River walk Ransome's to Ickleford

This is the start of the river walk for me as it is the old drawbridge (now replaced with a new, improved model) across the river Hiz from my house. -What better place to start my journey to Ickleford.

I stand upon the drawbridge looking North ( away from Hitchin). The stream is 'normal' height today. However, if it rains heavily it quickly rises to a level approximately to the top of the brick wall, just visible on the right of the photo.  I built the wall a few years ago to amuse my mother who was duly seated on a chair in the stream whilst I laid the bricks. It's a cool and tranquil place in the summer time. A place to stay away from the intense heat of midsummer. When I'm working the wildlife takes no notice of me. As soon  as I stop to 'watch' - everything decides it's time to go!

A kingfisher will sometimes flypast upstream and hardly notice that someone is standing in the river. If they do see me, they simply divert through the garden and carry on their journey.

Across the drawbridge there is a 'secret (hidden) garden, through which I can access Ransom's Rec. to make my way along the river path.

The garden used to be the site of some public toilets (long since destroyed) so beneath the thin layer of soil there is tarmac and rubble. I have tried a range of planting without much success. However, over the years I have, in places dug through the rubble and established a suitable growing space for wild fruiting trees such as Oak, Holly, Prunus, Mountain Ash and others. l also I found that raspberry's do well with their roots being near the surface. Many blackcurrants and other fruits all help to feed the thriving bird population.  I also have the biggest of bird tables suspended high above the river. This allows for the seed husks to be taken away in the stream or be eaten by the thriving fish and crayfish population beneath it.

I've put a pond in which attracts much wildlife, including frogs, newts and the full range of garden birds.

All the snails from my own garden get thrown over here, much to the delight of the local thrushes whom I can hear thrashing the shells against the stones in order to get their next meal.  Unfortunately for most wild creatures, the local cats also use this area so there tends to be a 'food-chain' with them at the top end. Unless the dog gets out. Then, I can almost hear the birds cheering them on! 

The secret garden is designed so that when I am no longer around, the garden and it's food sources will continue without the need for human tendering. Hopefully the oak trees will be there for future generations to admire.

This is the view of the hidden garden from Ransom's Rec. I cut the Privet hedge just a couple of times a year as this is part of the bird's nesting habitat.

The weeping willow was planted by the council and is magnificent, but these trees will only last about 30 years before they start shedding their branches.  This one has already been lopped because of the dangerousness of some branches. Hopefully, by the time the tree is removed altogether, the oak trees just behind the hedge will have grown to a size that will be suitable as replacements.

I turn around to face due North, in Ransom's Rec.with the river Hiz immediately on my left.  To the right is the children's play area which is very well used by children and parents during the day, adolescents, drug-dealers, alcoholics and all sorts of down & outs at other times.  

It must be said that none of them create too much of a nuisance as they all seem to appreciate the facility both as an activity area and a wildlife oasis in an urban desert.

This is the Grove Road entrance to Ransom's Rec. The footbridge over the river Hiz has recently been made into two crossing points. Hence the two tarmac footpaths.

The noticeboard regularly attracts graffiti 'artists'. Given the quality of their work, one could guess they will never be exhibited anywhere else, other than on structures seemingly perceived to be provided for them to scrawl upon.

The walk runs through this basketball space which doubles-up as a model car racing circuit and hard area for playing ball games when it's very wet on the field. Bogginess is not infrequent as this is a flood-plane for when the river rises above normal levels.

The magnificent weeping willow tree is one of a row that were along the river bank. Unfortunately, several of them have already been taken out because they had fallen or were dangerously close to falling.

Here is the first sign of acknowledgement to the 'river-walk'. - Erected by the Hitchin Rivers Society at what they perceived to be the start of the 'river-walk'.

I am thankful to them for their efforts as it somewhat legitimises my own efforts (which were not sanctioned by anyone in particular).

A view of the 'Triangle Community Garden' from Ransom's Rec.  The river runs left to right (South to North) where the willow trees show at the rear of the picture. The river walk runs through the garden and, as part of footpath maintenance and goodwill towards the gardeners, I cut the hedge and the grass immediately inside and outside the community garden. In turn, I have 'weeded' out many self-set grasses and lifted seeds from the garden in order to replant them further along the walk.

