It was an early start since we knew we had a long leg ahead and I needed to be back for a meeting. 3°C when we left home had crept up to 5°C as we set out so it was still cold enough for each of us to put an extra layer on. But the sun was shining from a blue sky, at least over Kings Langley, and we were soon running up Egg Farm Lane to reach the wind turbine first spotted on the previous leg.
The headquarters of Renewable Energy Systems are at Beaufort Court in what used to be the Ovaltine Egg Farm. The site now has a 36m tall 225kW wind turbine, along with fields full of elephant grass and some rather hidden solar panels. It lies high above Kings and is the landmark on the M25 that means we are nearly back in St Albans. The low sun cast a shadow of the rotating turbine blades on the fields. Beyond lay the old Ovaltine Factory where the eggs used to go, and then the canal and railway run up the Gade Valley to Hemel Hempstead where yet again the Kodak Building dominated the skyline.
Helen decided that the views were good enough that she could Whatsapp James to say we were setting out on the latest leg, and we then continued the climb up to a footbridge over the M25. The sign on the gantry was advising essential travel only and a lot of people clearly had essential travel to do.
The motorway had soon disappeared in a cutting beyond the trees and we set off around the edge of the fields above Abbots Langley. This was slightly complicated by the fact that Helen's OS map showed the Hertfordshire Way running the other side of the motorway for another two kilometres or so before crossing on a different footbridge. That original route obviously changed at some point but we managed to spot enough signs to find our way to where the old and new routes joined. From the group of old houses around the top of the hill we started dropping into open fields again with views to the distant Shenley ridge and its old water tower. That will reappear at the end of the next leg, but today it did seem a long way away. The other striking things was quite how much undulating open space there was between St Albans off to our left and Watford to our right.
We came to a notice showing that the path had been diverted round a field. This took us up past another large farmhouse with a pill box guarding it on one side and a selection of horses, goats and chickens guarding it on the other side. We had now just about reached civilization and houses started appearing along with Parmiters School (which turns out to be very large and looked like it might be worth mapping for an orienteering sprint race at some point), Watford Crematorium, an underpass under the A405, a bridge across the M1 and the entrance to the Building Research Establishment. This is a large site with a number of intriguing buildings visible through the trees. It is also home to the British Board of Agrément which I had often seen signposted off the A405 but never bothered to investigate. Apparently it is a construction industry certification body.
The brief interlude of civilization ended as we set off across Bricket Wood Common. The woodland with bramble, oak, holly and muddy paths was familiar enough but there were also some open areas of heathland looking much more like parts of Surrey or even the New Forest. The common is bisected by the Abbey Flyer railway line from Watford to St Albans which we crossed on a bridge giving good views in both directions of the single-track line with no sign of a train. We needed a slight diversion into the trees to get past a section of path being upgraded with somewhat more substantial drainage than previously, and this revealed a lot of birdlife including at least three jays hopping between the trees.
Coming out of the trees brought us to the parkland of Munden Estate with mature oak trees and sheep spread across rolling grassland leading down to the River Colne. There was a lot of parakeet noise and one put in an appearance at the top of a nearby tree. A small footbridge across the Colne led to an extremely wet and muddy field growing an as-yet unidentified crop. We splashed through the mud to get to another bridge and then started the gentle climb up the other side of the valley past the golf course and into Wall Hall Estate, previously known as Aldenham Abbey.
Looking at old maps of this area after we got home it was striking how much of this section would still be possible using the 1883 six inch to the mile Ordnance Survey map. That shows the final bridge we had crossed as being over a fishpond, although the current walking trail guide shows it as a former lily pond. The big estates, the railways and the canals were all there nearly 150 years ago. It was just Watford that was missing.
Wall Hall has been converted into a large area of very impressive housing. A black-boarded barn standing on staddle stones dominates the roundabout in the centre, and a security guard was in place on the way out. The spire of St John the Baptist Church, Aldenham came into view across the latest turnip field and we entered the churchyard through one of the more ornate gateways we have seen so far to reach the end of today's section of the Hertfordshire Way.
