London LOOP Sections 14 and 15 – Moor Park to Elstree via Hatch End – 2nd February 2012

At last we are about to put the final piece into the LOOP jigsaw. The fast train to Liverpool Street, followed by the London Underground, brings us to Moor Park once again.

As we step out of the back entrance straight into the adjacent woodlands, the day is fresh and clear. The sun shines through the tree canopy giving dappled light. We pass a trio of chattering teenage girls, doubtless heading for the tube station and a day out in the metropolis. However, the day ahead of us promises to be one of quiet and solitude as we approach Sandy Lane Golf Course.

We have already done 2 miles of walking, just to arrive at the start of today’s section. The reality of the LOOP is that you actually walk many more than the official 150 miles, with all the ‘to-ing’ and ‘fro-ing’ involved in starting and finishing each day.

Despite the February chill, a few hardy golfers ply their craft across the greens and fairways in their relentless pursuit of the little white ball. It is a good day for both them and us, with our worlds dominated by the manicured green grass of the course. They however are trapped like goldfish within the limits of the golf course, whilst we blithe spirits are free to “boldly go where no man has gone before”.

Soon we are striding along Sandy Lodge Lane towards the eponymous Sandy Lane, which goes by the alternative title of the A4125. This is one of the many London arterial roads frequented by lone drivers, intent on their own lives, scuttling through their parallel universe towards who knows what destination, blissfully unaware of us or even the tranquil world that we thankfully plunge into on the other side. The hidden entrance to the footpath here, further guarantees the obscurity of the LOOP to all but the most ardent of aficionados.

The woods are still stretching numbed limbs and rubbing sleepy eyes after their long winter sleep, but there are some signs of the approaching spring, as the leaves of early flowers venture forth from the litter strewn woodland floor.

Soon the woodland gives way to open parkland as we check both the map and directions to ensure we don’t wander off course. In the distance is the simply named Big Wood. You can almost hear some crusty old local from the 18th Century giving directions to a passing and somewhat confused traveller “turn right at the big wood and then straight on …..”. In reality it is often nigh impossible to determine how big a wood is at ground level, unless you have the misfortune to circumnavigate it trying to find the correct route. This latter observation is based on personal experience.

Fortunately for us we have no such problems and are quickly through the woods and out onto open parkland. In theory this should be easy walking. The LOOP can be so seductive at times, giving you everything you need to just walk and not worry about where to. Next thing you know you are in the middle of open parkland and the LOOP signs have suddenly stopped. This is where the map and directions come to your rescue. Phew! A quick check of both and we are back on track and leave the parkland to follow Ashburnham Drive.

Now follows a bit of LOOP speciality, following well marked signs through a miniature shard of suburbia, past well kept front gardens, managed by well paid house owners, before entering an area which doubtless clinched the deal for them when they bought their place in the countryside – an area of woodland space for the kids to play and the dog to sniff other dog’s bottoms in. This is Furze Field, although it could be any one of any number of similar rural-urban fringe woods we have passed through over the last 12 months.

We have to be careful crossing through Furze Field, not because of physical dangers such as fallen trees or muddy morasses, not because of supernatural dangers such as wood elves or fairies, but because of the very real danger that lies within our heads. This danger takes the form of overconfidence, brought on by having nearly completed our series of walks around the LOOP. Somehow we conspire to lose our way in the woods (or perhaps it is the fairies after all – it is always better to blame someone or something else for your own lack of concentration). We fall back on the directions and the map supplied on the LOOP website. No succour presents itself. We conclude that we are lost. Not really lost, but lost enough that we might be barging through this woodland for half an hour or more.

A careful reread of the directions (the map is not detailed enough) and we are none-the-wiser. We then resort to crashing around more in hope than reason and have the good fortune to find a waymarker in the woods. The directions advise us to look for “a tree in the middle of a small clearing”. This is not particularly helpful in a woodland full of trees and small clearings. More by luck than judgement we find ourselves within hearing distance of a busy road. We assume this to be Sandy Lane, with its numerous “lone drivers scuttling through their parallel universe” and elect to turn away from it.

