Colne Valley Wildlife, Chilterns

Start: Café in the Park, Rickmansworth Aquadrome, Frogmoor Lane, Rickmansworth (WD3 1NB) Grid ref. TQ 055 938

(S/E) – From the car park, take the wide surfaced path to the right of the café and toilets and walk alongside the edge of Bury Lake, on your left. 

(1) Keep left, continuing along the surfaced path with Bury Lake to your left. Continue for approx. 500m to a path T-junction.

(2) Turn right and immediately left through a gate onto a rough path. Walk forward for 80m to an open hide on the left that overlooks Stockers Lake (A). Return to the path and turn left through the trees and gate into a field. Follow the fence line along the left side of the field and through a gate into the next one. Continue alongside the fence to reach a further gate to leave the field onto a riverside path. Turn left along it for 640m to reach a footbridge on the right just before a path junction.

(3) Turn right over the footbridge and the river on a path signposted towards Inns and Springwell Lakes. Follow the path around to the edge of Inns Lake to leave through a gate onto a lane. Cross and pass to the right of the old car park entrance to soon reach a gate, the entrance to Springwell Lake.

Follow the path around the edge of the lake for 1.3km, passing the Springwell reed beds (B) on the right, to join a surfaced access road. Continue ahead for 200m and, just before the bridge, bear right through a gap onto the canal towpath (C).

(4) Turn right and follow the towpath for 1.6km (D) to reach the Coy Carp pub in Coppermill Lane.

(5) Turn left along the lane taking extreme care as the road is very narrow as it crosses the canal. Just after the left-hand bend, turn left into Summerhouse Lane and walk along it for 300m to the entrance to Hillingdon Narrowboats Association.

(6) Opposite the entrance is a concrete road, signed for The Hillingdon Trail. Follow it uphill past the houses on the left for 300m, bear left through the metal barriers and continue uphill through Old Park Wood (E). After 250m there is an option to turn right further into the wood to see the woodland flora. Continue on the main path uphill and between fields to meet a road, Hill End Road.

(7) Turn left along the road for 650m as it passes through the village of Hill End until a left-hand bend.

(8) Bear right on a waymarked path at the entrance to Cripps Farm Bungalow. The path entrance gate is next to some large private gates signed for Georges Yard. Go through the gate and follow the path ahead for 650m as it drops down through a wood (Cooks Wood) and a gate into a field. Just before the gate is a white metal post (F).

(9) From the gate, continue downhill keeping to the right of the fence (which may be temporary fencing). Just before the end of the field, the path goes uphill towards a gate.Go through the gate and follow the farm track down to the entrance to Stocker’s farm.

(10) Do not go through but turn right up the slope to pass through a gate into a field. Turn left and follow the field edge down to the next gate to meet a wide track. Turn left along the track and follow it round to the right and over the canal.

(11) Continue straight ahead through a gate into the reserve. Follow the main path to a major junction. Turn right on a wide surfaced path back to the café and the car park. (S/E)

We hope you have enjoyed your walk. Please remember to rate the walk and add comments. We are interested in how we could improve the instructions or the route and would like to hear about any issues with paths on the walk.

Start & finish: Café in the Park, Rickmansworth Aquadrome, Frogmoor Lane, Rickmansworth (WD3 1NB) Grid ref. TQ 055 938

Terrain:  A stile free walk on good surfaces with one climb up through Old Park Wood. Can be muddy at times.  230ft/70m of ascent.

Parking: Rickmansworth Aquadrome car park

Local transport: Rickmansworth is served by buses from Amersham, Hemel Hempstead, High Wycombe and Watford. Rickmansworth station is on the Metropolitan Line from Aldgate via Baker Street and is also served by Chiltern Railways from London Marylebone. For further details go to www.travelinesoutheast.org.uk

Food & drink: Café in the Park and The Coy Carp pub, Coppermill Lane, Harefield, UB9 6HZ Maps: OS Explorer 172, Chiltern Society 22 and 28

This walk was created by the Chiltern Society. Find out more about the Chilterns and how we care for them by visiting chilternsociety.org.uk

(A) Stocker's Lake: All three lakes are owned by Affinity Water and are managed by Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust (HMWT). Stocker’s Lake is especially known to birdwatchers with common terns nesting on the floating rafts and the largest heronry in the county.

(B) Springwell Reedbeds: This is the largest reedbed in the London area. Look or listen out for birds like reed and sedge warblers.

(C) Grand Union Canal: The Grand Union Canal runs for 137 miles from the Thames at Brentwood to the junction with the Digbeth Branch Canal in Birmingham. It was the main artery for goods between the Midlands and London for about 50 years before most traffic moved to the railway. The section through Rickmansworth was known as the Grand Junction Canal and was fully opened in 1805.

(D) Coppermill Lock: The name comes from being the site of an old copper mill built in 1803 by the Mines Royal Company. The copper was used for lining the bottom of Royal Naval ships and for the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral.

(E) Old Park Wood: This is a Site of Special Scientific Interest owned and managed by the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. It’s a varied woodland, mainly hazel coppice understory with standard oaks.  Some large sweet chestnuts in the lower, more sandy areas. The highlight of the wood is the abundance of flowers in spring. A carpet of bluebells along with yellow archangel, lesser celandine, wood anemone and the uncommon coralroot bittercress. Golden saxifrage and marsh marigolds grow on stream banks and around the pond. The pond is also important for dragonflies and amphibians. The wood is rich in invertebrates and birds, including all three British species of woodpecker.

(F) White metal post : it was one of around 280 erected in the 1860s to mark the points where taxes were due to the Corporation of London on coal being brought into the city. The post is Grade II listed.

Seasonal Highlights :

• Spring : chiffchaff, reed warbler, cetti's warbler, heron, little egret, swallow. Spring wildflowers in the woodland could include dog's mercury, lords and ladies, wood anemone, wood sorrel, bluebells and finally the wonderful and nationally scarce coral root bittercress.
• Summer : common tern, daubenton's bat, purple loosestrife, southern hawker dragonfly, damselfly.
• Autumn : great crested grebe, osprey, red admiral.
• Winter : goldeneye, kingfisher, shoveler, siskin, redpoll, wigeon.

Other Wildlife - Birds : Look out for gadwall, cormorant occasional visits from smew, red-crested pochard and water rail. Migration can bring many unexpected sightings. Butterflies : Sunny days could bring out brimstones, orange tip, small tortoise and peacock.

• The Colne Valley Park covers over 40 square miles and extends from Rickmansworth in the north to Staines in the south. There are 200 miles of river and canal and over 60 lakes and is very important for wildlife and recreational activities.

• Rickmansworth Aquadrome: The Aquadrome is 41 hectares of open water, woodland and open space and one of six Local Nature Reserves owned and managed by Three Rivers District Council. Batchworth and Bury Lakes are former gravel pits that ceased operation in the 1920s. Gravel extracted from them was used in the construction of the old Wembley Stadium. Today the area is a haven for wildlife and is notable for its wet woodland.

These notes have been compiled with the assistance of Rob Hopkins, Reserves Officer, Herts & Middlesex Wildlife Trust.