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Sandy to Arlesey Walk

The Lodge Nature Reserve, Biggleswade Common and Jordans Mill on the River Ivel

Bedfordshire Easy

History

This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.

Date Option Post # Weather
Sat, 14-Sep-24 Sandy to Arlesey 10 sunny
Sat, 23-Sep-23 Sandy to Arlesey [new walk] 22 warm and sometimes sunny

Saturday 14-Sep-24

HollieB
HollieB
11 miles / 17.75 km

This is a fairly new walk that had its first outing last year - I missed it that time so looking forward to trying it out this Saturday. The morning section passes the headquarters of the RSPB and explores the surrounding heathland, before continuing over Biggleswade Common to follow the River Ivel to a lunch stop at Jordans Mill. The route then continues to follow the river as best as possible to Arlesey.
Trains: UPDATED TIMES - this now requires taking a train to Stevenage and changing there: the service from Horsham calls at various London stations including: East Croydon 09:31, London Bridge 09:46, Blackfriars 09:52, Faringdon 09:56, St Pancras 10:01, Finsbury Park 10:11, arrives at Stevenage at 10:35. Or take the 10:06 from Kings Cross, arriving at Stevenage at 10:27. From Stevenage take the 10:45 to Sandy, arriving at 11:05. Return trains from Arlesey at xx:05, also with change at Stevenage. Buy a return to Sandy.
Lunch: The Riverside Cafe at Jordans Mill serves light meals with indoor and outdoor seating. You can explore the gardens here for free, tours of the Victorian mill are available for a charge.
For refreshments at the end of the walk, the Old Oak is a traditional pub with a garden 150m beyond Arlesey station.
T=swc.412
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  • Thu, 12-Sep-24

    A recent comment advises against wearing shorts as the 2 km stretch along the permissive path after Jordans Mill "is very narrow in parts through high nettles". I guess that's one of the disadvantages of using these paths – the local council isn't responsible for their maintenance so it needs volunteers to keep them in good condition. [The walk notes do mention an alternative but it's a mundane route along roads.]

  • Sat, 14-Sep-24

    You were right Sean, it was certainly overgrown and the nettles were so high I got stung on the shoulder! However:

    - I think all agreed it was a lovely walk otherwise

    - there were10 of us including one who joined us from another walk after her group didn’t turn up at Sandy

    - it was sunny throughout

    - the RSPB section was if anything even prettier than last year

    - we encountered lots of cows, unnerving after some of us had read about cow peril in the press over the last week, but our expert livestock whisperers ensured we passed safely

    - some had lunch at Jordan’s Mill where we all regrouped briefly and most got the 1605 train

  • Sat, 14-Sep-24

    @Sandy: I'd planned to join you but I'd forgotten that on sunny weekends Thameslink's drivers find reasons to do anything other than turning up to drive trains. My fault for not spotting the updated walk post with emergency schedule until this morning. In any case the thought of a 2+hour journey with some of the hourly return services already showing as Cancelled put me off.

    I'd looked around the RSPB reserve in August and the heather was pretty colourful then, so glad to hear it was still in good shape today.

Saturday 23-Sep-23

Margaret
Sandy to Arlesey, via Jordans Mill

Length: Length: 17¾ km (11.0 miles). Toughness: 2/10

10:07 Thameslink Horsham to Peterborough train from London Blackfriars (BUT calls at multiple stations, including Coulsdon South 9:25, Purley 9.29, East Croydon 9:36, City Thameslink 10:09, Farringdon 10:12, St. Pancras International 10:16, Finsbury Park 10:23, etc...), arriving Sandy at 11:05

Buy a Super Off Peak return to Sandy.

Return trains from Arlesey are at xx:05 and xx.35

Sandy Adapted from the walk notes: The morning section of this new walk by Sean takes in the The Lodge, the UK headquarters of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) where it explore parts of the nature trails in this oasis of heathland, acid grassland and woodland. The walk then continues across Biggleswade Common to the riverbank, where it joins the Kingfisher Way for the remainder of the morning section.

The suggested lunch stop is the Riverside Cafe (01767-603940) at Jordans Mill, a “food heritage attraction situated on the banks of the River Ivel”. Visitors can freely wander around its attractive garden of cereals, fruit and vegetables as well as ornamental flowers (there's a charge for tours of the Victorian mill building itself). The afternoon section uses a new permissive path alongside the river before passing Henlow Grange and, towards the end of the walk, a short loop alongside the River Hiz takes you to Arlesey station.

For end of walk refreshment, there is a traditional pub with a garden 150m beyond Arlesey station, The Old Oak (01462-612536)

For full details and to download your copy of the directions see the L=swc.412 page.

  • Sun, 24-Sep-23

    A good turnout of22 to baptize this walk on a warm and sometimes sunny day. My little group got separated from most of the walkers amongst the twists and turns of the delightful heathland around the Lodge - we stopped a few times to confirm we were on the right route. Four of us picknicked at the tables at Fairfield, but there was a nicer picnic spot a little further on, away from the road.

    We were briefly reunited with most of the group at Jordans Mill, including two who had (inadvertently?) done the Broom East loop. Most lunched at Jordans and had headed off again by the time five of us had finished having tea and exploring the gardens there. We thought the path along the river Ivel was very beautiful, especially next section on the permissive path where one of us spotted a kingfisher. That bit was very peaceful except when an antique plane buzzed about overhead.

    Two of us zipped back to London on the very fast 1705 train so I can't report on the pub in Arlesey. Many thanks to Sean for devising and Margaret for posting this excellent walk through an area well worth exploring.