Not so much heritage on this leg, but plenty of views across the north Bedfordshire landscape from the undulating trail.
Trail Walkers
Trail Walkers
This group tackles some of the many waymarked trails in the UK, usually in day long walks of 10 to 12 miles on the second Tuesday of each month. The Icknield Way Path was completed in 2013 and in 2014 we tackled the John Bunyan Trail, 77 miles through the Bedfordshire countryside. At the end of 2014 and during all of 2015 we completed the Hertfordshire Way which is a 170 mile circular trail round Hertfordshire in 14 stages of between 10-15 miles each stage. For 2016 we walked the Harcamlow Way which is a figure of eight trail of about 140 miles from Cambridge in the north to Harlow in the south, crossing over between Newport and Thaxted. In 2017 we completed the Herts Chain Walks, walking two links at a time and in 2018 we will be walking the North Bedfordshire Heritage Trail which is a circular trail of about 70 miles starting at Bedford and then taking in Turvey, Riseley, Tempsford, Potton, Old Warden and back to Bedford.
In 2018 we are also re-walking the Icknield Way for those who missed it in 2013 or for those who want a nostalgic look back to our first trail.
As well as the nominated trail for each year we also walk other local trails on an ad hoc basis. These trails have included the Greensand Ridge (Leighton Buzzard to Gamlingay), the Kingfisher Way (Baldock to Roxton Locks along the River Ivel), the Clopton Way (Gamlingay to Wimpole Hall) and the Navigators Way (The Ivel Navigation between Biggleswade and Shefford). We have also walked the full length of the Lea Valley from source in Leagrave in Luton to the mouth at the Thames near East India Dock. Before we started the Hert Chain Walks we completed the HOOP (Hitchin Outer Orbital Path) and the STOOP (Stevenage Outer Orbital Path)
In addition to these day-long walks, some of the group have completed walks further away on short-stay breaks. These walks include the Ridgeway, the Wessex Ridgeway (Lyme Regis to Marlborough), the Cotswold Way and Great Stones Way to the west, the South Downs Way to the south and the Peddars Way (Thetford Forest to Hunstanton), the Norfolk Coastal Path (Hunstanton to Cromer), the Weavers Way (Cromer to Great Yarmouth) and the Angles Way (Great Yarmouth to Thetford) to the east. In 2018 we are tackling the Thames Path starting from the source in Gloucestershire
The next leg of the North Beds Heritage Trail took us from Turvey to Sharnbrook, taking in the villages of Carlton, Harrold and Odell all of which had old stone buildings reminiscent of the Cotswolds.
Our 2018 season got off to a great start with the best weather we have seen over the recent weeks.
We started our last leg of the Herts Chain Walk on the northern edge of Whitewebbs Park.
We parked in Maynard's Place car park Cuffley and head out of Cuffley along the B156 towards Northaw.
We started this leg at the old Cole Green railway station on the now defunct Hatfield to Hertford line.
This leg was a figure of eight centred on Bramfield Woods taking in Watton to the north and near to Tewin in the south.
To celebrate 30 years of the LALG, the various walking groups arranged walks to suit their objectives and followed these with a meal in Weston Village Hall.
We parked on Benington Recreation Ground and headed south to the edge of Hebing End. Here we turned left and headed once more into the Hertfordshire Countryside.
Once again, there were very few hamlets and certainly no villages on this leg. We did however see more horses, cattle and sheep - perhaps the weather was getting warmer!
This leg from Sandon to Cottered and back consisted almost entirely of a walk through the Hertfordshire countryside - no villages, no hamlets, no animals & almost no people.
Over 20 of us started our trail for 2017 - the Herts Chain Walk. We started this first leg at Sandon and headed off along the Buntingford road.
With this walk we completed the Harcamlow Way, finishing on the corner of Orchard Road, Melbourn where we started in February.
From Manuden we headed east to Bollington Hall and then north to Rickling Hall where we passed an alpaca farm (or were they llamas?).
This was one of the shorter legs of our trail which was very helpful since it turned out to be the hottest September day on record.
We rejoined the towpath of the River Stort near Eastwick and headed towards Roydon along a path well sheltered from the sun, passing Roydon Lock on the way.
From the Shell House in the middle of Hatfield Forest, we headed north west through the Deer Park to one end of a broad woodland ride.
Leaving the centre of Thaxted, we walked passed the imposing church and the almshouses to the windmill.
We left Saffron Walden to the west passing the United Reform Church and it's almshouses and then onto Audley Park towards Audley End.
This leg was a pleasant walk through the rolling Cambridgeshire countryside with very few villages en route.
The final leg of the Lea Valley walk, started at Tottenham on the west bank of the Navigation passing the Warwick Reservoirs and then crossing to the eastern side at Horse Shoe Bridge.
We walked this leg in probably the wettest conditions we have encountered since the formation of the Trail Walkers group in 2013. It was raining when we started and raining when we finished.
This leg of the Lea Valley Trail was a straightforward walk along the Lea Navigation from Broxbourne to Tottenham Lock, initially with gravel pit lakes on both sides.
We started this leg in Christ's Lane in the centre of Cambridge and then headed across Christ's Pieces and Midsummer Common to the River Cam with its many boathouses on the other side.
We started this leg by continuing along the trackbed of the old Hatfield to Hertford East railway line.
We headed off in the direction of Home Farm and skirted round the eastern edge of the Wimpole Hall grounds.
We left Harpenden along the trackbed of the old Leighton Buzzard to Hatfield railway line, but soon climbed to the top of the valley to continue into Wheathampstead.
Our walk started in Melbourn from where we headed south west to the A10.
About 17 of us walked the first stage of the Lea Valley Trail from Leagrave to Harpenden.
A pleasant walk of 11.5 miles along the top of the escarpment between Gamlingay and Wimpole Hall passing the site of the medieval village of Clopton
The last leg!! We returned to Widford where we had started our 170 mile journey around Hertfordshire last September
Our walk took us north out of Cuffley to Newgate Street and West End. From there we headed east through Essendon and Little Berkhampsted to Bayford.
A leisurely 9 mile walk from Biggleswade to where the Ivel joins the Great Ouse at Roxton, just beyond Tempsford.
The Kingfisher Way runs the length of the River Ivel from it's source in Baldock to its confluence with the Great Ouse at Roxton Locks
We completed the walk in two legs.
This walk took us from Hare Street through the Hormeads and then onto Anstey and Nuthampsted, the site of a WWII USAF airfield and various memorials.
We started our walk of the Hertfordshire Way, using the Friends of the Hertfordshire Way book as our guide, in Widford to the east of Ware.
We started the day with a stiff climb up to the Barton Hills Nature Reserve and then on to Lilley via part of the Icknield Way.
This leg took us from Clapham to the north of Bedford through the town centre where we had an enjoyable coffee break beside the Town Bridge.
This walk took us along the western outskirts of Bedford. We started at Wootton and passed through Kempston Church End and Bromham before having lunch on the steps of the Stevington windmill.
Our chosen trail for 2014 was the John Bunyan Trail which is a circular walk running from north of Luton via Ampthill to just north of Bedford and returning through Bedford itself, Elstow (Bunyan’s
Having completed the Icknield Way, a number of the group walked the Greensand Ridge in Oct 2013.
This was achieved in four legs
110 miles along the oldest road in Britain from Ivinghoe Beacon to Knettishall Heath. The walk was in 10/12 mile sections over 10 days.