Another view of the Community Garden where the river walk meanders throughout the garden in alternative directions. In the darkest corner of the picture can be seen the route of the river walk at the Northern exit of the garden.

This is also at the Northern exit to the Community Garden and I include it because to the left there is a pond for aquatic and other wildlife. This mirrors the pond I have at the other end of Ransom's Rec. Both pieces of still water allow wildlife to obtain and utilise water without having to negotiate the vagaries of the (at times) fairly fast running stream. 

To the immediate right of the picture runs the railway line. Upon its vegetated banks is a richly diverse wildlife habitat that forms a continuous link with other parts of the landscape.

I have planted many snowdrops and other plants in this area and, if they naturalise, they will give great pleasure in years to come.

Although not immediately apparent, the River Hiz runs just to the left of the path down the bank, and beneath the vegetation .

I have also planted this area out with Hostas - which have already been devoured by slugs and overgrown by nettles. However the Narcissus I put in 2 years ago seem to pop their heads out in spring despite the dense covering vegetation.

This is the footpath just before we get to the Community garden (I know it's slightly out of sequence. but I like the picture of my dog indignantly waiting for me to take the photo shot and get on with 'his' walk along the river walk!)

Another picture within the Community Garden with the pond area at the space where the small gate is in the background.  Most of the picture is the front edge of  a children's maze made out of willow saplings. I thought this was of particular interest in that it is actually planted on the route of the old river walk. So now walkers are deliberately diverted through the Community Garden area where hopefully they will appreciate the hard work that has been put in to make this a desirable space.

Past the community garden, under the rail bridge, the river can now be clearly seen, as vegetation does not appear again until daylight at the end of the bridge.

To the left high up in the bridge structure there is a ledge and a street light. Here the local feral pigeons have made a 'home'.   They do tend to defecate on the side of the Grove Road footpath, but what a small price to pay for the entertainment they provide. Anyway, there is always the alternative of using the footpath on this side of the bridge which does not have the corresponding ledge and therefore 'no pigeons'.

As a structure, the bridge is a magnet for graffiti 'artists' despite being painted in black graffiti-busting paint.  For my part I am not sure which is worse - black paint or graffiti!

Follow the lead, the dog protests. While I am more interested in the grey wagtail who frequents this part of the river and provides much entertainment by flitting from rock to rock catching insects. Often the mallards and wrens will also inhabit this stretch as there are plenty of insects and invertebrates to be had amongst the river shingle. To the right at the end of the bridge is an old wartime pillbox which, in springtime doubles as a des.res. for the grey wagtail and sometimes the wren.

Under the bridge the footpath rejoins Grove Road and the river temporarily flows on our right. The area on the right used to be the flood plain and water collection for Grove Mill. It is now flats ,which make me ponder upon whether the developers will bother to inform the potential buyers of the previous function of the land

Here we are coming up to the culvert which takes the water under Grove Road and past Grove Mill (Which is situated to the left of the photo.

Where the dog is, is also where, in the season, I collect wild plumbs. Because the first of the plumb trees overhang the river I have designed a plumb-picking tool on an extendable pole. This also doubles up as a blackberry picker for further along the walk where the very best blackberries almost always are on the very highest, thorniest briars.

Here we can see the culvert for the River Hiz along with the almost compulsory supermarket trolley. I have taken this particular trolley out of the river on at least five occasions but it must be a 'homing-trolley' because it just appears back there each time I walk along this stretch.

In the piece of scrub on the bridge to the left of this picture there is another wild plumb. There used to be many sapling trees beneath it which I have now nurtured and replanted in other places further along the walk. Wild plumb seems to be a favorite with pigeons as well as with me. (it makes delicious jam which, unlike domestic, cultivars, has manageable sized skins for spreading on sandwiches).

