Arkesden Walk

This walk was 5.27miles long and this was the first walk we had done and it was out of the book called Pub Walks in Essex. It started in Arkesden and we walked to Clavering and back going through Sticking Green on the way. Akesden is a very pretty streamside village, the stream is called Wickham Walter and flows into the river Cam.

Details of Walk

• Date of Walk: 20/08/2006

• Distance: 5.27 Miles

• Car Park: The Axe and Compasses CM9 7TH

• Refreshments: The Axe and Compasses

• Photos taken on walk

The walk started at the Axe & Compasses after checking with the landlord if it was okay to park there we left the car park and turned left and walked about 130 yards before turning left again and heading away from the village up hill. After awhile if you look back you get a good view of the church St Mary of Virgins which has Norman foundations and is around 700 years old. We carried on walking until we came to the woods with Wood Hall on our left which was once called Wode Hall crossing a well defined path keep heading south. We then forked right and followed a hedge on our left and at the corner of the field we went into a dark hole in the hedge with a deep ditch on our left then after a few yards we turned right to bring us out onto the village green of Stickling Green.

We turned left along the road for about 250 yards until reaching Colehill Lane on the right which is a bridleway, we followed the lane for about 1/2 mile before reaching Clavering. With the Fox & Hounds pub on our left we crossed a wooden bridge and turned right to go up the road. A little bit further we turned right again to bring us into the prettiest part of the village, there was a bus shelter on the corner so we took advantage of a seat and had a snack. We then carried along the path that led us to the St Mary & St Clement church and the earthworks the only thing left of the castle from here we walked around the earthworks to bring us out on to a road where we turned right.

We followed the road and turned left at a footpath sign and kept on this path until it brought us out on to a field. Then we walked up across the fields heading north with good views to the left and in the distance we could see two windmills both without sails. At the end of the fields we reached the back gardens of Stickling Green and we went between to hedges to bring us out on to the village green. We crossed the road and turned right along the road till we came to the footpath sign that we had seen on the outward journey and from here we retraced our steps back to the crossing track before the woods.

We had to turn right here along the field edge round the fields with the three groves Horse Pasture, Stocking and West mead  on our right and at the end of the last groove the route was all down hill until we got to Hampit road. We then turned right and walked along the road passing by several lovely cottages for about 700 yards bringing us back to the pub.