Soon the promised house in the woods appears and we find ourselves crossing Oxhey Drive and a brief communion with the world of urban man, before returning to the woods. The directions advise us that we are now in Oxhey Woods although in reality this 97.7 hectare nature reserve covers the whole of the walk between Ashburnham Drive and Pinner Hill Golf Course, which lies ahead. I’d love to walk through these ancient woodlands in April or May and benefit from the spring flowers that we are advised adorn the woodland floor at this time of year. On a chilly February day the woods are less alluring with the bare branched trees still carrying the threat of some malevolent force about them.

The House in the woods

We are advised that Pinner Wood Golf Course is to our right, but you wouldn’t know it. With the absence of luridly clad sportsmen and not a single cry of “fore!” or thwack of golf club on ball to be heard, we take it on trust that we are on course. Soon our faith is rewarded with the promised houses and kissing gate. As ever, Betty is keen to take advantage of the latter, before we enter an area of fields.

At the far end of the first of these fields we encounter a severely chewed fence. What manner of creature could possibly be capable of such wanton vandalism is not apparent to us. However, we give it little thought, as beyond it a wonderful view opens out before us, serving once again to distract us from the task in hand. A fallen tree presents us with an excellent seat upon which to alight and whereupon we indulge in a spot of lunch.

If this were a Hitchcock film our two hapless heroes would be seen through hidden eyes, having a merry conversation as they nibble through their sandwiches, blissfully unaware of the growing menace. The camera would slowly push through the bushes and almost amble towards this innocent couple, whilst the sound of increasingly menacing music grows with each yard that the camera closes in on them. At the last minute our heroes turn to face the camera and with terror in their eyes behold the monster. The one that must have devoured the fence observed prior to their lunch time repast.

The reality is no less menacing. Bearing down upon us is a large and extremely focused equine figure. It has but one thought in its malevolent dark eyes, to steal our lunch. Imagining its enormous jaws closing around my banana bearing digits, I throw the whole lot (skin and all) at the creature, turn tail and run. This clever slight of hand is sufficient to distract the creature, which immediately turns and consumes the yellow flesh, before deciding it has found a ‘Horn of Plenty’ (me) worthy of further pursuit.

At this point, any horsy folk will doubtless be rolling around on the carpet, issuing forth mirthful laughter at my stupidity. Needless to say, Betty and I are not horse lovers. Believing that survival is the better part of valour we both bolt across the field and through a kissing gate to the safety of an adjacent horseless meadow. Not surprisingly Betty is not her usual insistent self, regarding sealing our traditional kissing gate contract.

In the meantime the horse too has made its menacing, ambling way to the gate and glares at us – demanding a further payment for allowing us to cross its sovereign territory. Having gained substantially in confidence from the intervening kissing gate, Betty gives it a piece of her mind. Our adrenaline levels subsiding, we reconsidered our position and examine the LOOP directions and map.

However, adrenaline is not the best hormone for logical thinking. With the horse field in one direction we understandably strike in the opposite one, along the top of the ridge. Very soon we reach an area of suburban housing and an electricity substation and decide to rethink our navigation strategy. Electrical transmission lines provide very useful navigation tools. We quickly realise that our horse-induced panic has sent us the wrong way and that we must traverse the horse field once again, if we are to rejoin our path.

The field in question is quite substantial, with the objects of our trepidations now some distance away.

A short prayer and a very fast walk are however sufficient to ‘deliver us from evil’, with the banana consuming quadruped blissfully unaware of our further incursion across his territory. If truth be known I have never walked quite so fast. I suppose I could have run, but that would be tantamount to admitting my fear, whilst fast walking can be executed without resultant loss of face. I don’t think Betty is the least bit fooled by this pretence as she casually saunters up to yet another kissing gate where a relieved and still sweating Billy awaits.

This part of the LOOP continues to produce irritations. Following on from the horse mugging we encounter overgrown and unmaintained gates, farm yards inhabited by barking dogs and a randomly located LOOP sign to Pinner Woods. In hindsight I suspect this sign and all the other irritations are the work of a landowner intent on confounding any walker who may dare to cross his land. I suspect even the horses are specially trained in the subversive art of terrorising LOOP walkers.

