Lea Valley Walk
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Lea Valley Walk
The Lea Valley Walk is a long-distance path located between Leagrave, the source of the River Lea near Luton, and the Thames, at Limehouse Basin, Limehouse, east London. From its source much of the walk is rural. At Hertford the path follows the towpath of the River Lee Navigation, and it becomes increasingly urbanised as it approaches London. The walk was opened in 1993 and is waymarked throughout using a swan logo. Route Stage 1 Leagrave - Hatfield Approximately The walk can be accessed close to Leagrave railway station at Leagrave Common where there are a number of springs and ponds from which the Lea forms. The first part of the walk is through the suburbs of Luton. After passing through Wardown Park the path joins the A6 road and goes through the town centre passing St Mary's Church as it heads close to the runways of Luton Airport. The A505 road is crossed as the trail makes its way through open countryside towards Harpenden. The path descends into the Lea Vall ...
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Wardown Park
Wardown Park is situated on the River Lee (England), River Lea in Luton. The park has various sporting facilities, is home to the Wardown Park Museum and contains formal gardens. The park is located between ''Old Bedford Road'' and the A6 road (England), A6, ''New Bedford Road'' and is within walking distance of the town centre. It is Grade II listed in Historic England's Register of Parks and Gardens. History The area that became Wardown Park was a farmhouse and country residence in the 1800s. The park itself started out as a private estate owned by Richard How. Richard's son, Robert built the first property within the park, called Bramingham Shott, which still stands and now houses the museum. In the early 1870s the estate was taken over by local solicitor, Frank Chapman-Scargill. He rebuilt much of the earlier house in 1879 for a total cost of £10,000. Scargill left Luton and the house and property was let to J Forder who renamed the estate Wardown. Frank Chapman's last surv ...
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Swan
Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology), tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae. They are the largest Anseriformes, waterfowl and are often among the largest Bird flight, flighted birds in their range. There are six living and many extinct species of swan; in addition, there is a species known as the coscoroba swan which is no longer considered one of the true swans. Swans usually mate for life, although separation sometimes occurs, particularly following nesting failure, and if a mate dies, the remaining swan will take up with another. The number of bird egg, eggs in each :wikt:clutch, clutch ranges from three to eight. Taxonomy and terminology The genus ''Cygnus'' was introduced in 1764 by the French naturalist François Alexandre Pier ...
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A1 Road (Great Britain)
The A1, also known as the Great North Road, is the longest numbered road in the United Kingdom, at . It connects Greater London, London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The numbering system for A-roads, devised in the early 1920s, was based around patterns of roads radiating from two hubs at London and Edinburgh. The first number in the system, A1, was given to the most important part of that system: the road from London to Edinburgh, joining the two central points of the system and linking two of the UK's mainland capital cities. It passes through or near north London, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Stevenage, Baldock, Biggleswade, Peterborough, Stamford, Lincolnshire, Stamford, Grantham, Newark-on-Trent, Retford, Doncaster, Pontefract, York, Wetherby, Ripon, Darlington, Durham, England, Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, Morpeth, Northumberland, Morpeth, Alnwick, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Dunbar, Haddington, East Lothian, Haddington, Muss ...
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Lemsford
Lemsford is a village in Hertfordshire, England. It is located close to Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield and is in the Hatfield Villages Ward of the Borough of Welwyn Hatfield. Both the River Lea and the early Great North Road (before it was diverted east of the village) pass through Lemsford, which was once a major coaching stop for wagons and horses commuting in and out of London. The nature reserve Lemsford Springs is located nearby, a vital sanctuary for rare birds such as the Green sandpiper. Lemsford is also well-known in the area for its traditional English country Fete, held each May Day Bank Holiday at St. John's School and Church. Activities include maypole dancing, raffles and live music. History The parish was created in 1858 out of the parish of Bishop's Hatfield. However, the settlement is older. Buildings of interest Lemsford Mill Lemsford Mill is a Grade II listed 19th-century structure on the River Lea. It probably occupies the site of one of four mills a ...
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Brocket Hall
Brocket Hall is a Neoclassical architecture, neo-classical English country house, country house set in a large park at the western side of the urban area of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, England. The estate is equipped with two golf courses and seven smaller listed buildings, apart from the main house. The freehold on the estate is held by Charles Nall-Cain, 3rd Baron Brocket, the 3rd Baron Brocket. The house is listed building, Grade I-listed. History On the parkland site were two predecessors: the first of these was built in 1239 as Watership or Durantshide Manor, and was early held variously of Hatfield Manor and the Bishop of Ely. A second predecessor was built about 1430: whereas in 1413 John Mortimer had held Waterships, it is known that in 1477 Thomas Brockett held both manors. The house was acquired by John Brocket (died 1558), John Brocket in the early 1550s, and passed to his son John Brocket (died 1598), Sir John Brocket (captain of the personal guard of Elizab ...
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Wheathampstead
Wheathampstead is a large village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north of St Albans. Included within the parish is the small hamlet of Amwell. The built up area of Wheathampstead had an estimated population of 4,628 in 2022, whilst the parish had a population of 6,622 at the 2021 census. History Belgic invaders settled in this area around 50 BC. They moved up the rivers Thames and Lea from what is now Belgium. Evidence for them was found in Devil's Dyke, at the eastern side of Wheathampstead. The Devil's Dyke earthworks are part of the remains of an ancient settlement of the Catuvellauni and thought to have been the tribe's original capital. The capital was moved to Verlamion (which after the Roman conquest the Romans would rename Verulamium, which in turn would become modern St Albans) in about 20 BC. Although silver Republican coins dating back to 100 BC are common finds around the verulam settlement. The Devil's Dyke is reputedly where Julius Caesar defeate ...
