Details
Location:
Through Shephalbury Park and Fairlands Valley,
Stevenage.
Weather:
Light drizzle while we were gathering in pub car park but
this stopped before the start of the walk.
Distance:
5 miles – Average speed 2.3 mph
Elevation Gain/loss:
473 feet
Our Group
Comprised 16 walkers led by Bob Whaley.
The Walk
This walk was planned to be a hard surface walk, which is just as well as the rain in the days leading up to walk day had left the ground saturated.
This was our first walk from the Old Red Lion, although it used to be a pub where the 316 club held its meetings!
From the pub car park we walked along Shephall Green, under Broadhall Way and through Shephalbury Park, with its manor house to our right, to the Roebuck Shops where we turned right onto Broadwater Crescent. We then walked along Broadwater Crescent to the roundabout at Broadhall Way, turning onto Broadhall Way, towards Stevenage Football Ground until we reached the car park at the southern end of Fairlands Valley.
We walked along the metalled footpath through Fairlands Valley South until we got to Six Hills Way where we turned right to go to the bridge under Six Hills Way. From there we walked through Fairlands Valley North to the visitor centre by the sailing lake, where we had a short break.
After the break we continued north past the other 2 lakes, before turning back south, going past the splash park and the sailing lake, effectively completing a circuit of all the lakes. From there we crossed back under Six Hills Way and walked back along to path in Fairlands Valley South until we got to a footpath branching off to the left. We took this path, past the Scout Adventure Park, to Valley Way, where we turned left then right onto Hydean Way.
From there is was a short walk back to the Old Red Lion.
The best thing that can be said about the pub is that the beer was OK. However, the food service in the pub was not particularly good. Some food arrived in fairly short order, but some arrived after a long delay and a few dishes were not very hot
The map of the walk is shown below
Shephall
Shephall literally means ‘a corner of land where sheep are pastured’. It is next to the Fairlands and the word ‘fair’ comes form an old Scandinavian word meaning sheep. Up until the 16th century Shephall was owned by St Alban’s Abbey. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, King Henry VIII became owner of the estate who passed it on to George Nodes who looked after the King’s Buckhounds. The Manor house that was on the site was replaced, in 1864, with a neo-gothic building that still stands today. The manor house was used to house evacuees in the Second World War, then as convalescent home for Polish officers. Afterwards is became a Polish boarding school, then an institution for children for behavioural problems. The Coptic Church bought the manor house in 1991 and built a cathedral in the grounds.
The Old Red Lion was built in 1940, but has been substantially modernised since.
Roaring Meg
In Stevenage, Roaring Meg is the name of a small river; a tributary of the River Beane that is said to roar when it rains. The origin of the name of the river is unclear, but may come from the name of any of several powerful cannons used in war. The first cannon with this name was used in the siege of Goodrich Castle in 1646 and was said to roar when launching projectiles.