The Hertfordshire Way
Stage 11: Hertford to Widford
Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.
The Hertfordshire Way is a 166 mile long distance trail around the county divided into 14 legs, and beginning and ending at Royston. Bluetiger walked the eleventh leg from Hertford to Widford in August 2005. The guidebook gives this leg as 13½ miles, but the Way has been re-routed through the parland of the Woodhall estate which has probably extended the walk by around 2 miles. The book describes this leg as "entirely rural" once Hertford is left behind.
The Way leaves Hertford to the north following the River Beane. Before long it comes to Waterford Marsh, where there are extensive meadows beside the river where parishioners of the nearby village have grazing rights.
Two horses on the meadows.
The church at Stapleford with an unusual steeple.
Beyond Stapleford the Way passes through the parkland of the Woodhall estate. It is bounded by this wall.
The River Beane flows through the estate.
A view of the big house at Woodhall Park
An ancient oak tree in the park
And another one!
Harvest time near Tonwell
And also at Bengeo Temple Farm beyond the village
In mid August there are still some flowers in the hedgerows.
Path through the wheat approaching Wadesmill
The ruined tower which is most that remains of the Norman parish church outside Thundridge
There are still some traces of the original stonework around the doorway.
From Thundridge the Way joins another river valley, this time of the River Rib. Alongside this are some attractive willows.
Shortly after this the Way reaches a very significant point which is not even mentioned in the guidebook! It crosses the Greenwich meridian and we step from the Western Hemisphere into the Eastern. Note the 'Location' setting on the GPS.
The view along the meridian - there is nothing on the ground to mark this point. We will not return to the Western Hemisphere until the last leg of the Way.
After the village of Wareside, the Way heads for Widford. From the long disused railway line which ran from Buntingford to St Margaret's there was this atmospheric view (and a tiny clue that we are not that far from Stansted).
A pleasant view of Widford church above the meadows by the River Ash, the third little river of Hertfordshire we have walked by today.
Up the hill to the church in the late afternoon sun, with an excellent view of the valley.
The church at Widford.
We have now completed 131 miles of the Way, just over three-quarters of the total distance.
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