This walk starts and finishes in the car park at Patmore Heath, a Herts & Middlesex Wildlife Trust nature reserve. It then heads E before crossing the Hertfordshire and Essex border then passing through the village of Farnham before looping back across rolling countryside offering some great views.
The Catherine Wheel pub/restaurant is 340m W from the Patmore Heath car park, which is the start and finish point. The car park is 5.9 miles NW from Bishop's Stortford Station by road.
The walk doesn't cross any livestock fields, but there are signs along the route asking dog owners to keep their pets under control. You will cross some muddy fields and bridleways after rain, so strong, waterproof boots recommended, and perhaps a stick because it can be slippy. See our walking tips page.
Fly through preview of walk
If you want to check what sort of landscape this walk covers before setting off you can view a short 3D video of the route below. It's created using the free version of Relive.
Below is a short video of some of the scenes along the way.
Directions
Map for Walk 221: Patmore Heath East Loop Click here or on the map for a larger version Map created on MapHub - copyright details here There is an interactive map below the directions
Those with GPS devices can download GPX or KML files for this walk. We've added What3Words location references for those who use that system. If you print these walks you might want to use the green PrintFriendly icon at the bottom of these directions to delete elements such as photographs.
The car park on Patmore Heath
Park in the car park at Patmore Heath (location - https://w3w.co/flaunting.toast.agrees), which, when we did this walk in October 2022, was free of charge.
The information board by the Patmore Heath car park
1: From the car park walk SE towards the information board, see image above, then continue past the board for 105m until the path splits (location - https://w3w.co/remarried.attitudes.realm). Take the right fork then head SW for 215m to a lane (location - https://w3w.co/panting.cheater.sandbags), see map of route across the heath below.
The route across Patmore Heath from point 1 to point 2 Map created on MapHub - copyright details here
Turn right on the lane then head W for 20m until you reach a bend and a bridleway on the left, see image below.
Turn left on Albury bridleway 33
2: Turn left on Albury bridleway 33 then head SW for 30m until you reach a junction (location - https://w3w.co/counters.parading.urban), see image below.
Keep left at the junction still on Albury bridleway 33
Keep left at the junction, still on Albury bridleway 33, then head SSE for 175m until you reach a fork (location - https://w3w.co/chimp.envisage.cocoons), see image below.
Keep left at the fork, still on Albury bridleway 33
3: Keep left at the fork, still on Albury bridleway 33, then head SE for 30m until the bridleway crosses a field (location - https://w3w.co/detonated.effort.forgiven), see image below.
Cross the field, still on Albury bridleway 33
Cross the field, still on Albury bridleway 33, then continue heading SSE for 130m to a footbridge over a stream (location - https://w3w.co/essential.mulled.olive), see image below.
Cross the stream, still on Albury bridleway 33
4: Cross the stream, still on Albury bridleway 33, then head SE and uphill for 120m until the bridleway bends to the right towards the top of the hill (location - https://w3w.co/chainsaw.wooden.podcast), see image below.
Fork right to cross the field heading SSE
5: Fork right, still on Albury bridleway 33, then cross the field heading SSE for 120m (see direction of Ellie walking on the image above) until you reach the hedgerow on the far side of the field (location - https://w3w.co/levels.grabs.twitching), see images below.
Continue heading SSE still on Albury bridleway 33
Once across the field, continue heading SSE, still on Albury bridleway 33, with the hedgerow on the right and field on the left for 55m until you reach Mill Lane (location - https://w3w.co/placed.define.flagging). Turn right on Mill Lane then head SW for 35m until you reach a bridleway on the left (location - https://w3w.co/welcome.lyricist.topples), see image below.
7: Continue straight on at the junction heading E, now on Albury bridleway 36, for 220m, with the hedgerow on the left and field on the right, until you reach a right-hand bend (location - https://w3w.co/quits.income.social).
Turn right at the bend, still on Albury bridleway 36, then head SSE for 110m, with the hedgerow on the left and a field on the right until you reach a left-hand bend (location - https://w3w.co/rejoiced.golf.essential), see image below.
Turn left at the bend then head E, still on Albury bridleway 36
8: Turn left at the bend then head E for 280m, still on Albury bridleway 36, and with the hedgerow on the left and field on the right, until you reach a gap in the hedgerow (location - https://w3w.co/dumps.twitching.outboard), see image below.
