Watling Chase Timberland Trail (part two)
An 11 mile walk from Borehamwood towards St Albans
(Photos © urban75, October 2008)

Part two of our walk along the The Watling Chase Timberland Trail.


Road crossing button conveniently situated some six foot in the air for horse riders.


Crossing the M25, whose horrible noise we'd heard for some time.


Approaching the River Colne at London Colney.

The hamlet used to be on the old coaching route between London and St. Albans, carrying up 150 horse-drawn coaches a day in its heyday.


Cottages at London Colney.


We didn't see any ice.




This cheeky little fella got closer and closer until it was grabbing the bread out of my hand!


Willows Farm Village.




Heading east with the River Colne to our left.


Old quarry workings




Stone conveyor belt.


Autumnal fruits.


Curious sheep.


Towards Sleapshyde.


We passed the site of the North London Society of Model Engineers at Colney Heath. It's only open to visitors on Sundays from April to the end of October, so we didn't get to go on the model train ride or enjoy some cake.


Sleapshyde church.




Ridiculous amount of street signs on the approach to Sleapshyde.


The late seventeenth century Plough public house in Sleapshyde features a timber frame and thatched roof with dormer windows.


It was beginning to get dark by the time we crossed this field to reach the old railway line.


Formerly serving as a branch line of the Great Northern Railway, the line closed in 1969 and is now a footpath called The Alban Way.


Bridge over the trackbed before the site of Smallford station.


Hidden from view by corrugated iron fencing topped off with razor wire is the original station building.


Disused platform at Smallford station.

The station was named Springfield until 1879 and lost its passenger traffic in 1951, while freight traffic hung on until 1st January 1969.


Edwardian view (c.1904) of the station in its prime.
Find out more about this lost railway line here: Smallford station history

We dearly wished the line was still open as the last bus had long gone from outside the old station.

After walking about a mile in the wrong direction, we worked out where the Sleaford Roundabout was and got a bus to St Albans.


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