Hertfordshire Way Day 9 - 9 March - Ayot St. Lawrence to St. Albans

Walking 7am to 11.30am
Distance walked 9 miles
Distance left 0 miles

My way this morning took me via Wheathampstead and Sandridge and would have gone round to the west of St. Albans before dropping into the centre. However, I was getting a little short of time as I had to get a bus from the centre to Hemel Hempstead, from where I had a seat booked on an National express coach. Consequently, as I emerged from a farm road on to the A5183, I espied a bus stop with a regular service into the middle of St. Albans. I had time to shuck off waterproofs and stow my trekking poles on to my pack and a bus came along. So that proved to be the slightly premature end to my journey on the Hertfordshire Way.

My thoughts on the walk? It is well worth doing. I really enjoyed it. My recommendations would be to buy the excellent guide book The Hertfordshire Way by Bert Richardson and Ian Hirst, cost £9.99 and then to walk anti-clockwise from wherever you choose to start. The guide book is written assuming you are going anti-clockwise although it is waymarked in both directions. I had the path to myself virtually all the time, seeing only dog walkers and joggers near towns and villages.

The book divides the walk into legs, with access to public transport and parking facilities at the beginning and end of each leg. This is helpful for those who are setting out to do day walks. For anyone, such as me, who is planning to walk more than one leg over a number of days or the whole route, it should be borne in mind that some towns or villages at the start or finsih of a leg can be missed out if desired. It is a good route for a continuous walk. There are no campsites along the way so, with research, B&Bs could be relied on or, as in my case, wild camping. In my opinion, the wild camping is as good as it gets. In more popular areas, woodland tends to be fenced off. I suspect that there are not so many wild campers about in Hertfordshire to present a problem to landowners. As a result, nearly all areas of woodland shown on the Ordnance Survey map are suitable for overnighting, providing one is discreet, responsible and leaves no trace. However, you will need to ensure that you have picked up water during the day.