Bright Breezy Sunny Sunday Morning, just right for a walk I thought! As I ventured out I was a little unprepared for the very cold temperature. Despite the shining sun there was frost and ice to be found in the dark shadowy corners, just where the sun did not quite reach! I progressed my way along the pavements and eventually reached “Stanmore Country Park”, where I had previously walked some time back, and thought it would be nice to investigate it further. At first I was not so enamored with my choice as it was extremely muddy, and was quite difficult to tackle. However, I soon discovered in some places that the muddy puddles were no longer full of water but full of ice. Venturing further into the park, it was very much dense woodland and as I walked on I came across the “London Loop”, a route I have often tried to follow in the past! I remained undeterred as I thought I would continue investigating the park instead of following the loop.
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| From 2015 – 22.02.2015 – Stanmore – Elstree Walk |
Just as I had been fighting my way through the trees and mud it soon gave way to a large grassy hill that rose up before me. It was such a stark contrast to what I had just encountered. I spotted a new sign which stated “Wood Lane Old Dairy” or “London View”, I thought I would climb to the top of the hill and take a look at the view. I was not really prepared for what was in store…. I have seen London views before at Crystal Palace and at Primrose Hill but this really did take my breath away. I could see London and beyond, I really could have sat and pondered away the hours just staring across the landscape.
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| From 2015 – 22.02.2015 – Stanmore – Elstree Walk |
I eventually turned away from the beautiful view to return to my walk, and found that I had reached the “Wood Lane Old Dairy”. The Dairy used to belong to Wood Lane Farm, which prospered until the 1980s. The farm was run as a pig farm in the 1970’s by Joe Bygraves the World Heavyweight Champion boxer. It was a reminder that part of “Stanmore Country Park” was once Farmland, another farm that is no longer with us. I eventually found a way out, which was particularly tricky as the fencing was very new and most of the gates had padlocks on them, it was not very walker friendly! I continued my route along pavements as I was unsure where to venture next, and onto Brockley hill, where I followed my nose as I knew this stretch of road. Very aware that I was treading a familiar route as I walked along Brockley Hill and onwards, I was glad to be distracted by a public footpath which belonged to the “Edgwarebury Estates”, which I felt was really worth investigating!
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| From 2015 – 22.02.2015 – Stanmore – Elstree Walk |
The path had more of an essence of a farmers track rather than a public footpath. The treads in the earth that had been left behind on the ground, made the path much more muddy to walk. Passing by a serene looking pond, the footway reached a t-junction, leaving me to make a decision as to which way to walk. The route was not too difficult to follow as it seem to take me all around the farmers field. It really felt like that I was out in the country and I even spotted a fox running around (I am not sure a farmer would have been happy though!). The only give away that this was not far out in the countryside was the constant sound of traffic in the background 😦 .
The public footpath soon brought me around to its end, back to where I started! I was very disappointed, I was hoping for it to take me to somewhere more exciting, but obviously it did not. Unfortunately, this loop brought my walk to an abrupt end as the cold had got to me :-(. I hope to pick up this walk up again! Please feel free to view all the photo for my morning walk by clicking on the photo below –
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| 2015 – 22.02.2015 – Stanmore – Elstree Walk |
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