United Kingdom
North Hertfordshire District

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    • Day 5

      Sunday

      October 24, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

      Today was catch your breath day. We all slept in, then Sue's son, James, & family came by for brunch that Malcolm prepared, followed by a visit from long-time friends, Trisha & Jamie. We returned several things friends had lent for party, took a nice hike, & just enjoyed the day.Read more

    • Day 6

      Wednesday

      October 25, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

      Today started at the gym with remainder of the day spent in Letchworth & Baldock. I'm not sure I defined a garden city, it was designed by English Ebenezer Howard. A space with a lot of greenery & open area. Letchworth the first & cottages I shared earlier were his design & noted w/ historic plaque.Read more

    • Day 1

      RIX - LTN

      July 1, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

      Šī brauciena pirmais un galvenais mērķis Def Leppard un Motley Crue koncerts pasaulslavenajā Wembley stadionā - Londonā. Nopērkot biļetes uz koncertu vēl nebija nekādi plāni šim pavasarim tāpēc sanācis tāds ļoti piesātināts pirmais 2023. pusgads gan morāli, gan finansiāli. Maģistrs-būvinženiera sertifikāts - Patagonija - Rammstein - jauna mašīna - un tagad Def Leppard/Motley Crue koncerts Londonā. Gads ir tikai pusē. Neslikti grafiks...
      Atkal sagrabinājis atvaļinājuma dienu putekļus, kas man palikuši dodamies ceļā! 🤘🏻
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    • Day 43

      Letchworth Garden City

      May 13 in England ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

      Die englische Stadt Letchworth Garden City (oft kurz Letchworth genannt) in der Grafschaft Hertfordshire war der erste Realisierungsversuch einer Gartenstadt. Sie wurde im Jahr 1903 rund 50 Kilometer nördlich von London gegründet.

      Letchworth Garden City sollte die neuen sozialreformerischen Ansätze, die Ebenezer Howard an den Städtebau gestellt hatte, erfüllen. Zur Bildung einer eigenständigen kleinstädtischen Einheit wurde eine eigene Industrie angelegt. Allerdings war diese Stadt nie autark, sondern von Anfang an von London abhängig.
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    • Baldock

      April 24, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

      Baldock is a historic market town in Hertfordshire less than 10 miles southwest of Royston; it has an association with the Knioghts Templar, is mostly Georgian, and also has an exceptionally rich archaeological heritage.  Malting and brewing were formerly major industries in the town, but today, it is mostly a commuter town.

      The majority of the interesting buildings are near to, or along, the High Street; we start at the War Memorial and see some of them (see captions on pictures).  After a slight diversion to walk along a street where there were originally roman buildings (The Twitchell) and an area where there was an Iron Age burial site (The Tene), we double back to see the Tesco supermarket (originally a film processing laboratory) before walking along what was the southern edge of the Medieval New Town (South Road). 

      We turn into Clothall Road and soon cross over to a footpath over a field towards Clothall Common; this field is where the Iron Age and Roman towns and several burial sites have been found.  We then head back into town along Royston Road; Raban House is at the junction with Whitehorse Street.  Then it's along Sun Street to St Mary's Church and back to the War Memorial to complete this short tour of Georgian and Ancient Baldock
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    • Reed, Buckland, Anstey, and Nuthampstead

      April 10 in England ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

      This post describes a 12 mile circular walk from Reed done with the Cambridge Rambling Club, combined with a follow-up trip by car to visit the churches properly.

      Reed is a small, pretty village in North Hertfordshire and is situated on a chalk ridge approximately 3 miles south of Royston.  We walk around the village green, past the old chapel (used as the local school for many years before becoming a private residence) and down to St Mary's Church; this had a new organ installed at a cost of £170,000! We then walk north for a while to the main footpath and past Reed Wood on the route to Buckland (another small village).  Then it is east and over towards Anstey, passing Anstey chalk pit.  The church here, St George's, is cruciform in shape and noted for its stained glass windows in memory of the USAAF 398th Bombardment Group who lost their lives in combat in WWII - they flew from the nearby former air station at Nuthampstead.  This is a short distance away, and we walk up along one of the runways of what was USAAF Station 131 during the war; the airfield was constructed by the U.S. Army engineer battalions starting in 1942.  We pass the Barkway DVOR (Doppler Very high frequency Omnidirectional Range Station), an aeroplane navigation aid that is in active use.  There is another monument to the USAAF 398th outside the Nuthampstead Airfield Museum, but this is unfortunately closed.  

      After a break - we have walked over 8 miles so far - it is back to Barkway via a footpath along the Cokenach Estate and then back to Reed.  Another great day out in a local area not that far from Duxford.
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    • Ashwell, Hinxworth, and Caldecote

      February 21 in England ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

      This walk was done with the Cambridge Rambling Club, taking in 3 villages off the beaten track on the border of Hertfordshire with Cambridgeshire.

