8 July 2018: Panshanger to Aspenden

The forecast was for hot weather, so I had a plan B just in case it got too much. Three of us met at the start for a trip to Much Hadham. Our route was a familiar mix of going via Bramfield, along Gobions lane and then up to Stony Hills.
The land looked dry and ready to burn; it also seemed very dusty. We went through Sacombe Park and were privileged to see a couple of hares running around in the fields - a rare sight indeed!

Barwick Ford

We took a quick hop over the A10 and visited Barwick ford. This is a place we generally cross without thinking about it but today, well, it was just lovely watching the water flow over the rocks and listening to the relaxing sound of the ford. We were made to move on by some unscrupulous beings that wanted to cross the ford. We made a hot trio as we took our first break at the golf club. It was here that plan B was decided upon, Great Hormead was on the way and with the day getting hotter we’d see how we felt when we arrived there.

This part of the borders is an undulating affair, with pleasant dips and rises as we passed the Pelhams, through Little Hormead and on to its larger sister village. We stopped outside the 3 Tuns to make our final decision and we agreed upon making lunch at Aspenden as planned.

After a great bite to eat in the shade of the garden we headed back to where we came from, stopping at Rose’s in Hertford for a drink and to ponder the future of this brave establishment. We then went our separate ways, with Peter and I going down the whole of the Cole Green Way for a lovely shady trip home.








A nice relaxing day’s ride.

Neil 08/07/2018