We met for a reviving coffee in Jenny's Cafe in Hatfield at 10.00 and, after Saturday's incessant rain, Sunday was a bright, sunny winter’s day, perfect for our ride to Hoddesdon.
The lunch stop was not very far as the crow flies, so a less direct route was called for. We set out through Lemsford and the centre of Welwyn, noticing long queues of traffic coming into the city to do their Christmas shopping.
We passed under the magnificent Digswell viaduct. I had led another ride through here in the fog on Tuesday, when we couldn’t see the top as the arches loomed out of the mist. Today we could admire this feat of Victorian engineering in its full glory. We climbed the following hill with its leafy, posh villas - always some building improvements going on here - then through the woods to Bramfield and on to Hertingfordbury and the Lower Hatfield Road into Hertford.
Here we paused. I had thought of making the route a bit longer, but time was getting on and the mood was to go directly to lunch. Someone even accused me of using a piece of elastic to plan the route on the map. So picking up Mangrove Road we took a beeline to The Star in Hoddesdon, a 15th century inn tastefully restored by Wetherspoons and offering their usually fare.
The lunch stop was not very far as the crow flies, so a less direct route was called for. We set out through Lemsford and the centre of Welwyn, noticing long queues of traffic coming into the city to do their Christmas shopping.
Winter sunshine in Harmer Green
Here we paused. I had thought of making the route a bit longer, but time was getting on and the mood was to go directly to lunch. Someone even accused me of using a piece of elastic to plan the route on the map. So picking up Mangrove Road we took a beeline to The Star in Hoddesdon, a 15th century inn tastefully restored by Wetherspoons and offering their usually fare.
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