Only two walkers braved the day—no crowds, no chatter, just two people stubborn enough to shake off train delays and schedule changes. The weather was that quiet kind of misty, warm enough to feel comforting, with just a hint of drizzle that barely kissed the skin. No rain to chase us back inside, only leaves spiraling down in loose flurries, blanketing the path and muffling our steps.

We started off in Harpenden, grabbing coffee and a pastry at one of the bakeries that beckoned us in from the street. Fuel, you might say, for what lay ahead.

We’re both quick walkers, so we tore through the green trails and woods with an easy pace, pausing just once, as a Remembrance Day procession passed.

Lunch was at Heartwood Cafe & Tearooms—hot tea and a bite to eat, served up fast and without fuss. And then it was back to the road, moving with purpose now as the tower of St. Albans Cathedral came into view.

We descended into town just as the market was winding down, stalls shuttering and vendors packing up. By 14:37, we were on the Thameslink back to London, the city looming up to meet us, after what must have been a record fast completion time of this walk.

2 misty but not cold

I was hoping to join the group on the walk but train delays probably resulted in people arriving in Harpenden at different times. As there was no one else at the station when I arrived, I decided to go ahead and do the walk on my own. I did meet another walker en route when I stopped briefly for lunch and then again at the Cathedral. I had a leisurely tea and cake at the refectory before catching the 1525 train back to London. Shame not to have walked as a group but a pleasant (and undemanding) walk in spite of the dull weather.

4

5 gathered outside the station and with one joining at lunch, made6 on this walk. Starting cloudy but dry all day with sun in the afternoon all with barely the slightest hint of mud. Heartwood Forest arrived unexpectedly quickly after encountering several dog walkers and helpful locals offering directions along the way. After enjoying the shade in the forest, the wildflower meadows in bloom provided a scenic and pleasant contrast.

The benches in the churchyard of St Leonard’s were an idyllic picnic spot for three, while two met the late arrival for lunch at The Queen’s Head. After lunch two were persuaded to have a guided tour of the church and learned later that afternoon, in this quaint village church, there was to be a Star Wars themed wedding (from the groom’s side at least.) While walking through Sandridge a wedding bus did pass but, no Jedi were spotted not even a lowly storm trooper.

Heartwood Cafe & Tearooms is now open and looked to be lovely spot to stop at but all pressed on past the tearooms and some appealing pubs. The group did take time to stop at The Church of Saint Mary within the impressive Childwickbury Estate. On the outskirts of St Albans two went on ahead, one to make a prearranged gathering and the other to catch an early train. Four stayed on for refreshments or perhaps to see the workings of the watermill. All in a lovely walk.

I'm told 7 walkers on a hot day. Queen's Head got the thumbs up.

8 in cold bright sunny conditions

Harpenden to St Albans

Monday 2nd January 2023

A walk in brilliant sunshine during the day, and under a cold moon on a clear night. Walking across the common on We walked through very pleasant country side with wide ranging views. Walking through Heartland Forest, we stopped to read the information boards about our surroundings which were described as the largest continuous new native forest in England. Existing ancient woodland has now been expanded to include newly planted woodland, grassland and wildflower meadows and community orchard on the site of Hill End Farm which the Woodland Trust has developed. This would definitely benefit from a posting in late spring/early summer I think.

Some people had picnic lunch in grounds of St Leonards Church. Exploring inside the church we discovered knitted versions of all three pubs in Sandridge. All the pubs were extremely busy, and we eventually got a table outside under a heater in the Queen’s Head.

Finally into St Albans, quick look in the Cathedral and Hypocast (closed off) and then began what seemed like a fruitless search for a tea room. Eventually managed to find tea and lovely cakes in ‘Megan’s at the Old Bell’, and then fast train back to St Pancras. A lovely day out.

Mr Tiger arrived at Harpenden and waited a while for the others..And waited. There were no others. Mr Tiger was the only 1

Wiping away the tears, he set off, boldly going where others didn't seem to want to go.

The day was sunny with a refreshing breeze . The walk's terrain offered a mix of sun and shade. Not that this was of particular concern. Not to a sun-seeking basilisk like Mr Tiger.

The wildflower meadow in Heartwood was going through a white phase. A whole sea of wild carrot..The tame ones wouldn't have stood a chance. Not with those forky bracts. On past the grumpy wooden frog. And into the Queens Arms (it's a pub).

Guess what Mr Tiger had. That's right, cider.

A quick look round the church then on.

Eventually. St Albans was reached. First port of call, Ye Olde Fighting Cocks. Doing a brisk trade. Still doing real ale but maybe not as interesting a range as before. And veering a bit too much towards the pale types. So no dilemma for Mr Tiger. Cider. it was.

