10 miles (16 km) with 252m total ascent
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| Bridleway 10 often a blaze of wild rose in June |
Please note that this route involves walking along a section of The Hertfordshire Way which goes along Cucumber Lane where there is no pedestrian pavement. The lane has always been quiet on the dozens of times we have walked it but a user of Hertfordshire Walker has reported (October 2024) that it was busy when they walked the route. Walking groups or those walking with children might want to choose a different walk.
Getting there
There is a bus stop outside The Woodman at the start of the walk which is served by the number 200 and 201 buses. There are also bus stops in Little Berkhamsted at point 12 in the walk which are served by the 380. You can check bus times at Intalink.
Fly through preview of walk
If you want to check what sort of landscape you will be crossing before you set off on this walk you can view a short 3D video of the route below. It's created using the free version of Relive.
Directions
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| Map for Walk 67: Kentish Lane Loop Click on the map for a larger version reated on Map Hub by Hertfordshire Walker Elements © Thunderforest © OpenStreetMap contributors There is an interactive map at the end of these directions |
1: From The Woodman in Wildhill (location - https://w3w.co/shots.sculpture.turkey) turn left on Wildhill Road and head W for 110m until you meet West End Lane where you turn right and head NNW for 740m following the lane as it dips and then climbs to a right-hand bend. Continue round to your right and head ENE following the lane as it then turns left and then heads N. Look out for a byway sign on your right (location - https://w3w.co/fake.loaded.moss). This is Essendon BOAT 14, (byway open to all traffic).
2: Take this path and continue through Home Wood and Harefield Wood for 1.1km. At first you will be heading E and then NE. After half a mile you will see footpath 16 going off to your right. Ignore it and continue along the BOAT as it heads N, dipping and climbing up to a footpath on your left just opposite a white-topped footpath marker post. This is Essendon footpath 13 (location - https://w3w.co/retail.vets.wire).
3: Turn left here and follow the footpath WNW for 420m along the edge of the field until you reach The Candlestick on West End Lane (location - https://w3w.co/sleeps.quarrel.racing).
4: At The Candlestick turn right on West End Lane for 90m as it heads N and then NE. Just before the houses on your left you will see a bridleway on your left (location - https://w3w.co/mint.slang.foster). This is Essendon bridleway 10. Take this path and head NNW and then N. A great time to do this walk is in late May and June when the hedgerow along this route is rich in wild rose. Continue down this path for 890m until you reach a footpath on your right (location - https://w3w.co/teams.mutual.oddly). This is Essendon footpath 8.
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| Bridleway 10 just before meeting footpath 8 (point 4) |
6: Here you turn left and follow West End Lane uphill heading E for 630m towards Essendon. When you reach the outskirts of the village, look out for a footpath on your left before the first house on the left. This is Essendon footpath 5 (location - https://w3w.co/flies.snow.player).
7: Take this path and head NE for 360m over the fields to the B158 Essendon Hill (location - https://w3w.co/young.rainy.just).
8: Cross the road and take the footpath immediately opposite (location - https://w3w.co/track.ending.fell). This is still Essendon footpath 5 which now heads ENE and E across Essendon golf course for 400m until you reach a footpath, Essendon footpath 2 (location - https://w3w.co/summer.modern.locals). Continue heading E for 390m crossing the golf course and emerging via a footbridge leading to Bedwell Avenue (location - https://w3w.co/demand.backed.sheep).
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| Footpath 2 across Essendon golf course, see point 8 above |
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| The route to footpath 4 signposted to Ashfield Farm (point 9) |
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| The bridge on bridleway 19 shortly before the climb up to Breach Lane |
* If you need refreshments at this point Emmie Murphy's village store is across the road from the churchyard and The Five Horseshoes is on your left.12: Immediately after leaving the churchyard on Church Road, take the footpath on your left. This is Little Berkhamsted footpath 9. Continue along this path heading ENE for 310m with fields on your right and the hedgerow on your left and follow it as it swings to the right (location - https://w3w.co/modern.boom.tidy) and heads SSE just before woodland. You are now on Little Berkhamsted footpath 10.
13: Continue along the path heading SSE for 320m as it dips and then climbs. At the point where the path swings to the right you take the left fork, cross a brook (location - https://w3w.co/from.star.shop) and climb up to woodland. Continue until you come to the end of a small thicket on your left and where a path on your left (location - https://w3w.co/went.roses.books) heads downhill into Buck's Alley Woods. This is Little Berkhamsted footpath 11.
14: Enter the woods, turn right and follow Little Berkhamsted bridleway 23 as it heads SE, S, SE, and then SW, dipping and then climbing for 690m. After a footbridge continue S until the path bends to the left at the point where another footpath heads to your right (location - https://w3w.co/solar.fields.fault). This is Little Berkhamsted footpath 14.
15: Take this footpath and head SW for 450m crossing a couple of fields before emerging on Epping Green (location - https://w3w.co/habit.fakes.oldest). At this point you could turn right for refreshments at The Beehive pub/restaurant.
