Welwyn North Circular

21 August.  The weather forecast was dire the previous evening and heavy showers in the afternoon were still forecast on Saturday morning, so I was pleased when all seven people who had put their names down for this walk appeared at Welwyn North station.   They included Julian, who was joining a Morley Ramblers’ ramble for the first time. 

The walk is an undemanding 6/7 miles on good (but not concrete or tarmac) paths over gently undulating countryside. So there are no spectacular views from high places, but one can see quite a long way over arable fields and pastures.   In some fields the well-ripened cereal crops had been buffeted by wind and rain, but elsewhere the harvest had been completed, leaving straw bales and stubble.   The same rain had left the pastures much greener than they often are at this time of year.

Apart from one short and very light shower, the rain held off until we were approaching our lunch stop.   We paused to admire some recently sheared llamas (or were they alpacas?  Opinion was divided) before heading for The White Horse at Burnham Green.   By now it was raining quite heavily.   Four of the group went straight inside the pub to eat, two sat on a memorial bench under a tree which offered reasonable protection from the rain and two headed for a graffiti-free bus shelter on the far side of the green.

Two of the party dropped out after lunch.  The rest of us could have shortened the walk back to Welwyn North station, but everyone wanted to complete the full circuit.   The rain cleared up almost immediately.   

So we were able to enjoy the walk back to the station through woods and, towards the end, down a wide track through fields of oats and wheat, reading notices provided by the farmer identifying the crop and the use to which it is put (flapjacks, cattle fodder, Guinness …).

Trains heading towards Cambridge were seriously delayed, but our London-bound one arrived on the dot. Barbara. (Thanks to Christine M for photos).