12 Apr 2025: Springtime! Harpenden and Wheathampstead

This was a circular walk from Harpenden, E to Wheathampstead, SE to Heartwood Forest, NNW to Harpenden.

The usual stats:

Event led by Khris R.
Attendance: 9 men.
Distance: 8.94 miles (14.4 km).
Altitude per GPS: low 456ft (139m), high 620ft (189m), climb 301ft (91.7m), descent 337ft (102.7m).
Time: start 11:13, end 16:02 (sunset 19:53), lunch -52 minutes, other breaks 40 minutes.
Speed: moving arithmetic average 1.79mph (2.9kph).
Terrain: road, pavement, track, field, field edge, woodland on highway, footpath and bridleway.
Weather: clear skies, temperature up to 23°C, southerly wind ~10mph (16.1kph).
Number of sewage works: 1.
Number of churches: 2.
Number of golf courses: 2

Points of interest

glorious views into the middle distance into the small valleys around and parallel to the River Lea, with particularly good views from this footpath.
lunch was on benches on the bridge over the River Lea at Wheathampstead.
the discovery of a cafe at West End Farm at the farm cafe (OSM). Being nearly all outdoor, this is an ideal cafe for those still wearing muddy boots. It opens at weekend only, serving coffees, teas, soft drinks, savoury pastries, cakes and ice creams.
West End Farm was also the home of author Malcolm Saville Brooks.
the Elephant & Castle pub at Amwell End (OSM) is noteworthy for great beer and food. The pub is a free house, serving beer from independent brewers. The pub is owned by the Farr Brew group. The brewery has recently moved from Coleman Green to Redbourn.
The Woodland Trust bought the land for Heartwood Forest (OSM) in 2008. Planting took about ten years. The site “opened” to the public in 2018 (wiki).
In the middle of Heartwood Forest is the so-called “Magical Wood”. Originally sponsored by Disney, the wood was laid out as a partial cross, at the centre of which is a series of small, low picnic benches, made primarily for children, presumably to re-create the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. This is where we took our group shot. Although we look more like some sort of interview panel than a mad hatter’s tea party.
Heartwood Forest also includes ancient woodland, in particular Langley Wood (amongst others). Today, the ancient forest was full of early bluebells, accompanied by wood anemone and lesser celandine.
the railway was silent today. Engineering works shut the railways down between West Hampstead and Bedford. We did see a few engineers’ vans parked by the railway bridge at Ayres End Lane, so somebody was doing something! It turns out that the railway was closed because of improvements to the Midland Main Line, principally the electrification of the main line up north.
the plushness of south Harpenden and properties by its common. Unexpectedly, on the outward route from the station northbound to the Batford Springs Nature Reserve (OSM), we noticed somewhat bling properties, probably more of a free build over the years, with varying degrees of… er… class. There is clearly money in this town, but it ain’t always posh.

Churches:

Parish Church of St Helen, Wheathampstead (wiki). We briefly visited inside. Many memorials inside relate to the Garrard family. The family owned the Lamer Estate, was well-connected and had members of its family serve as Lord Mayors of London (sources: Wheathampstead History Society (pdf), homepage, Wheathampstead Magazine)
Wheathampstead United Church

Golf courses:

A ldwickbury Park Golf Club, membership from £54pm.
Harpenden Common Golf Course, full access membership from £148pm (even the social-only membership, to access only the 19th hole, costs £7pm!). One golfer seemed to have a remote control caddy bag, which followed him as he walked between tees, except at the last minute, he walked up to the tee and the caddy bag remained on the path, circling around to meet him at the other side of the tee. Tune in next year when we might see Artificially Intelligent™ Caddy Bags that even play your round of golf for you.

Sewage works: