Another early start on a cold but clear day. The trip to Aldenham took a bit longer than expected since Harper Lane was closed for road works at the railway bridge so we had to turn round, and there were three other sets of road works with traffic lights on the road into and out of Radlett. But we got there soon enough to be met by a red kite flying overhead.
The route away from the church wasn't as obvious as it might be which turned out to be a theme for the day. This was probably the leg with fewest signs at critical points so far. We finally found a way out on the corner of the churchyard and set off towards Letchmore Heath. A few fields later and we had made it.
The route through the village was two sides of a very narrow triangle so we ran all the way down the road to pond and War Memorial, only to double back on ourselves past a series of cottages of various ages and end up pretty much where we started. The pond was the furthest south we would get on the Hertfordshire Way itself. The highlight of the village was probably the man busy with a leaf blower rearranging the dead leaves as if he knew it would wind Helen up, which it did as it always does.
Then it was more fields and woods and big houses before we got to the A5183, or Watling Street. Places that I had previously considered as being in Aldenham, such as Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, Aldenham Country Park and the somewhat misleadingly named London Elstree Aerodrome lay off to the south and turn out to be quite some way from the village of Aldenham.
A road led past a large school complete with security guards. The hedges were full of various small and not so small birds flying backwards and forwards including several small flocks of redwings and a much larger and noisier flock of rooks. The next farmyard came complete with a large yacht on a trailer and we continued under the Midland Main Line, across the minor stream that is Tykes Water and started the climb up to Shenley. The route was decorated with signs everywhere indicating that the adjoining fields were private. All the fields were now fenced and we had clearly reached another area dominated by horses.
There was a short section on a road which gave the first views of Shenley water tower and then the final path took us through woodland and past two pill boxes. The hedges had grown quite a lot since we used to walk there when James was very small.
Shenley Park is a housing estate built on the site of a former mental hospital which in turn was built on a large country estate. It was all very familiar since this is where we lived from 1997 to 1999, and we took the chance for a quick look at the walled garden, the newt pond, the chapel and Shenley Manor. We even went back to 24 Fielders Way to remind me what it was like. It all looked pretty much the same except that somebody had converted the water tower and also seemed to have moved it a lot closer to the house than I remember it.
This was the end of the Hertfordshire Way for today and we set off back to Aldenham. Coming out into the fields to the north of Shenley Park there was a good view across to St Albans with the Abbey and several church spires visible on the far hill. Further to the east was the tower on the old Napsbury Hospital site (now a housing estate) and then the huge inflatable dome that is an indoor football pitch at the Watford Football Club training centre. Behind it in the far distance the Galleria shopping centre was surprisingly visible (at least looking at the photos afterwards) sitting over the top of the Hatfield tunnel on the A1(M).
The path dropped down through the fields and past yet another old hospital being redeveloped as housing. It wasn't immediately obvious how to get out of the final field onto the road where we had turned round earlier that morning, but then a horse moved to reveal the stile. The next field gave views of the Tarmac quarry next to the railway and after a short detour into an area of scrubby thorny bushes we arrived at the River Colne. The bridge had been blocked off with large fence panels but these had been pushed over at both ends despite there being another bridge about fifty metres further down the track. This bridge was in sunshine so we decided it would be as good a place as any for a short stop and snacks.
At the top of the next hill a bridge led across the Midland Main Line railway and into a small industrial estate. A memorial stone disclosed that this was the site of the Handley Page airfield and factories from 1929 to 1970. Crossing Watling Street again we dropped down through fields and reached the River Ver just south of the M25. There was then a long section along the River Ver Trail through woodland. This was totally devoid of any water birds but a wren sat in the sunshine next to the river and another red kite appeared as we were admiring the ford at the far end of the woods.
The path then continued into open fields and we reached the geographical highlight of the day. I have seen some impressive river junctions in my time. I have stood in Argentina looking at the junction of the Parana River and Iguazu River marking the border of Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. I have stood at the Kazungula Ferry crossing looking at the junction of the Chobe River and the Zambezi River forming the border between Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. And now we had reached the junction of the River Ver and River Colne where the Colne now runs down past Watford and on to meet the River Thames at Staines. But at least it was deep and clear and decorated with watercress, just as a good chalk stream should be, and you don't find them in many other places.
We set off in the direction of Staines for a while with views across to the parkland and buildings on the Munden Estate that we had run through on the previous leg. Then it was a climb to the top of the ridge where the horses had panoramic views back to St Albans with the Abbey visible on the skyline, only slightly spoiled by the large sewage works in the foreground.
Finally it was back through the turnip fields. The first one we got to had an electric fence around it and a scattering of sheep. The spire of Aldenham church appeared above the trees and we were done. A day of not seeing much of anything but pleasant enough in the sunshine.
