Trent Park and Hadley Wood

It was just such a stunningly clear morning that I felt I had to go for a walk, and with the forecast set fair for most of the day I thought I might make it a long one. As it turned out, much longer than anticipated. I was out for 7 1/2 hours, and pretty dead on my feet by the time I got home. Anyway, picture album ahead - trip to Trent Park via some familiar parks and green spaces, plus a new one - I diverted to Hadley Wood.

New River path

Broomfield Park

The resident grey heron was not on his island but on the lake edge, so I sneaked up behind him....

Arnos park

Waterfall Walk

Oak Hill Park

Now very soggy with so much rain. Normally this would all be grass...

Monken Hadley Common

Also normally I would go up through the woods and cut up to Trent Park. But the mud looked awful, so I continued to the end of the park and then tried to follow the Pymmes trail to Hadley Wood.  I got to Monken Hadley Common. There is a fairly long path to the left which I might explore at a later date, but I wanted to go right which leads close to Trent Park. But first went straight on to the lake, which turned out to be primarily a members only fishing lake.

Going towards Trent Park there is a thinnish strip of mature woodland, suitably muddy.

In happier times I might have stopped off at the Cock Inn for lunch....

The war memorial just before Trent Park

Trent Park 

And finally to Trent Country Park itself. Have been here several times, but this was the first time I had fully explored it

There is a fine tree lined avenue across it - this is by far the busiest stretch, not least as it is so well paved and flat.

I spotted a kestrel. Unfortunately it flew off its nicely conspicuous perch in front of me and went off to the furthest range of my camera so have nothing better than a silhouette to show for my efforts....

I descended into the Japanese water garden

A hellebore in bloom

Ah, snowdrops!

Then I cut across the park to explore the woods properly. 

Someone had been busy...

And then I came across Camlet Moat. Feels odd to come across something in the woods, even if only a ditch. The building in the middle was long demolished, so all that remains is the square moat filled with water. I suspect it doesn't get many visitors at the best of times, but now really takes some effort to squelch through surrounding mud.

If you have pots of money, as the owner of the estate in the 1930s, Sir Philip Sassoon, did, you erect an obelisk. Why not?

As I said, it was muddy in parts...

Christ Church, Cockfosters - an early Victorian church now an evangelist (ie happy clappy) place, although of course actually it is now closed. I went into the cemetery to find it was being used by an old lady to exercise her horrible little pit bull by kicking around a very misshapen football, which will happen when it gets grasped by the jaws of a pit bull. Not I feel the most respectful use of a graveyard.

Then back home. A good 90 minutes from Trent Park even by the fastest, least scenic route, although did take me back through Broomfield Park in the fading light.

Back in my own garden, not much to see now. One camelia out.