After snacks on a bench on the village green we took the path past the golf course and through Berrygrove Woods, a large area of very brambly woodland that was also very full of walkers. The small road at the bottom that took us under the M1 and the A41 was called Otterspool Lane which presumably is a historical reference since I certainly wasn't expecting to see an otter in the River Colne. There was a nasty section of road with no pavement, with another pill box appearing behind the hedge, and then we crossed the River Colne and came to the entrance to Topgolf.
Helen checked the map to work out exactly how to get through Watford and I crossed the road to look at the river. At that point, a blue flash appeared and half a second later had disappeared again round the bend in the river. "Kingfisher" I yelled but it had gone and Helen was suitably annoyed to have missed it.
We followed the Colne for quite a way along the edge of Watford and past a large area of somewhat neglected allotments. The river was a bit of a surprise with deep and clear sections of chalk stream complete with extensive watercress. Helen spent this whole section scanning the river ahead for another kingfisher but nothing appeared. Instead the path got steadily muddier and the watercress turned into thicker and thicker stinging nettles.
We turned off the river and set off up the hill through the back streets of Watford. The route went under the West Coast Main Line, just avoiding Watford Junction station, and we then took in a selection of the highlights of central Watford. St John's Church, the Palace Theatre, the YMCA, the High Street full of Christmas decorations, expensive food stalls and students, an illuminated Watford sign, Watford Town Hall and the Watford Colosseum. The surprising thing was how close all of this was to the rivers and open countryside that we had arrived through.
And that countryside started again as we got to the top of Cassiobury Park. This was another place that was very busy with people walking, running and cycling in huge numbers. The long steady drop to the canal took us through parkland that is gradually getting more vegetated. I was still trying to get a proper photo of a parakeet and this is where they should have been, but despite hearing quite a few I never got a very good view of one.
A large group of workers was busy laying a new path along the edge of the miniature railway, and then it was over the River Gade, past the waterfall (all one metre of it) and over a bridge to the canal towpath complete with a barge selling coffee and tea. From here all we had to do was turn right and follow the water back to the car. This section feels much more like a wide river with the occasional lock gate thrown in rather than the narrow canal it had been from Kings Langley northwards.
Playing fields lay hidden behind the trees on the far bank, and to our left the woods of Cassiobury and Whippendell gave way to the start of the golf course around The Grove. A sharp bend at Grove Mill Lane led us round to the impressive Grove Mill itself where residents could sit on their balconies and patios to watch the passers-by. There were then views up the hill to the Grove Hotel which is now "the ultimate five star retreat" and "home to an award-winning spa, championship golf course and mouth-watering restaurants". That has been a fairly recent transformation and it isn't quite the description you get if you talk to various people that I have worked with who knew it when it was a British Rail management training centre.
We crossed under the M25 spur road and a little grebe appeared on the far side of the river and gradually moved downstream in a series of short paddles interspersed with longer dives underwater. And then a second blue flash of the day appeared. This time the kingfisher sped off away from us up the river and we watched it for three or four seconds until it went out of sight behind the trees. That was enough for both of us to get a good view, although there was no hope of a photo.
The railway appeared having emerged from the Watford Tunnels that take it through the hill that we had run over from Watford Junction. Just out of sight beyond the railway was Hogwarts or at least Leavesden Studios where much of Harry Potter was filmed and which is now home to "The Making of Harry Potter".
There were quite a lot of nice waterside properties around Hunton Bridge although they did look a bit prone to flooding. We finally found a boat going through a lock but despite Helen being desperate to help with the lock gates the woman on the boat didn't seem in any hurry so we kept going. All that was left was to go under the M25 viaduct and admire the views of the wind turbine now high up above use.
The two kingfishers were the highlight of the day. Not seeing a red kite was a surprise although I had heard them. We did see one as we were driving home, flying low over the fields where we had walked earlier that day. But then when going through the photographs at home I discovered two distinctive forked tails and red bodies in a tree above the first pill box of the day.
