Off message but on Sunday Gill and I went for a 6.8 mile circular walk around Hatfield Forest courticy of Ordnance Survey and Country walking magazine. Hatfield Forest is a marvellous ancient estate full of history and the National Trust look after it well but the noise from airplanes coming in and out Stansted Airport did spoil things a little.
Maybe during the week it is quieter? Well worth a visit but not that peaceful.
Description
The wealthy Houblon family, who helped found the Bank of England, bought the partly wooded acres of Hatfield Forest in the mid-eighteenth century. Lancelot 'Capability' Brown helped create a fashionable Georgian landscape with an artificial lake. Before that, Hatfield had been almost unchanged for six centuries since Henry I declared it a royal hunting forest in 1100.
By Phoebe Taplin
ROUTE
Start/parking: Bury Lodge Lane bus stop/National Trust parking near point 5 or parking for café users at Thremhall Park near start, postcode CM22 6NB, grid ref TL534213
Is it for me? Forest can get muddy in winter. Short section between 3 and 4 can get overgrown. Good tracks and paths
Stiles: 4
PLANNING
Nearest town: Bishop's Stortford
Refreshments: Hatfield Forest outdoor café (0344 249 1895) or coffee shop at Thremhall Park (01279 874503)
Public toilets: Hatfield Forest near café (point 5)
Public transport: Bus 508 (<a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.arrivabus.co.uk/">Arriva</a>) Bishop's Stortford to Stansted Airport (other buses include 42A, <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.firstbus.co.uk/">First</a>)
Maps: OS Explorer 183 & 195; Landranger 167
