Enjoy this shorter walk from the village of Abridge, in the parish of Lambourne, which is in a delightful rural setting despite only being a few miles from London
The Walk
1 From the village hall, cross over the road via the pedestrian crossing to the right and take New Farm Drive almost opposite the car park, going uphill nearly to the top. Just before the sign to the cattery, take the footpath on the left and go diagonally across the field to the bottom corner where you cross a concrete bridge, then bear right and go diagonally again to a kissing gate on the next field boundary.
2 Go uphill through the edge of the wood and near the top. The footpath goes left into an open field. Go right around the field edge where there are good distant views to the left. Continue uphill to the corner of the field and go right through the gate in the hedge and out onto a Tarmac track. Turn left and continue on, taking you past Lambourne Hall and the pretty church which is often open to the public. Where the road bends left by the white cottage, go straight ahead onto a footpath, taking you into a field.
3 The current path goes straight across the field, but if this is not available, go right and follow around the field edge. At the end, where there is a gap in the hedge, go left and follow the footpath which runs along the field edge with the woods on your right. At the footpath post (which you reach if you had gone straight across the field) bear right and continue to follow the field edge path alongside the wood. At the bottom, follow the field edge around to the left until you reach a timber footbridge.
4 Cross the bridge and go down the grass path between the crop fields and then through the buildings of Park Place via the concrete access road. Continue down the road to the footpath junction and go left along a grass track. This takes you through a ramblers’ stile and along a narrow alley past a large house (The Elms) to Church Road. Cross the road and proceed straight ahead along a grass footpath with good views to your right. Continue on with a wood to the right past the old distressed lightning tree to Apes Grove, another wood, on your right.
5 You can carry on alongside the wood or take the parallel path inside the wood. At the corner of the wood, go right and still follow along the edge of the wood to the next corner where you bear right along a wide grass path going downhill to the stream at the bottom. Cross the bridge and continue straight ahead along the footpath between the houses, which takes you back to New Farm Drive. Turn right and retrace your steps downhill back to the main road and the car park where you started.
