Hidden spaces

With some of Herts’ loveliest countryside and steeped in royal history, Kings Langley holds hidden gems for the walker or cyclist

- Liz Hamilton

In early August I went out with my camera to explore the quiet countryside between Kings Langley and Chipperfield. Travelling by train out from London Euston, Kings Langley is the next stop after Watford Junction. From the station the countryside on both sides of the Gade valley is just a few minutes’ walk away.

I set out towards Chipperfield, initially on a stretch of the Hertfordshire Way I am very familiar with, as this is the section I walk regularly to check that all is well (see last month’s issue, A Way of life). Very soon after leaving Kings Langley station there’s a brief glimpse of the river Gade flowing under a footbridge. This fast-flowing stream, which derives its headwaters from the underlying chalk aquifer, powered the early industry in the valley, including paper-making which was developed into a major enterprise by John Dickinson.

In less than a third of a mile from the station I was in open countryside. The buildings of Wayside Farm, which house one of the county’s few remaining dairy herds, were behind me as I headed uphill. Once across the footbridge over the A41, I left the Hertfordshire Way to take a slightly more southerly route towards Chipperfield Common about two miles away. With the traffic noise receding, my route took me through an area of new woodland, planted to commemorate the centenary of Hertfordshire County Council’s rural estate in 2008.