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Bridges 150 and 151 accounted
for Hemel Hempstead, a new town that is quite uncharacteristic of the
smaller, somewhat old-world villages close to it. Soon I found myself in the
Hemel suburb of Boxmoor, the name of which is derived from the box tree, a
bushy inhabitant of the chalky hills that surround the location. This is
linked together with the word 'mor' which signifies a marshy spot; Boxmoor's
ancient water meadows are still a major feature of the locality. Robert
Snooks, in 1802, the last highwayman to be hung and buried at the scene of
his crime robbed a post boy on the turnpike on Boxmoor meadows. His remains
are interred in Boxmoor meadows near the place where he was hung and the
likely spot is marked by two stones, erected by the Box Moor Trust in 1904.
I reached the Swing Bridge No 147 at The Three Horseshoes pub, where locals
enjoyed a drink in the sunshine. I realised this was not far from Nettleden,
located in the Chiltern Hills, about four miles north west of Hemel
Hempstead, which is surrounded by Little Gaddesden, Great Gaddesden and
Frithsden. Both Nettleden and Potten End lie in the civil parish in
Dacorum District. The village name of Nettleden is Anglo Saxon in origin,
and means 'valley where nettles grow'. In manorial records of the late
Twelfth century the village was recorded as Neteleydene. Since 1984 it is
the place of the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, where Kavida once took me.
Nettledon sits on the periphery of Ashridge, an estate and house in
Hertfordshire; part of the land stretches into Buckinghamshire and it is
close to the Bedfordshire border, in the Chiltern Hills, an Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty. The estate comprises 5,000 acres of woodlands
(known as Ashridge Forest), commons and chalk downland which supports a rich
variety of wildlife. It also offers a good choice of walks through
outstanding country, particularly to Ivinghoe Beacon, where I walked on
numerous occasions, once with our hiking club, on a truly stormy day in
Hertfordshire (documented elsewhere on this website). The estate is
currently owned by the National Trust.
At Swing Bridge No 147 near
Winkwell, the West Coast Main Line crosses the canal. A short distance on,
the Hertfordshire Way crosses over via Little Heath Lane at Bridge No 145, a
red brick bridge in an exquisite setting, the lane running up to Little
Heath Farm, near Potten End. Near Bull Beggar's Lane at Bridge No 144, a man
sat in a deckchair on the towpath with his three dogs by his side. The
surrounding rural nature of the landscape along this stretch of the canal
seemed particularly attractive. I was now on the outskirts of Berkhamsted,
an upmarket village in Hertfordshire. At Bridge No 143, I crossed via over
the the right-hand side of the canal in the direction I was heading. At Lock
No 55 I reached The Rising Sun Pub, one of many along the waterfront of
Berkhamsted, all of them packed with customers. Emblazoned across Raven's
Lane Bridge, a bridge without a number, it would seem, positioned as it is
between No 141 and 142, "Port of Berkhamsted" reflects on a bygone era. The
Grand Junction Canal runs through Berkhamsted parallel to the High Street.
The section from the River Thames at Brentford to Berkhamsted was completed
in 1798 and the extension to Birmingham in 1805. The canal later became part
of the Grand Union Canal in 1929. The town also stands on the River
Bulbourne (non navigable). With the advent of canal transport, Castle Wharf
became a hub of inland water transport and boat building activity. It is
still known as the Port of Berkhamsted. |
