holiday weekend. See our route on Bing Maps.
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