Well it’s another year and we are back at the Climbing Moss Heart of London Walk, this time Section 19.
This is one of the stage(s) we walked and then realised the problems that we faced – therefore it was better to curtail them. The last mile and a half of this section and the whole of what would have been the next section was just walking along busy main roads, no parks, no grass, not even a bog, just main A-Roads and a Motorway! So instead (as you will see) we decided to join them together and make use of Public Transport.
So, Section 19 looks like a really long one on paper, taking you from Stanmore Station to High Barnet (Via Borehamwood) but here’s how it plays out…
Starting off once again at the end of the Jubilee Line Tube we headed out of the classic Charles Clark style building and crossed the road to head up the hill towards Stanmore Country Park, passing the 1920’s Art Deco houses. At the gate into the park we found our first bog! A really impressive mass of mud, which we had to traverse and avoid in order to get up to the paths. This was truly an omen for things to come!
Follow the paths north into and through the woods, it’s a case of tracking the paths to get to the top of the hill and find the ‘Wood Farm London Look Out’ another of those views of London to the south that seem to be 10 to the penny in the area. What we found more impressive though were the birds circling in the sky, Brown and Golden Eagles hunting overhead, yes, actually Golden Eagles! there are a few mating pairs in the area and the real sight to see up there. Continue on down the paths, this is REALLY muddy and a traitorous journey. Along the path there is another sign for another Grim’s Dyke, much like the views, the location of the ancient settlement seems to be in numerous places. This one however seems more logical and better documented.
After this we headed through a fenced off area, this seemed wrong, but a school party and their teacher informed us this is the correct way through. Inside is ‘Pears Wood Nature Reserve’ a peaceful route with a lake and weird signs in Polish! We emerged out the other side by a hospital and the site of a Roman Pottery, a huge site it is too!
A long walk down the main road towards and over the M1, across a massive roundabout (stay on the left of the road for the safest way across) and past the Petrol Station where vending machine coffees are available and another roundabout. Then a weird back and forth around a fence to gain access to Composer’s Park (follow the map carefully here and it will make sense).
The park is a strip of land opening up at the north by Aldenham Country Park. The London Loop turns right at the lake, but we turned left to go the long way round the water, towards (but not into) The Farm, admission is £5pp – too expensive to see a few pigs and sheep (which you could see from outside anyway). Instead we aimed for the coffee shop, through the car park (filled with people ‘dogging’) but being 2pm on a weekday the coffee shop was of course shut – you aren’t allowed to drink coffee after 3pm in the UK!!
So we kept going entering the 100 Aker Wood – not the real one again, not the actual home of Winnie the Pooh! Just another fake pasture claiming to be the real location of the bear and his friends – but a good fake, one that fools a lot of people, including us! (The real one is in Ashdown, East Sussex!)
Having wandered around the field reading signs and photographing Hufflelump traps we crossed out at the exit, by ‘The North Pole’ and then got lost!
This is one of those ‘We did it, so you don’t have to moments’. Instead of crossing into the field opposite as you would think, turn left and walk along the country lane, between high hedges to the B road and then follow another London Loop sign into a field, which may or may not by a boggy mess, for us it was swamp time!
This field is the home of The London Glamping Grounds and in the distance you will spot large TeePees. But we headed across the large field, spotting Pheasants as well as horses on the crossing.
At the other side of the field, outside the gate, you will find yourself at Watling Street and Allum Lane. Now this is where we recommend getting the 107 Bus and not walking the mile and a half along the main road to Elstree Station. On the bus you can pass the station and continue along the main, busy A Road on to High Barnet and the Northern Line Tube, thus completing the Section 20 that would have been, ready for the next section – the New Section 20!
Well there you go another section and we are closing in on the end of the route, but come back next time for another section and remember to check out and post your photos to Social Media with the Hashtag #CMHoL so we can see your experiences on the route. If you want to see our photos check out Instagram (link to the right) and YouTube where we posted videos of each section in full.
Climbing Moss 