The river behind the Hiz in the picture is the Purwell and it has its own separate culvert under Grove Road. This was put in a few years back because of the flooding in both Grove Road and Woolgrove Road due to the fact that both rivers were unable to pass through the one culvert quickly enough.   It was fine when Grove Mill was working and there were no housing developments to concern us. However, in modern times we create the problems only to find that we have, at some time, also to find solutions.

This is also the River Purwell from the bridge over the Grove Road Culvert. I include it for three reasons.

1) This is the spot which marks the centre of the 'Ring of Springs'.

I hope that one day soon I will be able to erect a suitable plinth and plaque to indicate its significance. Hopefully the design will also include a kingfisher nesting site to face upstream towards Walsworth, as this is where Kingfishers regularly cross the road by flying under the culverts and it would be an ideal nesting site for them

2) Up the bank to the left of the picture there are some new flats. They dug out a big hole - below river level for the car parking. Amusing when you know the history of the river. But I suspect not quite so amusing for the car owners at some future date when they too learn of the dangers of living at river level.

3) To the right of the picture is some land which nobody has yet developed and I hope never will. It forms the Purwell River part of the river walk which I will eventually join up with Walsworth Common and beyond to the springs on that side of the Purwell Valley. At present you need wellies to negotiate the bridge carrying the Cambridge line.

We now cross over Grove Road to the entrance of the spinney and the start of this phase of the walk. It will be noticed that I have some temporary recycle boxes next to the litter bin. This is because I noticed that most of the stuff being left in the bin could be recycled. Ironically, the building behind the bins actually contains the recycling bins for the flats on that side of the road so I don't have to take it far.

This is an area that I am working on at the moment, so there are notices saying that the usual footpath is closed and asking people to use the temporary diversion through the spinney, down by the river. This way they will also see the work going on at the water's edge.

I include this view to show that there is a steep drop in the footpath just beyond the notices. It is my intention to fill this in and grade the footpath so that it will be suitable for wheelchair access at some point in the future.  I am of course reliant upon local people to supply topsoil, subsoil and rubble to infill this space at no cost. So far this is going well - if slowly.

This is the alternative route and temporary diversion sloping down towards the other end of the two culverts. I have already planted a few spare holly bushes along the left of this footpath and hopefully there will be many more planted in future to form a holly hedge along Grove Road and discourage the dropping of litter in this area.

This view of the alternative path also shows 'my-logpile'.  Illustrating just how steep the slope in the main footpath actually was.  The logs are all from trees that had fallen within the spinney. It was not an easy task to saw them and move them on my own, but the end result is quite functionally impressive and will eventually create a very useful habitat for local critters in the spinney.

At the river's edge I am making a brick path out of bricks retrieved from the river as well as those supplied for infill in the main path.

The brick path will eventually form part of a wheelchair-accessible riverside retreat , with seating and river-dipping ledges. 

Above the two culverts I have recently put bags of topsoil and planted trees and ivy that should overhang the culvert exits.  I have taken approximately 1000 holly cuttings this year, some of which will also be planted in this space.

We are now on our way again through the spinney. This year I saw a white-fronted water shrew wandering along the path at this spot. Having never seen one before, I had to look it up for a positive identification.

The log in front of the tree was winched out of the river just below the River Hiz culvert where it was catching all the rubbish that the river washed through. (my thanks to The Countryside Management people for their assistance with this task) I did try to fill in the deep hole it left but the force of the river in flood simply pushed all the rubble straight out again.

The log is placed in a position on the bank where it serves as seating in a 'hide', within which I can sit and watch the kingfisher as he/she sits on that overhanging branch between the two culverts. Facing downstream I have put vegetation up to form the front of the hide and can watch the yellow wagtail and the kingfisher come and go.  Swans have also been seen at this point. I am not sure if they come upstream from Ickleford or through the culvert from the River Purwell in Walsworth Common as there are swans in both areas.

A view of the alternative diversionary route as it joins the main path again. Here we can see the extent of the slope and infill needed. The path edging in the picture represents the bottom end of the slope. I started at both ends because, if and when topsoil becomes available, it gets put on the sides of the path for planting purposes. English bluebells are among the bulbs planted here.

