Sun 25th April 2010 - Leg11a : Broxbourne to Hertford - 12.5 miles

It was a good turn-out with Sandra Scott, Jonathan & Linda Berks, Barbara & Peter Mitton, Howard and Fudge Peacock, Ray Munden and David Izod lulled into a false sense that the weather would be fine following the brilliant day that we had enjoyed on Saturday. Surprise, surprise it rained!

Most of the walk was along the New River, which continues to be a major supply of water into London, and the River Lea Navigation with a brief diversion into the Ash Valley to get the obligatory mileage in. We started at Broxbourne Station and after a couple of miles reached Rye House Station, close to the scene of The Rye House Plot of 1683 which was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother (and heir to the throne) James, Duke of York, builder of Peter Franks’ palace. Historians vary in their assessment of the degree to which details of the conspiracy were finalized. Anti-Catholic sentiment, which associated Catholicism with absolutism, was widespread, and focused particular attention on the succession to the throne. While Charles was publicly Anglican, he and his brother were known to have Catholic sympathies. These suspicions were confirmed in 1673 when James was discovered to have converted to Catholicism. Rye House, a manor house owned by a well-known Republican, Richard Rumbold was to conceal a force of 100 men in the grounds and ambush the King and the Duke on their way back to London from the horse races at Newmarket. However, because there was a great fire in Newmarket on 22 March, which destroyed half the town, the races were cancelled, and the King and the Duke returned to London early. As a result, the planned attack never took place. Historians have suggested the story of the plot may have been largely manufactured by Charles or his supporters to allow the removal of most of his strongest political opponents. Politics always was a rough old trade.

At Stanstead Abotts we passed the Clock House. From 1635 it housed a grammar school founded by Sir Edward Baesh, which subsequently closed in 1881 and is now a residential property. The town is also famous for fishing and was recommended by Izaak Walton in his book, “The Complete Angler”.

We walked up the Ash Valley, back through Easneye Wood, along the disused railway line to Buntingford, axed by Dr Beeching in 1965 and back to the sand and gravel pits at Amwell. In doing so we managed to lose our ladies who had stopped to take pictures of the wildlife conservation area and got left behind. Whilst searching for them, Howard found a sign post saying Hertford 2 1/4 miles, but of course the planners had other routes in mind for us, giving us well over 5 miles further to walk!

After being reunited we continued on across the railway and the New River to the church of St John’s built in the 11th century and much restored. Peter and Jonathan were confined to the stocks there but we were too polite to throw rotten eggs at them! We enjoyed a well earned pint at the George IV pub. Stirring our stumps we passed by the monument to Sir Hugh Myddleton, builder of the New River near to Emma’s Well close to one of the springs that feeds the New River.

Continuing along the New River and the Lee Navigation tow path we eventually turned up at Ware passing by the Gazebos. These were erected by the Ware inns to attract new trade following the setting up of England’s first turnpike road which then as now caused all the traffic to find an alternative free route and had had a disastrous effect on their business!

I had not realized how interesting Ware and later when we got there, Hertford, are. We tend only to see the main street and miss all the older nooks and crannies. Anyway, somewhat footsore but pleased with our accomplishment we finished our walk at around 4 pm in a nice, pleasant afternoon at Parliament Square.

Sat 24th April 2010 - Leg 10a : Cuffley to Broxbourne - 12 miles

It was a gloriously sunny morning as we, David Izod, Jim Webb, Chris Hardy, Ray Munden, Sandra Scott, Guy Garfit and Jinny and our guides from the Friends of the Hertfordshire Way, Peter and Sue Garside, left Cuffley Station at 9.30am to retrace part of our earlier walk from Shenley to Cuffley on our way to Goffs Oak. Goffs Oak is named after the Goff Family who were for many years the major land owners in the area until the last one of the line past away in the mid 20th century. The old oak reputed to be several hundred years old of Goff fame also met its demise in 1950’s and its replacement lasted until 1987 when it was destroyed by the October gales. The current oak proudly stands outside the Goff Oak pub. One of the village’s claims to fame is that Victoria Beckham, one of the Spice Girls pop group, once lived there.

