Barton Hills And Wardswood Lane

Last time we finished in mid-walk on the edge of the large village of Barton-Le-Clay which nestles beneath the steep scarp slope of the Chiltern Hills. Having just descended we're about to turn around and climb back up again, albeit by a different path.

It's possible to ascend the hill almost immediately or you can dawdle up this valley with the chalk ridge rising up before you.

A lazy person, or a connoisseur of intimate landscapes, might delay the inevitable climb a little longer by walking upstream through this haunt of fairies and hobgoblins.

Eventually you reach the spring where cool, clear water trickles out from the porous chalk. Beneath the chalk is a layer of clay which prevents the water penetrating any further, so it flows out from the base of the chalk on this steep hillside.
Then you can delay no longer.....

Time to go tramping up the hill. This grassy dry valley was formed during the last ice age when the water held in the pores of the chalk became frozen solid. Surface water, unable to soak into the chalk in the usual way, had to flow over the surface and over time cut the valleys we see today. This one is rather unimaginatively called Windy Hollow.

Actually it's quite a short climb and you're on top before you know it, though a convenient bench which stands on the crest makes a welcome perch from which to survey the scene.

As usual in such places I spent a lot of time walking back and forth, watching the fall of the light and the sweep of the contours, and taking far more photographs than I can show you here.

One last one before searching out the path which will lead me back to the start of the walk.

On the map it's just one long lane, the sort of thing that can be tedious but at least gets you back without too much thought - there's nothing worse than complicated map-reading problems late on in a walk.

As it turned out it was an interesting stroll with constantly changing prospects. The lane itself was in places so wide that I'm sure it must have been, at some time in its history, an important coach road.

Who would want to be anywhere else on such a day?

Getting close to the village of Lilley now, pretty soon the first houses will start to appear. 

Walker's Log:

     Start: Lilley, Hertfordshire 08.45
     End: Lilley, Hertfordshire 14.20
     Distance walked: 11.5 miles (18.5 Km)
     Notable birds: Red Kite, Buzzard, Skylark, Kestrel, Sparrow Hawk, flock of Fieldfares
     Mammals: Rabbits, Grey Squirrels
     Churches: Lilley, Barton-Le-Clay (I didn't enter either).
     People with dogs: 4
     Dogs with people: 3
     People just enjoying a walk: 9 spread out around the route.
     Cyclists: 4 mountain bikers
     Horse riders: 0

Take care.