Gade Valley Loop

A much overlooked circuit walk, for which I have coined the new word Urbral: embodying the delights that both an urban and rural landscape can afford the willing walker.

There are certainly plenty of urban and man-made pleasures to take in as you gently climb the Eastern brow of the Gade Valley.

We start in Kings Langley on Station Road where free parking is available at the weekend and evenings.  Following the public footpath sign along Egg Farm Lane, this quiet road will take you under the Great West Railway and up to the headquarters of RES, a company specialising in renewable energy.

RES Wind Turbine, Kings Langley

 Here you will walk beside a landmark that imposes itself on the surrounds and can be spotted throughout this route, the wind turbine.  Today we can hear the turbine battling with the wind, but the propellers are compliant in nature’s demands and spin in powerful accordance with her wishes.

As you climb further looking back across to the West, the Gade Valley opens up before you. Kings Langley nestled in its bowels and Hemel Hempstead peering over its shoulders to the North.

The view across Kings Langley

 The lane continues to cross one of man’s greatest and much maligned accomplishments, the M25. Walking high above the uniform flows of traffic below provides an appreciation of the freedom this pursuit affords us.

We are now on the Abbots Langley side of this trail and the lane soon gives way to a stony track amongst the arable lands that straddle the tarmac loop of London.  A successful descendant of the Red Kite reintroduction scheme keeps watch, silently soaring above us.

After a kilometre the path splits and we head North back over the M25 on a pedestrian bridge through a kissing gate and across farmland.

We join up with an old lane that will lead us back down the valley through open wind swept fields to our starting point.

This track is shared by horse riders and bears many signs of hoof churn, which can make the ground uneven.

Undulating perhaps conjures up too romantic an image for a walk that does not score highly in the beauty stakes, but the valley does rise to over 400 feet and is of a moderate challenge for most walkers.

The route can be completed in about fifty minutes, which is ideal for us when time is not on our side. I regard this as our therapy walk. We can access it from home, we know it well and we can walk and talk together unhindered by life’s many distractions. 

It may not be the prettiest, but this walk and many like it certainly have their place. The Urbral walk -perfectly designed for the hustle and bustle lifestyle of the modern day being who yearns to be at one with and at peace in the landscape.

Walking Threads

What to wear on this walk is very much dependent on the weather, although walking boots are always a must due to the uneven tracks. Wellington boots may be called into action after long spells of rain. A gillet is proving to be very handy in an exceptionally mild winter, with a deceiving bitter wind.

The Essentials 

Location: Kings Langley, Hertfordshire

Transport: Free parking on Station Road weekend and evenings

                    Trains every half an hour to Kings Langley station

The Route: 2.6 miles

        Fair to moderate climb to 400feet

                    Kissing Gates

                    Uneven ground, slippy underfoot in wet months

                    Well worn paths but not always signposted- OS Map helpful

Facilities: Public toilets, shops and pubs available in centre of Kings Langley

http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/60184254

http://www.res-group.com/

http://www.kingslangley.org/

http://www.mountainwarehouse.com/

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/redkite/index.aspx