A walk in Watford

It’s Nick here again today, as Frances is at a funeral.

I’ve been scratching my head over what to write about today, however I decided I’d take photos with my phone while out walking Danny this morning. It’s not until you get a dog that you discover so many interesting places to walk near your home, and I was surprised at just how much there is near us, so I wanted to share this with you.

First up, we’ve known about this field for ages; it’s home to loads of skylarks (which is a good thing as these poor birds are in decline across the country due to changes in farming methods). I know you can’t see any in this photo, but it’s the first taste of rural scenery on the walk after I cross the busy road near our house

There’s a footpath alongside this field that leads to the Ebury Way – a converted railway line that now acts as a footpath from Watford to Rickmansworth (I mentioned this in a previous post). The connecting path heads through some trees, then up some steps to the Ebury Way:

If you turn left at the top of the steps, the path crosses the river Colne, with beautiful views downstream

It looks particularly nice when there’s a layer of mist hanging around – this is from a few years ago:

Further along the Ebury Way there are sites of interest that you can go and visit, such as Lairage Land. A Lairage is an area of land set aside for resting cattle en route to market, and the one in Watford is now a nature reserve. I didn’t visit it today, but it’s only a short walk from the footpath.

The path crosses a road leading to a farm, which is where I leave the Ebury Way on my morning walk and head into the meadow where the footpath runs alongside a lake, which is often teeming with terns, herons, geese and grebes.

The path then crosses the river Colne again, next to Hamper Mill, and old mill that is often used as a filming location.

We cross the road into the large, former golf course that is now Oxhey Playing Fields, a wide open space where Danny can run free with all his friends

It has plenty of woodland too, and Danny loves to pose on the felled trees

After a good three mile walk, and a quick drink, he loves to cool off by rolling around in long grass for a good scratch

So there you have it: Watford, not quite as bad as you might expect!

Thanks again to Frances for letting me share this with you. See you all again soon!

10 thoughts on “A walk in Watford

  1. Gwen

    Looks very peaceful, I enjoy looking at all the trees as we do not have many trees an no forests here in Shetland Islands

    Hope Frances is ok today, I am thinking of her especially today, I have gone through this before so I know what she will be feeling, Bless her

    Reply
  2. Terri

    Thank you for the virtual walk — lovely place, Watford! I never tire of seeing where other people live and the open space or woodlands around them. Danny certainly thinks it’s a fine home!

    Reply
  3. Nancy

    Thank you for sharing your walk with us!
    The views are beyond lovely! I wish I lived in such a nice area!

    Reply
  4. diane in northern wisconsin, US

    Thanks Nick. Very interesting walk and I love all your pictures. I always enjoy Frances’s blog, even when she has a guest host for us! Quite the beautiful pics you posted. thanks again.

    Reply

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