Chapmore End, Hertfordshire.

I used to live about 25 miles/40 km north from the centre of London in the village of Chapmore End.  Located in Hertfordshire between the County Town, Hertford and Ware.  Chapmore End has 27 houses, a couple of farms, a duck pond and a lovely local pub - The Woodman - which is about 50 yards down the road - so the stagger home is not too arduous.

2 shots of "Downtown" Chapmore End last winter

The Woodman

And the duck pond and local farmland in winter.  In spring this wood has a magnificent display of bluebells.

From home down the single track lane from the village and left into the Wadesmill Road.  Over a roundabout across the A602 (Stevenage to Ware main road) and along the road to Thundridge (1).  Here I pass between fields that have been full of wheat all summer and Hanbury Manor Golf Course (where the English Open (not the much more important  'British Open') is held).  Across the main London to Cambridge road (the A10) and again into quiet lanes.

When it is nice and dry I take a footpath through the fields. 

Which leads to a ruined church (at 2 on Map1).  Sorry, I cannot find any history on this place.

The next part of the ride is through lovely, quite (but not very photogenic) country roads through the delightfully named - but boring - village of Cold Christmas (3) and on to Wareside (4). 

Then along the B1004 into Ware (5).  (British roads are designated M for motorway, about Interstate standard, A for main roads - which covers a whole range of roads from divided dual carriageways with up to 3 lanes down to fairly narrow single carriageway roads - B for quiet local roads and then the unclassified roads and lanes I prefer to cycle). 

Ware is a bustling little town.  Here are a couple of links which give a feel for the place.

Here are a couple of shots of the High Street.  Notice the cars driving on the right (i.e. correct) side of the road.  The perversion of driving on the right (i.e. incorrect) side was only introduced by that nasty little Frenchman, Napoleon.

(The church is currently being renovated so I have borrowed this picture).

Ware has four claims to fame.  It was a major coaching stop in the 17th and 18th centuries.  Many of the buildings in the High Street were once coaching ins and several retain an arched entrance to a courtyard behind the inn where the horses would be stabled.  Behind these buildings the River Lea flows and several inns also had Gazebos for their guests.  Most have now been lost.

Ware was also a centre for malting.  These Oast Houses would have been used to malt the barley for local breweries and the the huge brewing needs of London.  Today it is a furniture shop!  Sadly there are now no breweries in Ware.

Water has probably been Ware's greatest export.  The New River - not new and not a river - has transported water to London since the 17th century.  It is a man made channel running parallel to the River Lea.  A good description can be found here:-

From Ware I follow the New River south towards London.  These two photos are taken at Great Amwell (6).   

The inscription on this memorial which was added long after the New River was built reads (as best I can make out):

AMWELL:  Perpetual by thy stream
Nor can thy spring be left
Which thousands drink who never dream
Whence flows the boon they blefs.

Too often thus ungrateful man
Blind and unconscious lives
Enjoys kind heavens indulgent plan
Nor thinks of him who gives

                                  Nares 1818

Another couple of miles and I reach Stansted Abbots - marked as St. Margarets (7) on the map.  This is a centre for canal boating.  From Stansted Abbots I follow the towpath of the River Lea back to Ware.  The Lea the largest tributary or the River Thames (the river that flows through London).  It is a 'developed river' (i.e. a natural river has been 'up-graded' with locks and dredging to take canal barges.  Ware's fourth claim to fame is as a distribution and canal centre - a supply post for the markets of London.  Today most of the canal barges are converted to leisure.

Nearby there are the worked out remains of several gravel quarries.  Several of these have been incorporated into nature reserves.  One is shown here:

That's it Folks - the film ran out - more later if your lucky.

From Ware I continue a further 3 miles along the river to Hertford, county town of Hertfordshire (9).  

Links for Hertford (pronounced Hartford) include:

and for Hertfordshire in general:

I come into Hertford's Hartham Park (9) - past a vast area of football pitches and then up the hill to St Leonard's Church (10) - a Saxon church that has stood above Hertford since before the Conquest (1066 - the last time England was successfully invaded).

Hertford is the County Town (Administrative Capital) of Hertfordshire. A small, pleasant town with a Market Square

several old inns - The Salisbury (formerly the Bell - before 1800) dates back to at least 1570 and probably significantly earlier. 

The Castle is a relatively modern building - but the castle mound remains.  This is a fairly unimpressive pile of earth but would have had the original wooden keep on top of it back in the 11th Century when it was built by the Normans to keep the local populace in its place.

More recently this memorial - topped by the emblem of Hertford, the stag - was erected to commemorate those who fell in the First World War (and later in the Second).

Wreaths will have been laid this morning (Remembrance Sunday - the Sunday closest to 11 November). 

And so via (11) back home for a cup of tea and a nice bath.

Other good links are: