Slip-sliding away along the River Stort

There had been time enough for the recent heavy snowfall to have melted in most parts of the city but out in Hertfordshire there was still a little left. This made the towpath along the Stort Navigation slippery in most places and slushy in many. However it remained passable throughout today’s walk of just under nine miles. There was one point where a stream  covered the path and I judged not even my doughty winter boots could withstand it. I climbed through a fence into the neighbouring field and bypassed it that way.

Although I had no guide, various helpful notices along the way informed me that the Stort navigation was consructed by George Duckett and opened to boats in 1769. The original intention had been to meet up with the Cam and go on to Cambridge but the coming of the railways made this unnecessary. Instead it now terminates at Bishops Stortford.

The railway runs parallel to the river for most of the way, which means that, even on a Sunday it’s easy to pick up the route at a station and choose any number of stopping points. I have to say that I was glad to have had the forethought to take Christiane Rochefort’s rivetting tale of a young woman who falls in love with an alcoholic along ,’Le Retour du Guerrier’, as I had to wait for connections at  Cheshunt .   

Starting at Sawbridgeworth I headed south . I was surprised by how much birdsong there was. I suppose the birds were enjoying a little sunshine after a week of freezing weather. 

The Stort at Sawbridgeworth

The next town passed is Harlow Mill. The map shows the site of a Roman temple nearby. I was reminded that Buntingford, not too far away, had been a substantial Roman settlement . From the river, I didn’t see anything. It is just one of many fascinating places I have not visited on these walks. I never feel like visiting historic monuments in hiking boots and am usually anxious to continue walking and make the most of the daylight. However, since many artefacts are preserved in Harlow Museum, I can always go back.

At Latton Lock, on the stretch between Harlow Mill and Harlow Town stations, I came across a piece of sculpture: 

Essex sculptor, Angela Burrell, has produced in ‘Mill’  a tribute to the site’s heritage, as a mill once stood on the spot. It is part of the ‘River Stort Sculpture Trail’ of 2007. Later I was to walk past ‘Flowing Onwards by Parndon Lock’ . It is made of millstone grit from County Durham and is by Roydon-based sculptor, Angela Godfrey, whose son, Paul Burgess, attended the same school as my children. I also saw the spheres  by Graeme Mitcheson, which symbolise the link that Harlow  has with the rest of the world. I know I missed more by the pretty Parndon Lock. I’m beginning to suspect that my walks are as remarkable for what I don’t see as for what I do.

The Stort near Harlow

By now the sunny intervals had become very sparse indeed and I was no longer so aware of the birdsong. However, despite the marshiness of this terrain, passing through Parndon Mead, Hunsdon Mead, and Roydon Mead, the path remained firm and solid, never deviating from the side of the Stort. The late start had meant that it was four o’clock by the time I reached Roydon. I discovered that there was an hourly train service, so fearing that I would not make Broxbourne before dark, I stopped and waited for the train from Roydon.  

I had never walked from Sawbridgewrth to Harlow Town before and from Harlow to Roydon but rarely and, in any case , this section has many new developments. I had seen many interesting paths going off in other directions and can only marvel at the number of opportunities for attractive walks in this area. However I had hoped to get to what had been a very familiar walk indeed : from Roydon to where the Stort joins the Lea. Here we used to walk the dog, Lady and in a field nearby,  we had gone sledging the last time it snowed this heavily, many years ago now ,but that will have to wait for another day.