Details
Location:
From Aston, past Aston Bury, through Astonbury Wood,
to the edge of Frogmore Park then back to Aston past
Aston Bury
Weather:
Dry sunny day. There were a few patches of mud around
but they were easily avoided.
Distance:
4.7 miles – Average speed 2.2 mph
Elevation Gain/loss:
319 feet
Our Group
Comprised 21 walkers led by Tim Alexander.
The Walk
This was our fifth visit to Aston and our fourth to the Rose and Crown (our last visit was in 2011). It was also our first visit to the pub in its current guise as a community pub.
We turned right out of the pub along Broadwater Lane for 100 yards, then turned onto Aston Lane then went past the Aston small industrial units until we got to Aston Bury where we turned right onto a footpath along the drive at the front of the Bury (note the Bury was not involved in the war effort, that was Aston House [see below]).
Near the end of the drive, we turned onto a hard baked track across a ploughed field and entered Astonbury Wood. While walking through the wood we had a good view of the of the playing fields at the old BAe Social Club of Bragbury End. The path through the wood took us along Stevenage Brook and at the end of the wood we turned uphill keeping the wood on our left.
At the uphill corner of the wood we turned right and after a short break we walked to Frogmore Hill, past Waterbridge (a 16th century open hall house) and turned left at Pumping Station Cottages. This road took us to Aston Bury and the Aston small industrial units. We then turned onto Strangers Lane then onto Broadwater Lane and back to the pub for that welcome drink and some food
The map of the walk is shown below
Aston Bury
Aston Bury is a Grade I listed manor house. It was built in the mid 17th century. The house is now a luxury apartment block. The ground floor walls of the building are made of flint, banded with bricks and with brick dressings, and the first floor has timber framing infilled and faced with brick.
Aston House
Aston House was a 17th century residence with large parkland. The house was occupied by The New Town Development Corporation as its first headquarters. The building was demolished in 1961 and the adjoining parkland became Stevenage Golf and Conference Centre in April 1980.
The house was requisition by the government during WW2 and became the Research and Development Centre of sabotage explosives and weapons for SOE. More detail on the history of the house can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aston_House