Cold Rain

There is a certain added pleasure in walking from one’s own front door, first covering familiar paths and then going that extra mile or two on new trails a little further away, all the while in the knowledge that every inch of the way has been achieved on foot. And so it was today, a 17-miler from home along the Grand Union Canal and through Watford to Oxhey for a pleasant lunch with close friends Jeff and Tina, before turning back into Watford for the train back to Berkhamsted. This map, and my photos, show the 11-mile canal section (and an alternative route through to Watford Junction station).

Berkhamsted appears in the extreme top left of the map, with the dark blue line of my route tracking down past Hemel Hempstead to Watford in the bottom right corner

It was a bleak start today, grey skies, a chill breeze and some light but cold rain showers that each required the donning of waterproofs. These conditions are all a part of winter walking of course, although the brighter afternoon and a little sunshine was most welcome. I’m pleased to share some views of the walk, taken generally during the drier moments, of what ultimately proved to be a pleasant southward ramble along the flat and even towpath of the Grand Union Canal.

Sugar Lane, an ancient track, is now a footpath and bridleway leading from the ridge above Berkhamsted down towards the canal at Bourne End

A view from the one high point of the walk, from Sugar Lane looking across the rolling Chiltern fields towards Great Wood and Lower Farm

Descending the locks at Winkwell, as the Canal leaves the Chiltern Hills bound for West London

One of the area’s smaller chalk streams, the Bulbourne, rises at Cow Roast to the south of Tring and runs for seven miles through Berkhamsted, before joining the larger River Gade at Two Waters in Hemel Hempstead; flowing parallel but often unnoticed next to the wider Canal that borrows much of its flow, the Bulbourne and the lakes that it feeds nonetheless provide important riverine and wetland habitats

These fine swans were about the only birds I managed to capture today – along with mallards, geese, moorhens, coots and grebes, many populate the Canal, whilst herons are common and the rare flash of a kingfisher adds an occasional highlight to a canal walk in these parts

The Gade at its confluence with the Bulbourne

The crossing point at Apsley; the original towpath alternated sides every few miles in order for the horses to rest before their harnesses were switched over – many of these crossing points survive and they continue to determine the footpath network

The lake, just north of Kings Langley . . .

Under the bridge deck and superstructure of the eight-lane M25 . . .

. . . and back to the tranquility of the canalside, near Abbots Langley

Approaching The Grove the Canal passes through parkland . . .

. . . and the towpath crosses a distinctive bridge . . .

The milestones along the towpath, that I mentioned in an earlier Blog, indicate the distance from Braunston in west Northamptonshire at the northern end of the original Grand Union Canal; this sign is ten miles south of Berkhamsted, as the Canal passes Cassiobury Park in Watford

This colourful narrowboat, as with many others, is a year-round home, the smell of woodsmoke and bacon a reminder that lunchtime is approaching!

The marina at Watford’s Cassio Bridge, where my path finally left the Canal

I can recommend this towpath walk as an easy and incline-free ramble with plenty of interest; at every step there is wildlife and history to take in, and with every bend in the canal a new vista. Those interested in our engineering heritage and our economic and social development will find much in the built environment to capture their attention, including the present-day uses to which the canal itself and its environs are employed, from houseboats and artisan craft workshops to light industrial, retail, business and leisure activities. Botanists and bird-watchers also have much to study in, on and around the canal, the rivers and the surrounding lakes and wetlands, from chalk stream watercress beds to brightly-coloured kingfishers. The linear route can be shortened by using Hemel Hempstead, Apsley or Kings Langley Stations that are all situated within easy reach of the canal; or indeed the towpath continues past Watford if your legs still have mileage in them!

‘Thursday’s Child has far to go’ – it certainly felt that way for me, a Thursday baby, between the showers this morning!

Today’s Blog heading chose itself really, during the first of three rain showers on my walk. The song ‘Cold Rain’ is a Graham Nash composition from the 1977 ‘CSM’ album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, in a period when the trio was working once again in their original format without Neil Young, who had become, intermittently, the fourth member of their full group. ‘Cold Rain’ features lead vocals and keyboards by Nash, with David Crosby and Stephen Stills adding backing vocals and guitars. The three protagonists, along with Young, have enjoyed long careers working solo and in various permutations with each other and with others, punctuated with times of fall-out and separation. Reunions, actual and proposed, have been mooted often into relatively recent years, before Crosby’s sad passing last month. The legacy of their songbooks and influence is assured.

Cold Rain

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