6 May 2018: Hertford to Hazel End

British bank holidays are supposed to be cold and wet, but the forecast for this one was dry and very hot, which resulted in nine eager cyclists at the start in Hertford. First stop was to be in Harlow Old Town, so we left Hertford using a very quiet lane that leads quickly into the countryside and on via Goose Green to Hoddesdon. There, after a little bit of dual carriageway, it was into the back streets towards Rye house followed by the sewage farm. Actually this is far better than it sounds as it becomes quite rural leading through more countryside to Roydon. Further on we hit the edge of Harlow with its excellent cycle paths. The first bit was alongside a main road, but we were soon off this and onto a quiet path through trees, eventually leading to the eastern end of Harlow, which is the Old Town. Here we had our first stop at the Cross Keys cafe.

Duly breakfasted we carried on through the Old Town, past its attractive old buildings before wending our way towards Hazel End, a tiny hamlet north west of Bishops Stortford. In a way this is the problem, because to get there one has to circumnavigate or avoid Bishops Stortford and Stanstead airport both of which are large and in the way. Still, we managed to wend a quiet rural route and apart from dealing with a puncture and a rather awkward roundabout near the airport we arrived at the Three Horseshoes pub at Hazel End in good time.

Lucky that we had done so, as the landlord said that he would only be able to serve us if we got our orders in quickly before some booked parties arrived.
Still, the food was excellent and we sat outside in the sun. After that we set off westwards passing Farnham and heading towards the Hadhams. That is apart from two of the group who managed to escape and lose themselves by actually going into Farnham instead of bypassing it. However, as we always make sure no one gets left behind we mounted various searches whilst others spent a pleasant time watching Steve H. mend a puncture. Eventually all were gathered together and we set off again heading south towards Widford and then to Ware for an afternoon cuppa in a cafe. From there it was just a short ride back to the start in Hertford, apart from those who needed to cycle further to get back to their homes.

peteR 06/05/2018