On leaving Gaffs Oak we quickly left suburbia behind to be heralded by multitudinous clouds of blackthorn blossom, wherever you looked, until we reached Broxbourne Woods. It looks as if it’s going to be a bumper sloe crop this year provided we avoid any more frosts.

On leaving Tanfield Stud we entered a series of four woods namely Wormley Wood, Bencroft Wood, Hoddeston Park Wood and Broxbourne Wood which form the Broxbourne Woods National Nature Reserve (NNR). These are also recognised as Sites of Special Scientific Interest as they are home to some of our scarce woodland wildlife. One of our rarest butterflies, the Purple Emperor, has found a home in Broxbourne Wood. The woods also have a strong connection with the past evidenced by the banks and ditches in and around the woodlands which tell us our Roman and Medieval ancestors once coppiced the woodland for fuel and had pastures for livestock.

The woodland is a mixture of hornbeam and sessile oak. In fact they are the most northerly natural occurring hornbeam woods in the country although you will find hornbeam garden hedges much further north. Hornbeam is a wood that is heavy and hard and is often referred to as iron wood. It is used for tools and for construction purposes, for example it has been used as spokes in wheels, gear pegs in geared drive wheels in windmills, pianos, parquet flooring etc. where hardness and good wearing requirements are of paramount importance. The wood also burns hot and slowly making it very suitable for firewood and charcoal. The latter uses were the saving of Epping Forest where the hornbeam is the favoured pollarding tree. Sessile or Welsh Oak, as it is the national tree of Wales, is taller and straighter than English Oak and because of this is particularly suitable for the construction of oak framed buildings. It gets is name from the fact that the acorns grow straight from the stem, the sessile, where in the case of the English Oak they grow on stalks.

The woods, that are thought to go back to the ice age, were first mentioned in documents in the 6th Century in relation to Ermine Street which passes through Wormley Wood. Undoubtedly Harold would have passed through the wood in 1066 on his way to challenge William of Normandy at Hastings. Gradually, this like all Roman roads was allowed to deteriorate. The fact that they were still used as drove roads until the 19th century speaks volumes for the road building abilities of our Roman ancestors.

On your way through the four mile stretch of woodland we passed a Coal Post. These were first erected around London in 1851 to denote where duty would be levied on imported coal and wine leaving the city. This tax goes back to1667 when it was levied to pay for the rebuilding of London following the Great Fire of 1666. In 1861 the 250 posts (44 in Hertfordshire) were moved to coincide with the new Metropolitan Police District. The City’s Wine and Coal Duty Act was repealed in 1892.

Within Broxbourne wood are areas of recently planted conifers which are gradually being removed to bring back native broadleaved trees. Unfortunately with the conifers will go the gold crests which you could hear chattering away in the tops of the trees as we passed by below.

In Hoddesdon Park Wood we passed a moated site thought to be the location of an ancient deer park-keepers lodge. No buildings have survived. It is a scheduled ancient monument probably dating back to the 13th century as a 1290 document details the restocking of the wood with two bucks and two does from the Forest of Essex. Wherever you looked the floor of the wood is a carpet of white wood-anemones. Coppicing has opened up the woods to sunlight allowing the flowers to flourish in the dappled light. Open glades are being formed to allow other plants to grow and attract butterflies and other wild life.

On leaving the wood we turned left for the Huntsman for a pint and a leisurely late lunch in the sunshine leaving us with a three mile stroll to Broxbourne for a 3.30 pm. finish. This village is the oldest recorded in the area. A mill is mentioned in the Domesday survey. The remains of the one found near the station built in the 19th century last ground corn in 1890 and burnt down in 1949 when it was being used as an engineering workshop. The last stretch of the walk was along New River, a 40 mile long aquifer of clear spring water built on the 100 foot contour line. It was built between 1608 and 1613 to take drinking water to London from Amwell and Chadwell springs. The area along the river was a hive of activity with two cricket matches and two football matches in progress and many families out enjoying the spring sunshine. A most enjoyable walk was enhanced by the interest and background supplied by our guides Sue and Peter Garside.

Many Thanks.

Jim Webb