Alban Amble – the leader’s view
Posted on Tuesday 8 September 2009 by Rona Wightman
Six riders today, only one of whom disembarked from the scheduled train. The others were local or had come on the stopping service. The leader’s whim was to head southwest, so we set off along the Alban Way and through the houses to emerge on Watling Street. There is a convenient underpass to get you under the A414 roundabout, and a convenient service station with M&S and coffee machine just after that. There is another convenience in Park Street next to the playing fields, so for good measure we stopped there too. Now the ride began to get rural, as we followed School Lane into the woods.
Then we turned into the Munden estate down a gravelly bridle path. We crossed the Colne, and progressed along the southern edge of the flood plain until we climbed up through the Wall Hall estate. Wall Hall was built in 1802, and has seen service as a wartime training centre for resistance movement liason personnel, a maternity hospital and an educational establishment. When the University of Hertfordshire moved out a few years back it was turned into executive homes. Tha Hall is like a Disney castle. The barn on mushrooms is worth seeing.
We paid only a short visit to the churchyard of St John the Baptist at Aldenham, to visit the memorial to members of the Smith family, including one who was killed in action on HMS Victory at Trafalgar. The church would have been worth a closer look, as it is very historical, the Saxon church was built by King Offa in 785AD, the present building dates mostly from the 14th and 15th centuries and includes Hertfordshire Puddingstone in the tower. However, we had lunch to seek.
We called in at Elstree Aerodrome, but the cafe has had a makeover and on Sundays now only does roast dinners at £15. We moved along to The Battle Axes public house, and enjoyed home cooked fare at reasonable prices, cheerfully dispensed. And the sun shone, so we basked a bit, to soak up the energy we would need to get up from Radlett to Shenley.
Having ascended, caught our breath, and admired the old lock up and duck pond, we continued east until South Mimms came into view. Whereat we headed north through the woods and groves and secret valleys of the North Mymms Park. After this rustification, it was a bit of a slog to get to Colney Heath, enlivened however by a pony and gig coming the other way.
At Colney Heath, two of the party pressed on for St Albans, but the remainder were game to take up the offered play stop, especially as it came with tea and biscuits served from an old railway carriage. Only two were bold enough to take the train however. Yes folks, we had dropped in on the North London Society of Model Engineers locomotive running track, open to the public on Sunday afternoons from Easter to late October.
After the excitement of the model engines, we calmed down with a quiet run back in along the Alban Way which is of course itself a former railway line.