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Dunstable Branch Lines
The Dunstable Branch Lines were railway branch lines that joined the English town of Dunstable to the main lines at Leighton Buzzard and Welwyn. The two lines were under separate ownership and joined just east of the Dunstable North station. The line from Leighton Buzzard to Dunstable North was authorised by the ( 8 & 9 Vict. c. xxxvii), and built by the London and North Western Railway. This opened in 1848. The Luton, Dunstable and Welwyn Junction Railway planned a connecting line from the Great Northern Railway at Welwyn. The line between Dunstable and Luton opened in 1858. The company then amalgamated with the Hertford and Welwyn Junction Railway to form the Hertford, Luton and Dunstable Railway. The track to Welwyn was completed in 1860 and the line was taken over by the Great Northern in the following year. It became part of the London and North Eastern Railway from 1923 until British Railways was formed in 1948. Passenger services were withdrawn in 1965 under the ...
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Lea Valley
The Lea Valley (also spelt Lee Valley), the valley of the River Lea, has been used as a transport corridor, a source of sand and gravel, an industrial area, a water supply for London, and a recreational area. The London 2012 Summer Olympics were based in Stratford, London, Stratford, in the Lower Lea Valley. It is important for London's water supply, as the source of the water transported by the New River (London), New River aqueduct, but also as the location for the Lee Valley Reservoir Chain, stretching from Enfield, London, Enfield through Tottenham and Walthamstow. Geography Physical geography The catchment area of the River Lea is located in the central part of the London Basin, on that basin's northern flank. The main underlying geological formation of the upper part of the Lea catchment, north of Hoddesdon, is Cretaceous Chalk. The main underlying geological formation of the lower part of the Lea catchment, south of Hoddesdon, is Eocene London Clay. However, large a ...
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Harpenden
Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,674 in the 2021 census, while the population of the civil parish was 31,128. Harpenden is a commuter town, with a direct rail connection to Central London. History There is evidence of pre-Roman Belgae, Belgic farmers in the area. In 1867, several items were found including a bronze escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon, rams-head shaped mounts, and a bronze bowl. There are Ancient Rome, Roman remains in land around Harpenden, such as the site of a mausoleum in the park at Rothamsted. A tumulus near the river Lea was opened in the 1820s and it contained a stone sarcophagus of Romano-Celtic origin. Five objects dating from around 150 AD, were inside, including a glass jug with a Mediterranean stamp and samian ware dishes used for libations. Up to the 13th century, the area of the parish consisted of woodland with sm ...
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A505 Road
The A505 is a road in the East of England. It follows part of the route of the Icknield Way and the corresponding Icknield Way Path and runs from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire to the A11 road (England), A11 Abington Interchange North in Cambridgeshire. Route Bedfordshire – Leighton Buzzard to Luton The road begins at a roundabout with the A418 road, A418, the A4146 road, A4146 and the B roads in Zone 4 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, B440 south of Leighton Buzzard as a wide A-Class Primary Route. The road passes through two roundabouts as a single carriageway, and acts as the Leighton Buzzard Bypass. To enter Leighton Buzzard from the A505, an advisable route is to use the A4012 North from the roundabout at Billington. Southbound on the B440 from here will take you towards Hemel Hempstead and Whipsnade Zoo. Continue along the A505 along a 50 MPH stretch with speed cameras to reach the A5 road (England), A5 at a roundabout, where the A5 (in the form of a spur) repl ...
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Luton Airport
London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, England, situated east of the town centre, and is the fourth-busiest airport serving London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Limited, a company wholly owned by Luton Borough Council, and operated by London Luton Airport Operations Limited (LLAOL). An airport was opened on the site on 16 July 1938. During the Second World War, the airport was used by fighters of the Royal Air Force. Commercial activity and general aviation flight training at Luton resumed during 1952. By the 1960s, Luton Airport was playing a key role in the development of the package holiday business; by 1969, a fifth of all holiday flights from the UK departed from Luton Airport. From the mid-1960s, executive aircraft have been based at the airport. During the late 1970s, an expansion plan was initiated at Luton to accommodate as many as 5 million passengers per year, although the airport experienced a reduction in passenger ...
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St Mary's, Luton
St Mary's Church is an Anglican Church in the centre of the town of Luton, England. The church has a rich and long history, being over 900 years old and has been rebuilt and refurbished constantly over the centuries. The Church is one of the largest in Bedfordshire and considered a fine example of medieval architecture. The Church is part of the St Albans Diocese. The church is grade-I listed and the only one to be a grade-I listed building in the whole of Luton. History Original church The site of St Mary's has been the centre of worship for people in the area for over 1,000 years, and a church was built in about 930 AD by King Athelstan as an act of thanksgiving for victory over the Danes. The land here was owned by the king in Saxon and early Norman times and the church was very richly endowed. 12th century The current church was built by Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester in 1121 and consecrated in 1137. The original structure of the church was a cruciform without aisles, ...
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