Hertfordshire Way Day 5 - 5 March - Cold Christmas to Patient End

Walking 7am to 4.30pm

Distance walked 16 miles
Distance left 90 miles

A noisy night with deer barking and pheasant running around squawking. I didn't sleep that well as there was a depression in the ground in the wrong place.

It was a clear sunny morning walking through woodland and field paths into the village of Wareside. The HW took me on a pointless loop into Widford for one reason only. The HW guide divides the route into legs, the beginning and end of each leg being accessible by public transport. Had I thought about this, I could have saved a mile by skipping the loop.

Widford

The route to Bishop's Stortford passes by the Henry Moore Foundation with a number of his sculptures on view. That will have to wait for another time as I decided to go north instead of going round in a large loop to Bishop's Stortford. There is a large Tesco on the route but I didn't really need it. So, a few miles lopped off the overall total.

On my new route, I went into Much Hadham, which the HW guide says is possibly the most attractive village in Hertfordshire. As there are no shops between Bishop's Stortford and Royston, I thought about a spot of lunch in the pub there or at the garden centre cafe. Unfortunately, it being only 10.30, the pub didn't open till noon and the garden centre is closed on Tuesdays. Actually, for some reason I thought it was Wednesday and opened the gate and wandered in. A toilet was open so I topped up with water.

Much Hadham

The church was open so I went in. A footpath behind the church took me to Little Hadham where the pub there was open. A large lime and soda was very welcome. I ordered sandwiches and a side order of chips and sandwiches to take away for lunch tomorrow. That sorted the food requirements until Royston.

North of the A120 at Little Hadham, I was glad to find that work on the planned bypass hadn't yet started. Work was to have begun in February 2019.

Near Patient End

The route took me through Patmore Heath which I remember visiting on family outings as a child. My pitch for the night is woodland a mile or so beyond Patient End. As I approached, I saw a herd of maybe a dozen deer in the trees so I may have noisy company tonight. It's early evening and owls are hooting. It came on to rain a bit just as I had pitched the tarp. Rain had been been forecast for this afternoon but it's been a good day, sunny at times but cool. There are planes going in to Stansted Airport but not too intrusive

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