Bayford, Little Berkhamsted

The great joy of the Fridays walk is doing things and going to area that one has never been to before and today's walk was no exception, starting off with catching the First Direct from Moorgate station from a platform mascarading as a Northern Line underground platform- yes pathetic but it amused me. The train took us with ease to Bayford which we discovered to be an idyllic English village with typical small cottages distributed around the village green with an air of peace and quiet, cricket , horses and all those quintessentially English things and all within a 40 minute train ride from central London. I think the locals might want to bribe me to keep quiet lest their secret is out and those ghastly townies discover the place.

The walk proceeded well with the occasional group discussion and retracing of steps. All part of the normal process. Lunch was at Little Berkhampstead again another charming village with cricket ground, church etc. And the next of my new experiences- a fish finger sandwich with rocket and mayonnaise- billed as a gourmet delight- not convinced by the latter statement but eaten with a pint of Adnams Ale in the sunshine made it pretty good.

The afternoon extension was shorter than we expected and took us along the Lee River in its infancy. Unfortunately it also took us along a busy road toward a large quarry which was blighting the country side and then back to Bayford over rolling countryside where the Chelsea Tractors were out in force as it was school collection time, so perhaps the area has been discovered after all.