Albury bridleway 36 continues heading E
9: Albury bridleway 36 continues heading E (see line of orange arrow on the image above) for 150m to a right-hand bend (location - https://w3w.co/necklaces.shovels.dial), see image below.
Turn right then follow Albury bridleway 36 S
10: Turn right then follow Albury bridleway 36 S for 435m, with hedgerow on the left and a field on the right, until you reach a T-junction (location - https://w3w.co/slang.howler.barbarian).
11: Turn left at the junction then head E, now on Albury bridleway 8, for 420m until you reach a footbridge on the Hertfordshire and Essex border (location - https://w3w.co/monitors.squares.tentacles), see image below.
Continue heading E, now on Farnham bridleway 14
12: Cross the footbridge then continue heading E, now on Farnham bridleway 14, for 440m to a junction on a bend (location - https://w3w.co/thumps.poets.commended), see image below.
Turn left on Farnham bridleway 33
13: Turn left on Farnham bridleway 33 (also known as Thrimley Lane) then head NE then ENE for 710m until you reach a paved road in the village of Farnham (location - https://w3w.co/exacts.variances.changing). The first part of this bridleway was a particularly muddy stretch the day we walked the route. Continue heading E along Thrimley Lane until you reach a footpath on the left between houses number 7 and 6 (location - https://w3w.co/parts.uppermost.weep), see image below.
Turn left on Farnham footpath 2
14: Turn left on Farnham footpath 2 then head NNE for 290m to the point where the footpath bends left (location - https://w3w.co/informer.darkest.acoustics), see image below.
Follow Farnham footpath 2 as it bends left then heads NW
16: Turn left on the lane then head W for 965m until the lane becomes a track and you reach a fork (location - https://w3w.co/rods.dancer.freely), see image below.
Keep right at the fork then head W, now on Farnham footpath 18
17: Keep right at the fork then continue heading W, now on Farnham footpath 18, which is also the Harcamlow Way at this point, for 235m to reach the Hertfordshire/Essex border (location - https://w3w.co/starts.tabs.website), see image below.
Farnham footpath 18 approaching the Hertfordshire and Essex border
18: Cross the border then continue heading W, now on Albury footpath 7, with Shaw Wood on your right and a field on your left, for 215m until you reach the end of the woodland (location - https://w3w.co/handicaps.huddled.awaiting) and the path bends to the right, see image below.
Turn right, still on Albury footpath 7
19: Turn right, still on Albury footpath 7, then head N, with Shaw Wood on your right and a field on your left, for 160m until the footpath bends to the left (location - https://w3w.co/interlude.farmland.enormous), then heads W, see image below.
Continue heading W on Albury footpath 7
Keep left at the bend then continue heading W on Albury footpath 7 for 415m, with the hedgerow on the right and field on the left, until you reach a junction with a track (location - https://w3w.co/ulterior.likely.suave).
20: Cross the track then continue heading W, still on Albury footpath 7, with the hedgerow on the right and field on the left, for 520m until you reach a junction (location - https://w3w.co/pack.overpower.strength), see image below.
Turn right on Albury footpath 15
21: Turn right on Albury footpath 15 then head NNW for 150m until you reach Mill Lane (location - https://w3w.co/candidate.unveils.rifled), see image below.
Turn right on Mill Lane then left on a track
22: Turn right on Mill Lane then head NE for 20m until you reach a track on the left (location - https://w3w.co/greyhound.crunch.easygoing). Turn left on the track then head WNW, still on Albury footpath 15, for 285m until Albury footpath 15 crosses a stream (location - https://w3w.co/handed.prefect.archduke), see image below.
Continue heading WNW and uphill on Albury footpath 15
23: Continue heading WNW and uphill on Albury footpath 15 for 360m back to the lane running alongside the southern edge of Patmore Heath (location - https://w3w.co/cashier.occupations.examiner), see image below.
Head NW across Patmore Heath for 185m back to the car park
Comments and feedback If you try any of the walks on this site, please let us know what you thought of them. You can either comment here, or on our members-only Facebook Group where walkers are sharing photographs of their walks and walking tips. Comments on our Facebook Group go live immediately, as they do on our Facebook Page. Comments here on our website are moderated, so there will be a slight delay before what you write goes live.
Lovely new years walk today! Muddy but not too bad..thank you
ReplyDeleteGreat, glad you enjoyed it despite the mud. Dave
DeleteLovely walk, Patmore Heath is a hidden gem
ReplyDeleteAgreed. We thought that when we tested the walk. David
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