26 May 2019: Hatfield to Nuthampstead

At the start in Hatfield we thought we might have some new riders join us, but only one turned up, an existing CUK member called Rob, which meant we had a party of six.  Our first stop was to be in Much Hadham and, anticipating that there might have been new riders, I had planned as flat a route as possible. So we started out westwards along the Cole Green Way to Hertford, then followed the Lee navigation towpath to Ware. From there a gentle climb up through the suburbs of Ware and we were out in open countryside. We went  through Babbs Green and on using  very quiet lanes across more open country in the sunshine to Much Hadham. A bit further brought us to Ash Valley Golf Club, a low key friendly place for a bite to eat and coffee. There we were joined by Steve and Jackie who had ridden there to join us, but who went back when we went on to our lunch venue.

Route check at Washall Green

Originally lunch was to have been at the Bull near Langley, but having discovered that they weren’t doing any food I had switched to the Woodman at Nuthampstead. So from elevenses we headed north through the Pelhams and skirted Anstey to get there. It was a beautiful route with virtually no traffic and idyllic countryside. The Woodman is an interesting pub as it is adjacent to a former WW2 US air force bomber base and has much commemorative information on display. There we were met by Adrian who had ridden directly there from his home. I was pleased to meet him as he would be able to lead us to our tea stop at Rushden as it is an area he knows far better than I.

By now it had started to rain so we stayed in the pub as long as possible before having to move on. The countryside was still idyllic but seems less so when one is being rained on and facing a head wind. However we reached the nursery at Rushden, where we put our bikes out of the rain in one of their poly-tunnels whilst having tea in another.

On leaving, Adrian headed off homeward, whilst we headed due south with a fine view of Cromer windmill before reaching Walkern. From there it was still southwards via Aston, Datchworth and Tewin, then into WGC and back to the start at Hatfield. From there many of the party still had to get themselves back to St Albans so they would have done quite a bit more than the 60 miles I logged from start to finish.

peteR