Ford Street Walk

This walk was only going to be 3.45 miles long, but we went really wrong, and the walk ended up being 7.22 miles, but what the heck we enjoyed it, and it is always fun trying to work out where we went wrong and getting ourselves back on track.

Details of Walk

• Date of Walk: 15/06/2008

• Distance: 7.22 Miles

• Level of Difficulty: A Easy Walk

• Car Park: The Shoulder of Mutton CO6 3LL

• Refreshments: The Shoulder of Mutton

• No Photos Taken on Walk

Ford Street lies midway between the villages of Fordham and Adham there is a bridge over the river Colne but years ago there was a ford for horse drawn traffic so hence the name Ford Street. Another suggestion is the Ford comes from Robert de la Forde who lived here in the 13th century, so your guess is as good as mine or perhaps they are both right. On this walk you get a riverside walk, views of the valley from higher up and the walk along the main road through Ford Street with all the fine houses.

On the day we were there they had a open gardens day so we had to have a look at some of the gardens. Where you start the walk is at The Shoulder of Mutton which lies on the riverbank and is picturesque and extremely popular in the summer. As you walk along the path following the River Colne you come to the back of a nursery where you can hire out a rowing boats, which seems a relaxing thing to do sitting there while Christine rows. On this walk as we said earlier, we did go wrong, Christine had the map I must point out as we should have only seen the Viaduct at Chappel from a distant and not actually gone underneath it. But if we had not gone wrong, we would not have met a man and started talking to him. Apparently, he went on some walks with the writer of the book that we were using and he reckoned he liked a drink, so I suppose that's why his walks always start from a pub.