Springtime Walk from Ashwell & Morden Station (11 miles / 17km - Moderate)

his is a joint walk led by our neighbouring young Ramblers group Stag Walkers. There are 15 places for each group, including the leader.

On the first day of meteorological spring, join us for a rural walk from Ashwell & Morden station in North Herts to the villages of Litlington and Steeple Morden in South Cambs. The route is mainly through farmland, with some sections of woodland and some gentle slopes.

We’ll set out from the station on a tree-lined path between the railway line and a massive chalk quarry. Chalk has been quarried in this area since medieval times, and after passing alongside arable fields we’ll come to the former Litlington Chalk Pit, which is now an important wildlife habitat. A local legend says that Robin Hood once shot an arrow from Limlow Hill 700 metres away which landed on the site of the pit, and a thorn bush grew out of the arrow’s shaft.

We’ll progress into Litlington, where we can spot several thatched cottages and an old lock-up where criminals of the 18/19th-century were imprisoned before being taken to court. We’ll have a snack stop in the village and can pay a quick visit to the large parish church.

We then head across fields, passing a wood with a medieval moat and alongside a stream named Cheney Water, before we reach Steeple Morden. After walking through a new wood we’ll have our packed lunch break at the recreation ground, followed by a quick drink stop at the village pub The Waggon & Horses.

We then return into farmland and ascend a low hill which gives a good view of the surrounding landscape; we should be able to see back to Litlington and to the nearby chalk downland of Therfield Heath. We’ll pass another enormous quarry, which is mostly hidden in the trees of Morden Grange Plantation, then come back along the other side of the Station Quarry to return to our start point.