Brookmans Park Newsletter
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Rolling hills, open vistas and a secluded pub
Walk Five - 4.5 km (3 miles)

This is a fairly stretching walk down from West End through bridle paths and country lanes to the banks of the River Lea and back up the hill again to West End. It offers marvellous open views north across the Hertfordshire countryside and has the benefit of beginning and ending at the Candlestick pub. The part along the river can be muddy after rain but the going is good for most of the route.

Follow the red dots on the map above. If you get tired, you can follow the green dots to shorten the walk. The map above is only a sketch and not to scale. A key has been added to help people follow the maps. To help you with this walk you might want to buy an Ordnance Survey Explorer E182 map for St Albans & Hatfield or click on www.streetmap.co.uk, or www.multimap.com and print the resulting pages. If you would like to comment on any of the walks for the benefit of others, please use the forum discussion thread on the walks.

1. If you intend to end this walk with a pint at the Candlestick pub in West End, you can park in the pub car park.
2. Leave the pub car park and turn right. Almost directly opposite you on the left is a small lane leading to Flint Farm.
3. Follow this path as it climbs a hill. At Flint Farm you will see a bridle path heading north. Turn right here and follow the path for about 1km until you reach Hillend Cottages.
4. Join the quiet lane here and continue walking almost straight north downhill, heading for the river.
5. Three quarters of the way down you will see a path to the right shortly after a lane to Hillend Farm. This path, marked with green dots on the sketch above, is a possible shortcut if you are feeling tired.
6. If you are following the red dots, continue down until the lane turns left. Here you turn right along a footpath keeping the river on your left.
7. The path bends slightly left, then right, but continues in a mainly straight line for about 1km until you reach a cart track joining from the right.
8. Take this path and begin a fairly steady climb south out of the valley and back up to West End.
9. You rejoin the West End – Essendon lane and turn right following the lane round to the left and back to the Candlestick pub.