This is still in the spinney on the path created by the Hitchin Rivers Society

At this point the path goes two separate ways. One is up some steps to the Cadwell Lane football field suitably signposted at the field end and the other route (behind the dog, in front of the river) is where I began digging out the riverside path to Ickleford.

There was a storm drain that used to run right over the path at this point. However, I found a large pipe that helped but did not stop the problem altogether.  Fortunately I found another pipe which I put alongside the first and this seems to have resolved the problem, all except when it get blocked with leaves and debris, then it becomes another maintenance job to clear the pipes. Generally the solution is a good one and the footpath remains relatively dry now.

 I finish this contribution to the blog at the point where the established Hitchin Rivers Society path ends and my own digging begins. I have made and erected a noticeboard on the recycle building at the start of this section and in it put a rough sketch plan of what is intended for that part of the river walk.  Also on the noticeboard are things like the poem 'Ring of Springs' by B.Withers and anything else interesting that crops up.  

When I have time I hope to include  a list of wildlife, fauna and flora to be found on the walk. My wife has been doing a bird count for the past few years and I have been photographing plant life,  so there is plenty of stuff to interest people.

POSTSCRIPT:

Since the 'breakthrough' to Ickleford more than a year ago, there has been an increase in numbers of people using the river walk. Some carry binoculars, others cameras, some are walking alone and some bring their families, Several times I've been working down there to be greeted with many runners  whom I presume belong to some sort of local running club.

Also it has become a popular place to off-road cycle as well as forming a new and easy shortcut to the industrial area for those who walk to work.

It's all very pleasing to think that I have opened up opportunities for others to utilise and enjoy. The positive comments, alongside offers of assistance are witness to the appreciation shown by others. They also reinforce the assertion that the efforts of one individual over time can indeed make a small yet positive difference.

PURWELL VALLEY 'RIVER WALK'
The Purwell 'Ring of Springs' is the quintessential originating component for the start of the rivers' Hiz and Purwell.
All the springs comprising the 'ring of springs' can be accessed on foot and the route from one to another makes a most delightful and interesting ramble.
This part of my blog does not illucidate the niceties of navigating from spring to spring but highlights a walk that I have been personally involved with developing from Ransome's Rec. through to Iclkleford.
As a child ( many, many years ago) I used to walk along the river via this route. However, approximately 30 years ago the council landfilled the space that is now known as Cadwell Lane football pitch and in the process made quite a steep slope right into the river. This covered up the old path and made it very difficult to still walk along the river bank.  As the years have passed this 'corporate vandalising' and intrusion into 'my-space' began to urge me to think about doing something about it.
Having roughly surveyed the route, it seemed to me that it would be 'possible' (over several years) for one person (me) to cut out a path and reinstate the walk that I had enjoyed as a child.
Another motivation for me was, that if someone else took up the challenge and joined the Ickleford section to that in Bedfordshire, then the walk could be continuous from the river source at the Purwell Valley 'Ring of Springs', via the Great Ouse river, all the way to The Wash.
This would form a flatish 'national-walk' for those who perhaps are not capable of navigating the more hilly terrain of some of the other national walks.
The work at the Ransome's Rec. end, through to the first part of Cadwell Lane football field had already been completed by The Hitchin Rivers Society some years ago. Thus, they had set a precedent and a standard that I could emulate. However, as with all countryside footpaths, they need regular maintenance if they are not to get overgrown and revert back to scrubland. So one of my tasks was to 'rediscover' the works of my predecessors and reinstate their section of the 'Riverwalk'.  I was particularly pleased to find the old wooden signposts, as they were situated at Ransome's Rec. as well as Grove Road and Cadwell Lane football field.  Also, in the old spinney near Grove Mill, they had hardcored the base of the path and the wooden edging was still just traceable. This made it much easier to uncover the old path within the denseness of leaf mould compost and  ivy growth that had buried it over the years.
It is my intention to give the readers of this blog a visual experience of the 'riverwalk' by putting in some sequential photographs for the whole route. and commenting upon the walk as we go.
I hope you will appreciate describing the countryside in prose is not as effective as seeing pictures.  However, even this does not compare with getting out and about and walking the route for yourself.