The New River and the Lee
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The walk starts in the village of Stanstead Abbotts which won 'Hertfordshire's Best Kept Village' award in 1999.
In Victorian times there used to be a large maltings industry, of which French and Jupps still maintain one site. The walk starts off above the New River, which is a man-made course running for twenty miles to supply London with fresh water and which has done so since 1613. When the route crosses the New River you will pass a monument to Sir Hugh Myddleton who supported the work on the river.
Opposite is Emma's Well, where there is a stone tablet recording John Scott's poem 'Emma'. The walk passes alongside Amwell Quarry Nature Reserve, formerly a gravel-pit, where lapwings, snipe and occasionally bitterns frequent. Otters were introduced here recently.
Finally the walk follows the River Lee back to Stanstead Abbotts. This was an important goods route into the capital for the mills and maltings alongside it.
England - Central England - Hertfordshire - River Walk
Features
Ancient Monument, Birds, Butterflies, Church, Flowers, Mostly Flat, Nature Trail, Pub, Public Transport, River, Wildlife, Woodland
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