24 Oct 2010: Hatfield to Wareside

Tracey writes: At the start in Hatfield there was a great turn out, 14 of us!  It was a nippy but bright morning and we headed off briskly to Welwyn Garden City and on to Tewin Green then Bramfield.  From there we turned down to Waterford and up a very stoney lane to Stoney Hills.  Crossing the main road, we cut through the picturesque Sacombe Park and over to Whitehill golf course above Dane End.  There some of us tucked into a very large breakfast!

Sacombe Park

Golfer's Breakfast

Thus fortified, we cycled to Great Munden and turned right to Puckeridge, then on to Standon and Barwick Ford.  Graham, Michael and Judy enjoyed splashing through the water; the rest of us took the bridge. 

Barwick Ford

We then took the winding roads to Bakers End and Babbs Green then into Wareside to the Chequers Pub.  Here we took over the Snug room and were joined by Carol and Steve, making 16 of us!  We sampled some very good beers and baguettes in one of my favourite pubs.  As there were a large number of us (and I had already lost a few people on route earlier!), I explained to everyone the loop I had planned for our afternoon ride into Hertford, (just as well)!

From Wareside we cycled to Ware, at this point when I turned round I had managed to loose half the ride!  Quite an achievement even for me!  We decided to carry on to Stanstead Abbotts and then turned into St Margarets Road and up to Haileybury.  We carried on to Hoddesdon and up Lord Street towards Goose Green and on to Hertford.  There everyone else had already arrived at the Rose Café (not following the leader’s explanations, they had taken Holly Cross Road from Ware to St Margarets).  We timed this stop to perfection, as there was a 10-minute down pour of rain (the only rain of the day) while we had our tea!  On the way home we saw a rainbow.

Haileybury College

24/10/2010