With the attractive Pinner Wood House behind us, we feel more relaxed until we realise we must climb a further stile and cross yet another field full of horses. This time they are all gathered like a gang of menacing youths, hands in pockets, in a Romford subway. Fortune however smiles upon us, these do not appear to have been fully trained in the dark arts of banana poaching. What they are very good at is a different kind of poaching. It is evident that the entrance to the field is their most favoured stomping ground, leaving the poached earth a good foot deep in thick mud. We gingerly pick our way through the muddy morass and the menacing gang of thoroughbreds to the open field beyond.

As we leave the field we discover yet another broken kissing gate, perhaps a final insult hurled our way by a landowner pleased to see the back of these unwanted, if perfectly legal ‘trespassers’ on his land. Who can say, but landowners do have a duty to maintain rights of way across their land – something not all manage in equal measure.

As we enter a large field to the rear of further suburban streets, we move into a subtly different land use, where the fields are populated by dog walkers and their canine companions. The latter are intent on pursuit of the ubiquitous tennis ball, propelled great distances from plastic launchers recently given to their excited doggy pals on Christmas morning.

We are advised that we can leave the LOOP at this point and return home via Hatch End Station. Alternatively we may opt to continue onto Section 15 to Elstree. With only 4 miles behind us and a mere 10 miles before completion of the entire London LOOP, our decision is never in doubt and we strike out in pursuit of final glory.

Section 15

Even as we commence the final section we are confounded by a set of ambiguous directions that cause us to have to burrow through a low level gap in a hawthorn hedge before rejoining the official route. Judging by the number of gaps in the hedge, I suspect we are not alone in our confusion.

A little further along we cast out eyes westward only to realise that the line of pylons spotted earlier is no more than 200 yards away across a well-walked field. Much of the previous debacle through Pinnerwood Arabian Stud could have been avoided had we realised this. At least we’ll be able to say we completed the LOOP in its entirety.

Our relatively early start has been severely eroded by our debacle at the stud farm. Even if we have no further problems we are unlikely to finish before nightfall. This in mind, we stride out intent on completing this section and with it the LOOP. The day is still clear and sunny, although distinctly chilly as we walk alongside the West Coast Mainline from London. We exchange greetings with a team of railway maintenance men before arriving at the bridge at Little Oxhay Lane, just in time to witness a speeding train passing beneath us as it snakes its way towards Birmingham.

A short walk up the road brings us to the busy Oxhay Lane, with all its thundering traffic. The route lies across the other side, where a strange reminder of one of the problems of the rural-urban fringe is vividly illustrated in large white letters on an enormous lump of concrete. Passers-by are invited to hire this massive blue obstacle, which blocks the gateway, by visiting the company’s web site. A subsequent visit to the web site informs me “our service will leave your land clean and secure from Gypsy intruder settlement.”

Evidently, removal of unwanted traveller settlements is their speciality. It strikes me as odd that even in the 21st Century there are ethnic minority groups considered to be little more than vermin. It also strikes me as odd that people can make money from the removal of human beings. I can empathise with both sides of the conflict, but find it sad that the final resolution involves someone turning a profit from someone else’s misery.

Shocked by the site of this reminder of land use conflict on the margins of our great capital, we continue on our way wondering if one day walkers access will be prevented by such barriers, armed guards and Rottweilers. I am then reminded how ramblers in the Peak District fought long and hard for the right to roam freely on the moors. How lucky we are to have the legal right in this country to follow footpaths, a right we must be sure to protect, even in and around London.

Just ahead of us another persecuted minority group is moving cautiously along the path. An urban fox slinks along, guilt written all over his face. But is our travel companion an urban fox or a rural one? Rural foxes are normally very cautious and rarely seen in public. To appear in full view is to court certain death as guns, horses and hounds seek to eradicate them. Urban foxes however are as brash as feral pigeons, fearing nothing and no-one as they root about in dustbins. I suspect out here on the fringes of London both fox types overlap, with a rapid change in lifestyle over a matter of a mile or two.