A quick look round the cathedral, then home.

Just wondering whether the lunch stop in Sandridge will be long enough for a pub lunch, or whether walkers should bring a packed lunch? Wouldn't want to bring nothing, and then lose the group after lunch because the pub takes longer than sandwiches in the churchyard

It’s difficult to say. Depends on how busy the pub is - it’s Sunday - and what the others want to do. Usually a large contingent of picnickers on a Sunday. And common for the group to divide into smaller clumps. Why not bring something as backup eg biscuits

Thanks, will do!

I've hung on before writing this up, to see if anyone else felt inclined to do so, seeing as I missed the original meet up (caught an earlier train and joined outside the station) and didn't go to the pub either!

I was told we were12, I didn't think we were quite as many as that but may have missed a couple. The weather was bright and dry all day, and despite the lower temperatures I was as warm as toast throughout, although my companion did notice that neither of us stripped off any layers at any point.

It seems this walk was easier going than others that day, as although there was more mud than usual on the route, this was easily circumnavigated except if you were being channelled through a gate.

At point no.9 the signpost to the bridleway was looked for and found lying face down under some branches, possibly due to the recent storms.

At Sandridge most headed for The Queens Head pub. It was still fairly early and my companion and I were up to walking straight on to St Albans. At Cheapside Farm we saw 2 white ostriches with pale blue eyes, who were quite happy for us to hang out with them for a bit, separated only by the wire fence. In the shed opposite there were plenty of cute lambs jumping about.

Along the approach to Childwickbury House there was a long avenue of daffodils just starting to come out, which will make a really cheerful sight in the weeks to come. There were some snowdrops and violets in places along the route. At the park in St Albans the lake had flooded its banks, making a long row of birds look like they were perching on water instead of the edge. The paths were still easily walkable.

My companion opted for tea at the abbey, and just before heading home I popped down Waxhouse Gate to check whether Abigails has now reopened. It has, and was full, although despite the sunshine no-one was outside in the garden - a reminder that, unless maybe you were a walker, it was still a bit too chilly for that.

The scheduled, posted train was cancelled - no surprise there - but eight of us happened to be early at the station and so caught the slightly earlier, stopping service to Luton. Others were seen in the concourse of St Pancras - they either abandoned the walk or caught a later train and "did their own" thing, as they never caught up the eight. If perchance late arrivals did do the walk, please add your own report to this one, and tweak the "n" number of attendees.

So, for starters, let's say 8 of us set out from Harpenden, only a few minutes behind schedule, on a day which was overcast and a bit chilly in the breeze , absolutely fine when we were on the move, but more than nippy when stopped - as the lunch time sandwichers found out. The morning leg over the grassy Common was lovely, as was the leg through Heartwood Forest. We reached Sandridge Village shortly after 12 noon, and I enjoyed a good lunch in the front bar of Queens Head pub, close to a fire. Two of the sandwichers who had picnicked in the churchyard next door joined me later, to thaw out by the fire whilst enjoying a hot drink. The other five sandwiches set out on the afternoon leg of the walk some twenty minutes or so before those sheltering in the pub.

There was some nice leaf colour in the woods and along the way and we three pub-stoppers maintained a good pace as we walked towards St Albans, briefly stopping on the way to look inside the small, quaint St Mary's Church in the Childwickbury Estate. On reaching the outskirts of St Albans we headed for the Cathedral via the old town, ticking off the main sights along the way. We queued for a long time in the Cathedral's self-service cafeteria but we enjoyed our tea when we were eventually served. Some of the sandwichers were spotted in the Cathedral but they did not join the three of us. The Cathedral was busy with long lines of people queuing for tickets for the evening fireworks display. I suspect none of the SWC walkers stayed on in town for the fireworks, as the wait would have been long. So after tea the three of us walked through the town - all a buzz and busy - then downhill to St Albans City railway station - for a quick journey home.

With the leaf colour on offer it was a good time of year to do this walk - and best I know all eight of us enjoyed it.

4 today. A cloudy day that started cool but got warmer. A walk nicer than it sounds, with greenery, open views, forest, woodland and wild flower meadows. The only teensy drawback is the unashamedly urban trek to City station at the end. When we got to Sandridge, the 3 picnickers were surprised to find walkers already draped over every seat, gravestone and crypt. The South Bank Ramblers had coincidentally chosen the same walk. The devils! As there were 19 of them, we decided not to pick a fight. There was even some conviviality. Also, they were complimentary about the walk.

The Queens Head, where we retired for drinks alongside our one diner, was friendly and attentive. The food was said to be good.

St Mary’s church and churchyard was very pretty.

