We’re a Ramblers group aimed mainly at people in their 20s, 30s and slightly older, offering led walks and social events across Herts, Beds and south Cambs.
This walk is for up to 30 people, including the leader.
A Bank Holiday walk of epic proportions as we celebrate the only city in Hertfordshire with a 14 mile loop around St Albans!
This walk will require a good level of fitness due to the length of the route, which is on a mixture of surfaced paths and rural tracks through town, farmland, woodland and open green spaces. We recommend bringing comfortable, sturdy footwear. Please also make sure to bring refreshments to keep you going. Car sharing is advised as parking may be limited.
Starting at Sandridge Football Club, we'll head in an anticlockwise direction towards Sandridgebury Farm and the southern edge of Heartwood Forest. We'll walk by the late film director Stanley Kubrick's Childwickbury Manor house, where his wife still lives.
Next, we'll head through Batchwood, where we'll hope to see a vast sea of bluebells before bypassing Batchwood Golf Club.
Then, we'll get to see St Albans' famous Cathedral and Verulamium Park, where there are remains of the Roman history of the city. This is where we'll stop for lunch. We'll have a first pub stop at the Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, said to be the oldest pub in England. After this, we'll head east and join the Alban Way, a dedicated path to Hatfield that used to be a railway line, running parallel with the River Ver. We'll pass Smallford station, now being turned into a museum.
Heading north into Smallford, we'll have a second pub stop at The Three Horseshoes, before continuing to Ellenbrook Fields, an old, abandoned airfield used by the De Havilland museum when it was an active factory to test planes. To finish off the walk, we'll take in the views of Jersey Farm and then back to Sandridge and our starting place.
Dogs are welcome on a lead.
For information about walking with the group, including our dog policy, please visit the Stag Walkers website.
Booking your place: Please book your place using the free Meetup website/app. Join the Stag Walkers Meetup group and click the 'Attend' button on the event page.
Please do not turn up for a walk without booking, as places are limited.
If the walk is fully booked, please click 'join waitlist' then please check back regularly as you will likely get a place. The waitlist gives priority to single bookings so if you wish to bring a guest, we recommend booking separately.
Unless you opt in to further communications, we will only use contact information you provide to get in touch about the walk.
This is a circular walk.
The start time is when we aim to start walking and the finish time is an estimate.
Walks are graded Easy, Leisurely, Moderate or Strenuous in increasing order of difficulty. Please read the walk description to check it is within your abilities and contact the group if you are unsure.
Please:
We are a Ramblers group, non-members are welcome to try us out for three free walks before joining Ramblers as a full member.
As a charity we ask that non-members consider making a voluntary donation to Ramblers until they purchase membership. We suggest £3-4 per walk. You can donate in person or online.
The Ramblers’ Association is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company registration number: 4458492. Registered Charity in England and Wales number: 1093577. Registered office: First Floor, 10 Queen Street Place, London EC4R 1BE.
Sandridge Rovers Football Club, Spencer Recreation Ground, High Street, Sandridge, St Albans, Herts. Free parking by the start point, but in case you have difficulty parking here, Heartwood Forest Car Park AL9 9DQ is 10-15 minutes' walk away and also has free parking (please aim to arrive before the advertised start point if possible). Due to buses being infrequent, please arrange to car share with someone by requesting a lift on the meetup event page.
