Sun 28th Feb 2010 - Leg 8 : Kings Langley to Shenley - 12.8 miles

I thought I had got out of writing this blog by delegating it to John Kelly but alas it was not to be, as both he and our illustrious president copped out at the first threat of adverse weather conditions. Cowards, wimps did I hear you all cry? Well the forecasters were threatening very heavy rain all day, temperature of 4C and winds of 25 mph. Despite the threat the intrepid three, Sandra, Jonathon and I set of at 8.10 am to meet our Hertfordshire Way guides John Ledger and Marion Wiseman at Kings Langley. There is no way sugar and spice and all things nice was going to be outdone by slugs and snails and puppy dog tails. As it turned out the adverse weather threat was way of the mark.
We had extremely light rain until 11.30, it then it eased off so we were able to have lunch in the great outdoors, temperatures were at least four degrees higher and winds were light to calm. As traffic enroute was light we all arrived early and set of at 9.20am. led by Marion Wiseman who is the warden for this leg. Those of you who plan to walk this leg later would be well advised to pull down the long list of changes to the leg from that published in the latest issue of the guide book, from the Friend of Hertfordshire Way web site.

We left Station Road, Kings Langley and joined the permissive path at Numbers Farm with the Ovaltine wind turbine on our right and walked over the hill to Bedmond walking roughly parallel to the M25. There was much evidence of the heavy overnight rain, the lanes whilst reasonably firm underfoot were being scoured by clean running water and inevitably where you came to an avoidable stile it was surrounded by a large pool of water. I manage to drop one my waterproof gloves into the first I had to cross much to the amusement of Jonathon.

We crossed to M25 into Abbots Langley and from then almost to Shenley one was aware of the constant hum of road traffic. I must congratulate the architects of the route we followed, for threading us through a dense conurbation of towns and villages whilst leaving you with the impression you were in the countryside most of the way. Immediately after crossing the M1 you pass BRE (Building Research Establishment) in Bricket Wood, which used to be the site for war time experiments for Sir Barnes Wallace's bouncing bomb. After crossing the lovely parkland of the gothic revivalist, Munden House and the swollen River Ver we were confronted by a lake. Sandra stepped forward in the epic mode of the an explorer crossing the Rubicon and we stood back expecting her to go glug, glug, glug and leave her cap floating on the surface only to find it was just ankle deep.

The next crossing was the River Colne. The bridge was still holding its own against the swollen waters so we passed on to Wall Hall a magnificent gothic revivalist mansion built in 1802 for George Woodford Thelluson, mentioned in Charles Dickens "Tale of two Cities". The grounds were extensively developed for an American banker John Pierpoint Morgan Jnr. who purchased the hall in 1910. During the Second World War it was the residence of Joseph Kennedy the US Ambassador to the UK and the father of JFK. In 1945 it passed to the local authorities and became a training college before becoming a part of Hertfordfordshire University. Between 2003 to 2006 it became an expensive private housing estate built by Octagon. We were then left with a short stroll through Aldenham, past the 800 year old Hertfordshire Spike Church to lunch at the a pub in Round Bush. Aldenham Church and the village were used in many Elstree Studio films including "The Confessions of a Window Cleaner" and the BBC TV series "The Pathfinders" to name but two. Fortified with a fine pint, we ate our lunch in a very nice garden attached to the very friendly Round Bush pub.

After lunch we walked on to the very picturesque and Hertfordshire's least altered village of Letchmore Heath where you will find the International Society for Krishna Consciousness at Piggott's Manor. Paul Harrison, of Beatle's fame, gifted this property to the Hindu sect that now reside there. It has I believe caused much controversy over the years and its development and attraction of so many followers is I believe not much liked by the villagers.

Skirting the edge of Radlett we crossed Watling Street the longest Roman Road in Britain running from Dover to Chester via London to find ourselves in a lane near Wood Hall Farm blighted by fly tipping and a busy stretch of road whose verges were blighted by empty high energy drink cans and other fast food rubbish. Oh the joys of living close to urban dwellers and the reluctance of some authorities to accept all rubbish at their tips.

Out into the countryside again onto the last part of the leg to Shenley where we crossed a wide foot bridge of timbers which were floating on a the very swollen stream. Despite Sandra practicing her dance steps we were disappointed as it held together and she failed to cause a splash. We need to feed her more than a half pint at lunch time.

Shenley is a 13th Century village with many historical connections. William Hawksmoor the architect and Wren's assistant during the building of St Paul's lived here as did Admiral Lord Howe, the First Lord of the Admiralty when Nelson was twenty. The Hospital Water Tower remains a constant reminder of the Mental Hospital founded by King George V and Queen Mary that used to be here. The walk was completed in Shenley Park at the car park and cafe where we said farewell to John and Marion. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them both for their help, guidance and friendship over legs 6, 7 and 8 of the walk.

Jim Webb