We didn’t stop for tea. We raced through St Albans with a cursory nod at the old stuff. Whisked past the Fighting Cocks despite my yearning.

Did I mention the ostriches? Or maybe they were emu. Long necks anyway.

The carved fox has gone. Just its tail left.

11 on a day that was muggy at start sunny and hot later

No worries about dividing into small groups. Thameslink did that for us. Their timetable was in chaos, with delays and cancellations. This was due to something or other. So we arrived in Harpenden in ready-made clumps, the first having caught the 8:43 at 10:01!

The group I was with, the first, soon tired of me and cast me aside. I was too slow for them. I was a walking pariah, detached from my bubble. The other bubbles overtook and passed like gravitational waves. Fshoom.

And so we laboured across a golf course and through Heartwood to the Queens Head / picnic ground. The pub was fine, service a bit slow but I wasn’t eating so hey. I watched the others. Huge portions. It was like watching a pie eating competition. I didn’t stay to watch the coffee. I made a head start so they could have more fun overtaking me again. Which they did. The afternoon took us through a large estate and through the old part of St Albans. Directions mostly clear with one or two minor niggles which I’ll put in walk comments. A grand day out. An interesting walk and mercifully flat.

Those that returned from St Albans City found that the chaos was still going on. Still due to something or other. But we did eventually get home. I say ‘we’, I mean ‘I’.

Thanks Ian, for your corrections noted in the Comments section of this walk. I will update the on-line Directions with your suggested changes.

I believe we all enjoyed Elsa's walk. We were fortunate with the weather if not the travel today. On the return journey - which stopped everywhere - my companions alighted at West Hampstead. At the next stop Kentish Town, and one before my destination St Pancras, we were told due to continued signalling problems we would be held at the station for 20 minutes. Most of the passengers disembarked, but I said "sod it" and stayed put, planning to have a kip. The train moved off 2 minutes later - leaving most of its passengers stranded on the platform. I was denied my kip !

Sounds great. Thank you.

Yep, I'm in charge! Can we meet immediately outside the station building so as to divide in to groups of up to 6 (if necessary) and give email addresses. This is the first day when pubs are open again, but I'm guessing that some will still prefer to take a picnic and that the groups may further divide. This is OK, so long as people pay attention to any groups coming in to view ahead.

My apologies for the late notification, but an updated version of the directions has been posted on this website as of 17-15 hrs today. This is the inaugural posting of this new walk, and given some walkers who did a test drive of this walk became lost in the woods at point 13 in the directions, the walk author kindly walk checked the directions on Thursday 02 July, and made a few changes to the original. If you do not have time to print off the whole document, the key changes you might like to note are at points 13 and 14, in Pluckley Wood. Other changes are minor and of less importance.

Enjoy your walk on Saturday.

7 turned up and the majority were willing to responsibly exchange contact details as required. There was plenty of space on the trains, though at Harpenden there were still signs saying 'don't use trains for leisure purposes'. It was cool and breezy, we never quite spotted the sun, but at least it stayed dry. We did well to para 11 (I'd printed the directions before latest revisions), but failed to find the metal gate. We were back on course in para 15. Nobody braved the pubs (one was closed and the others didn't look too busy), we had lunch at Sandridge church. Overall it was an enjoyable walk. Went a bit awry on the approach to St Albans (too many people in the way), but I found a turn of pace and managed to just catch my hourly train (2.55).

7

dry cool breezy

Hi Mike. Very sad to hear that one (or more than one) individual (and a SWC regular at that) could not get themselves to comply with the few rules the Walk Posters have set for people attending the walks in these circumstances. It is clearly stated at the top of This Week's Walks and also in the explanatory walk post about the Resumption of a Walks Programme that (and why) we insist on subgroups no larger than 6 and on walkers giving contact details at the start, so it is utterly disappointing (to put it very mildly) that someone would come to the group walks knowing they won't abide by those rules. Just to confirm: no walk poster has any problem with people breaking the rules and laws while they go about the countryside under their own steam or in email-arranged groups of walkers not under the SWC name, but on SWC business we demand people stick to the rules as they are (as does any other walking club that has taken up operations again, may that be The Ramblers, CLOG, MeetUp or any other club I know of). It it also not right that the group would refuse to split into two subgroups.

All in, I am sorry to have put you into that situation and it won't happen again, as as an immediate result of these rebels' activities I will not post another walk that I am not 100% sure to be on myself, so that I can then deal with scenarios like this appropriately, and I can't see any other walk poster doing so either.

To repeat: the SWC does not want to be seen to be breaking the rules and laws as laid down by Government and does not want to be seen to quietly enable or tolerate people to be breaking those rules and laws while on a SWC walk.