      Ashwell is 4 miles north-east of Baldock; it is a pretty town that I explore over the lunch break, with some of the sites being seen on the walk back.  It is well preserved, with many listed and other buildings of note (see captions on photographs); these include a the 16th-century town house (now a local museum) and the Maltings (now converted into flats).  Ashwell Bury, a large Victorian house, was remodelled by Edwin Lutyens in the 1920s; Lutyens also designed the Grade 2 listed Ashwell War Memorial, unveiled in 1922.  

      The village is noted for Ashwell Springs, a site of Special Scientific Interest; the site consists of a series of freshwater springs, which form the start of the river Rhee, one of the main sources of the River Cam.
      The Cam flows through the centre of Cambridge, then to Ely, where it joins the Great Ouse and eventually reaches the Wash 65 miles away.

      We leave Ashwell via the Church and follow footpaths, including part of the 12th century Ridgeway, to Hinxworth; we stop at the Church of St Nicholas and pass the home of John W Mills, a British Sculptor.  We continue on to Caldecote; this tiny village consists of a cluster of cottages around the redundant Church of St. Mary Magdalene, which dates from the 14th and 15th centuries and is currently in the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches charity.  From here, we walk back to Ashwell via Newnham Hill; it has been an enjoyable 7.1 mile walk (although the conditions were rather muddy).
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    • Day 4

      Tussenstop op London Luton

      November 7, 2022 in England ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

      Een echte reisdag vandaag. Van het huisje terug naar de luchthaven Inverness. KLM cancelde een paar weken terug ineens onze terugvlucht. EasyJet bood de oplossing om via London Luton terug te vliegen naar Schiphol. Vandaag dus een dagje wachten, zitten, eten, wachten, vliegen, zitten, wachten, etc. Straks vanaf Schiphol met de trein naar huis en is het Whiskytrippers weekend 2022 ten einde.Read more

    • Therfield Circular

      April 2, 2021 in England ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

      We start at Therfield Heath, only this time we walk through the woods to the top of the chalk bank to see if the Pasque flowers are out - they are! The striking, purple Pasque flower has a beautiful, upward bell-shaped flower is now a very rare plant in the UK, restricted to just a few chalk and limestone grasslands and found on only a handful of nature reserves - one of them being Therfield Heath. From the bank there is a good view of the gallops, which we walk along again to reach Thrift Farm.

      From the farm we carry straight on up the incline - this is part of the Hertfordshire Way, a 194 mile circular walk around Hertfordshire - and see Therfield water tower on the horizon. As we approach the top we enter Slipe Woods and enjoy the view down towards the heath and fields; we then walk past the water tower, leaving the Hertfordshire Way, and pass the Church of St Mary's to reach Therfield itself. We cross the Causeway and village green to the The Fox and Duck, a well known pub in the area, and proceed to the other side of the village where we join the Icknield Way; this is an ancient trackway in southern and eastern England that runs from Norfolk to Wiltshire and follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.

      As we head back towards Therfield Heath, we enjoy the view and pass giant haystacks en route (Giant Haystacks was the ring name of a famous British wrestler who was active in the 1970s and 1980s), and walk back through the woods that skirt the southern edge of the golf course back to the car.
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    • Royston

      October 31, 2022 in England ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

      Royston is a town in North Hertfordshire about 10miles from Duxford; the town has excellent road and rail communications and has grown rapidly in recent years.  Despite its size, the out-of -town shopping zones, industry etc there is still an area in the centre of the town that reflects its place in the history of the local area and this is where I planned a "cultural" visit based on the town trail map.

      Royston grew at the crossing of two ancient thoroughfares; Ermine Street (created after the Roman conquest) and the Icknield Way (originally a prehistoric routeway).  Roisia's Cross was erected at this crossroad and the name evolved to Roisia's Town and then Royston; a large boulder with a socket in it, supposed to be the base of the original cross, is now there.  Royston Cave - an artificial circular, bell-shaped chamber cut into the chalk bedrock - is underneath it and accessed from Melbourn Street (it is only open to the public on certain days during the Summer).

      Nearby, on Kneesworth Street, is a large house known as King James' Palace; King James VI stayed in Royston in 1603, went hunting and liked the area so much he decided to build a house here (actually a royal hunting lodge) as it was also close to his other favoured area of Newmarket.  The Royston Museum is on the other side of the road to the house.

      Back on Melbourn Street, I detour to see the County Court House - now a trendy bar and kitchen - on Fish Hill. I then double back to pass the Grade II listed Georgian Banyer's House and the Old Town Hall, now Royston Picture House.  These buildings are opposite the Priory Memorial Gardens, formerly attached to a nunnery, where The Parish Church of St. John the Baptist is located; this is Grade I listed and dates from the 12th century.  The border of the Gardens with Melbourn Street is where the WWI War Memorial is located - it features a two-foot high bronze statuette of a private of the First World War with a crow at his feet - and the gardens also house a war memorial dedicated to members of the United States Army Air Force 91st Bomb Group who died whilst stationed at Bassingbourn from 1942 to 1945.

      I walk over to the High Street and then up to the Old Bull Inn, a former 15th century coaching inn with stabling for over 100 horses, and a very popular place as on the other side is the Market Square.

      An interesting visit; I now see Royston a little differently to how I used to!
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    North Hertfordshire District

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