Our fox quickly melts away into the long grass as we encounter yet another golf course. Grim’s Dyke Golf Course takes its name from the Anglo-Saxon derived word for the strange ditch that runs from here out across the Chiltern Hills. The dyke is much older than the Saxons who named it, potentially being an Iron Age boundary ditch. As we pass the golf course we come across this ancient feature with its double bank separated by an often water filled ditch.

The LOOP follows the ditch for a short while before turning into the woods. Shortly we arrive at what is left of Grimsdyke Lake. The famous writer Sir Arthur Gilbert made Grims Dyke his home in his later years. He enjoyed swimming in Grimsdyke Lake, but died from a heart attack whilst doing so in 1911. His widow had the lake drained, leaving it the seasonally wet hollow we see today.

Beyond the lake we enter the woods of Harrow Weald Common before crossing the road known as Old Redding to enjoy the views across North London and allegedly six counties (I’ll leave the reader to work out which ones these could be). Whenever one looks across London from one of the many vantage points around the city, it is always a challenge to orientate oneself by identifying the many famous landmarks. Here Wembley Stadium sits in the foreground, whilst as the eye focuses into the distance, the buildings of Central London are recognisable. Away into the distance it is possible to pick out the masts of Crystal Palace. The LOOP circumnavigates all we see before us as we contemplate the achievement that comes with its completion.

Suitably invigorated we decide to press on, aware that we have many more miles to complete before nightfall. A little way up the road we once again cross Old Redding and return to the woods of Harrow Weald Common. Well-marked woodland paths take us amongst the trees before we emerge onto Common Road and Bentley Priory Open Space beyond.

To our left is one of those mysterious military properties that only the chosen few ever appear to be permitted access to. Perhaps beyond the barbed wire, close circuit television and guard dog infested grounds, half-mad scientists devised fiendish ways of eliminating the enemy, or perhaps dreamed up 007 type contraptions to give us the edge over the intelligence agencies of foreign powers. The reality is, as ever, a little more mundane. This was where the RAF once housed large numbers of military personnel intent on the paperwork necessary to control air force operations in the Second World War. What is exciting, is that it was here that Lord Dowding of Bentley Priory had his control room during the Battle of Britain. From this old mansion Dowding directed Fighter Command during a battle that ranks with Waterloo and Trafalgar in its defence of the realm.

The LOOP turns left once the view opens up and contours along a tarmac path, with RAF Bentley Priory to the left. As we walk strange noises emit from Bentley Priory and we wonder what kind of military manoeuvres can be taking place beyond the high fence. Like a pair of cold war spies we find a suitable vantage point to observe the activity only to discover to our great disappointment that it has become an enormous building site. Here one can now acquire a 4-bed semi for as little as £1,875,000.

We leave this other-world behind us as the tarmac path takes us on a winding, up and down passage along the flanks of this charming area of London open space, before ushering us out into Priory Drive. At a mere one million pounds, the properties here are a little nearer our price bracket. Alas we have no time to stop and negotiate a suitably low price as we cross The Common, a busy road leading down into Stanmore. Opposite is The Warren, a mercifully quiet road. The LOOP creators have gone to great lengths to pick a route that takes us through tiny areas of woodland, back across The Warren and then across Little Common, before returning once again to The Warren. Those in a hurry may think the diversions un-necessary, walking ¾ mile when a ¼ mile walk along The Warren would suffice. However, any respite from tarmac and cars, in favour of woodland, fields and tranquillity gets my vote every time (and not a mad horse in sight!).

In due course we arrive at the far end of The Warren and negotiate the enclosed pathway alongside the hospital, before finding ourselves on a gravel path that leads to open fields. The day is now progressing, as the diminishing impact of the sun sees the February temperatures plummeting. A brisk wind cuts through our walking attire giving us a taste of the cold that will accompany us for the remainder of our promenade.

As promised in the LOOP directions, the rumble of the M1 can be heard off to our left. Hundreds of Matchbox sized cars trundle in both directions, intent on getting home before the sun sets. Not much chance of us achieving this. We press on across the large exposed field. Soon we are striding downhill towards Elstree Road and the underpass it takes beneath the rumbling M1.