16: Turn left on Epping Green and after 30m take the bridleway on your right. This is Little Berkhamsted bridleway 22. Take this bridleway for 250m SW along a tree-lined avenue. At the fork by a large brick wall, take the left-hand option and continue for 570m, first along the lane (it looks private but it's not) until it becomes Hatfield footpath 91 (location - https://w3w.co/monkey.sugar.tower). Take this path and head S across fields to Tylers Causeway (location - https://w3w.co/space.swing.again).
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| The junction of bridleway 22 and footpath 9 |
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| Bullrushes on the small pond to the right of footpath 90 |
19: After the byway turns to the right and heads N you will see a path going off to your left. Ignore this and continue N for until you reach Tylers Causeway (location - https://w3w.co/sounds.silent.trap).
20: Here you turn left for 90m and, immediately after Birchwood Cottages on your right take Cucumber Lane (location - https://w3w.co/thinks.tennis.like) and head NW for 440m.
21: When you reach woodland and Cucumber Lane veers right, take the footpath on your left (location - https://w3w.co/cried.logic.leave). This is Hornbeam Lane, Essendon bridleway 18, and is a magnificent avenue of trees through Nine Acre Wood. Continue along this bridleway for 1.2km. You will pass a large house on the left and stables on the right. Continue along this lane until you reach the last house on your left where you will see a footpath on your left (location - https://w3w.co/trucks.limbs.tube).
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| Footpath 18, Hornbeam Lane leading from Cucumber Lane to footpath 20 |
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| The path mentioned in point 22 goes to the right of the bush |
This part can be overgrown with nettles in the summer, so pick up a stick to brush them aside. Here you turn right on Essendon footpath 19 and head NW for 210m until you reach the B158 at the top of Wildhill Lane (location - https://w3w.co/blocks.recent.ample). Turn left here and continue down the left-hand side of the B158 and head SSW for 300m looking out for a footpath sign on your right (location - https://w3w.co/smiled.pets.cube).
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| The penultimate gate on footpath 85 leading to The Woodman |
Nice, straightforward and fairly easy walk along clear paths and tracks. Good views, wildlife and very few people made a good half-day. I started at Essendon to get to the Woodman for lunch. Only unsatisfactory bit was the slightly unnecessary detour to point 5 in order to come back to West End Lane. I know its a a walk on the lane but that section offered the least. I only did 8 miles according to my phone but....
ReplyDeleteHi,
DeleteThe route, which I created on MapHub, is 10.1 miles long (16.3km). If you download the GPX file that is included in the directions and open it in either Komoot or the OS app you will find they confirm that distance. I am puzzled as to why your phone recorded only 8 miles, perhaps it failed to log a section because of a poor signal? That sometimes happens on my wife's phone. However, if you followed the entire route you will have done 10.1 miles. I created the extra leg across the field at point five for two reasons. Firstly that someone had asked for a 10-mile walk in that particular area so I tried to create one for them. And secondly in order to avoid walking along the lane (we prefer to use footpaths and bridleways when possible). I hope that section didn't spoil the walk for you. Thanks for taking the time to give feedback.
David
Thanks David, it was very enjoyable! There was a block of 'no service' so maybe that explains the difference
DeleteAh, that's good to know. It happens to us from time to time. Thanks for the update. David
DeleteHello, i have done several of your walks and i have really enjoyed all of them. yesterday i did this walk. it was a bit damp when i started but had cleared up by the time i got back to the woodman. What an excellent pub that it. Anyway what i wondered is why you use the what three words system for locations and not grid references. I expect that you are catering for the more modern walker, someone who would use a phone rather than a map. But could i make a plea for OS grid references as well? And compass directions as well as left or right directions. And possibly include the OS map reference at the top of the route description. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi Richard, glad you are enjoying the walks. And I agree, The Woodman is a special place, a real proper pub with excellent beer. I use What3Words because it's a great system for pinpointing an exact 3m square and it offers those who use it online or with a smartphone a link to see a map or satellite image of the spot in question. I used to use grid references when we first started 25 years ago, but, after a survey of users I found that nobody (who responded to the survey) understood how to use them. It also seems that the majority of walkers are now using the GPX files I create to navigate walks with their smartphones and don't even refer to the directions I write. I realise that not having grid references or OS map references disadvantages those who prefer using a paper map and compass, and I am really sorry about that, but to go back and edit all 250 walks would be a massive task - there are dozens of What3Word references on each walk. This would mean that I would have to stop adding new walks to the collection until the task is complete. Regarding your point about adding compass directions as well as left and right, I already do that at every twist and turn on every walk. Because Hertfordshire Walker is an online walking site only, all directions are written for this who access the walks online or via smartphone. However there are several sites online where you can calculate grid references from What3Words references. David
ReplyDeleteA lovely walk and surprisingly rural being so close to London. It was a little flooded in parts when we walked it due to recent very wet weather. Directions were very clear, one minor thing I noted was that at Step 10 the path running alongside Ashfield Farm is signposted as bridleway 18, not 19.
ReplyDeleteThanks David
Glad you enjoyed the walk and thanks for pointing out the typo (which I have now fixed). It is a nice varied walk. If you haven't already done so please consider joining our friendly Facebook group where fellow-walkers are sharing their walking experiences and photos. David
Deletehttps://www.facebook.com/groups/hertfordshirewalker