Gade Valley
Seven of us set off from Jockey End at 6.30pm for the final evening walk of the season. It had been an overcast day but the evening proved to be the best part, with a fair amount of sunshine. We set off at a good pace and passed The Hoo, Great Gaddesden Church and Water End with some lovely views over the Gade Valley.
As we approached Gaddesden Place the light began to fail and we enjoyed the sunset as we entered Lime Avenue. Unfortunately, with the light failing fast, we missed the correct path that would have taken us around Golden Parsonage, a beautiful old house. Once we realised that we had gone wrong we debated what to do. Should we retrace our steps or find an alternative route? By now map reading was almost impossible without the help from Paul's torch. As we were standing by the driveway to Golden Parsonage we opted to walk along this to the road. Fortunately the large guard dog that rushed at us was behind a fence and although he made a lot of noise we were safe.
We finished the walk by walking along the footpath, arriving back at Jockey End at 9.10pm in the pitch dark. Had we continued on the original route from Golden Parsonage we would have had a much longer and far more difficult journey back along rough field paths. Paul
Seven of us set off from Jockey End at 6.30pm for the final evening walk of the season. It had been an overcast day but the evening proved to be the best part, with a fair amount of sunshine. We set off at a good pace and passed The Hoo, Great Gaddesden Church and Water End with some lovely views over the Gade Valley.
As we approached Gaddesden Place the light began to fail and we enjoyed the sunset as we entered Lime Avenue. Unfortunately, with the light failing fast, we missed the correct path that would have taken us around Golden Parsonage, a beautiful old house. Once we realised that we had gone wrong we debated what to do. Should we retrace our steps or find an alternative route? By now map reading was almost impossible without the help from Paul's torch. As we were standing by the driveway to Golden Parsonage we opted to walk along this to the road. Fortunately the large guard dog that rushed at us was behind a fence and although he made a lot of noise we were safe.
We finished the walk by walking along the footpath, arriving back at Jockey End at 9.10pm in the pitch dark. Had we continued on the original route from Golden Parsonage we would have had a much longer and far more difficult journey back along rough field paths. Paul
Our party at the start and in the lovely churchyard at Great Gaddesden