We have walked a good distance already today and my dodgy right knee is starting to object to the fact. With only a matter of a couple of miles to the finish, I’m not going to pause even for one second to attend to it. The A41 Watford Bypass presents a bit of a challenge, but we arrive intact on the other side and continue along Elstree Road. The very sound of that name fills us with hope. Elstree is after all our destination. However, the LOOP has one last diversion for us to follow as we turn off into Aldenham Country Park.

Were this any other occasion, I would doubtless bless the creators of this section of The LOOP. Getting off a busy road into the relative solitude of a country park is nearly always going to be the preferred choice of any walker. However, my right knee has other ideas, sending clear signals to my brain “Stuff the LOOP, take the road to Elstree!”

Walking more like Long John Silver, I stump across the road to one more kissing gate and follow the track alongside Aldenham Reservoir. The LOOP directions suggest we “stray a bit from the LOOP to the dam”. I know they mean well but we decide to give it a miss and press on. It seems we will miss seeing the wonderful work done by our captive French neighbours in the late 18th Century. A nice piece of job creation by the government, to keep local landowners happy and to enable our oldest enemies to make amends for their misdemeanours.

We pause by the sailing centre for one last LOOP picture of ourselves, before the sun finally sets. Across Aldenham Road and a field planted with grass for the summer’s silage harvest to eventually arrive at Watling Street. I remember Watling Street from my first year at secondary school. Even before the Romans marched this way from Richborough in Kent, to suppress the northern barbarians, our forebears followed this route in pursuit of their business. Doubtless they would have scoffed at the thought of someone passing this way for leisure purposes. But pass we do, across Watling Street and into Allum Lane.

Allum Lane takes the walker directly to the finish at Elstree, but since a diversion through Elstree Golf Course will add a further half mile to our journey, why not have one last look at one of these strange areas of immaculately mown grass? One day, when I have time enough to spare, I’ll count how many golf courses the LOOP actually passes through. It must account for a significant proportion of the whole 152 miles.

As we bumble around the greens, trying to spot the LOOP markers in what little light remains, Betty takes out her thermometer. The temperature has dropped below minus 5 degrees Celsius and is plummeting towards minus 10. This is serious cold. I fear that I could be a latter day Mallory, found frozen to death on Elstree Golf Course within striking distance of the summit of my own Mount Everest. Fortunately for me, Betty is more successful than Mallory’s climbing partner, Irvine. With a mixture of cajoling and the promise of a celebratory beer in Elstree I limp to journey’s end.

Alas no-one is waiting to greet us. Where are the cheering crowds? The squadrons of reporters and photographers hanging on our every word? Not a single soul in Elstree has the slightest awareness that two limping figures shuffling along Alum Street are in fact super humans whose hand prints deserve to be recorded for posterity in the concrete outside Elstree and Boreham Wood Station. Move over Fred and Ginger, Billy and Betty are here!

Crushed by the realities of our inconsequential existences we stagger into The Crown and enjoy a frothing pint of London beer. Inevitably on occasions such as this one’s thoughts immediately turn to the question of “what next?”. After The LOOP, what is there? However, all those who have completed The London LOOP will realise that it is not the completing but the taking part.

One hundred and fifty two miles spread over 13 months. Some places I’d love to revisit, others I never wish to see again. We completed most of it during the colder winter months, something that is far less likely on any other long distance walk. The LOOP is not for the serious long distance walker intent on how many miles they can complete in a week. The LOOP is for the little people who want to discover that beguiling world that exists between urban London and the rural charms of the encircling Home Counties.

One thing is for certain, were we to follow the route again in 10 or 20 years time, it would doubtless have changed out of all proportion to its current self. Those interested in exploring the capital on foot have a wealth of alternative walks available to them. No need to walk more than a few miles in any one day, but getting out and walking, seeing, smelling and listening to the world outside the comfort of our homes is something everyone should aim to accomplish.

To all walkers everywhere and to LOOP walkers in particular – Good Walking.

We are now proud owners of ‘The London LOOP completion certificates’