12-mile circular now passes through North Mymms Park
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| The footbridge over the River Colne features in the extended North Mymms Way Image by Hertfordshire Walker, released under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 |
The route has been widened to the west thanks to the creation of a short stretch of permissive path by a local landowner following discussions with the Ramblers Association.
The route now goes through St Mary's churchyard and then crosses North Mymms Park, offering sweeping views across the country estate to North Mymms House.
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| The view to North Mymms House to the left of the footpath through the estate Image by Hertfordshire Walker, released under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 |
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| The footpath from St Mary's Church through the estate Image by Hertfordshire Walker, released under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 |
The change to the route is between points 7 and 8 on the map below, the permissive path that made the extension possible is just after point 8 and avoids having to walk along the busy Tollgate Road.
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| Map for The North Mymms Way Created on Map Hub by Hertfordshire Walker Elements © Thunderforest © OpenStreetMap contributors |
Route inspired by local history
The idea for creating The North Mymms Way came about during the writing of an article for our local history site, The North Mymms History Project.
The feature was about the centuries-old tradition of beating the bounds, during which members of North Mymms Parish Council (NMPC) and local residents would walk the length of the parish boundary as a way of recording the size of North Mymms.
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| North Mymms Parish Council beating the bounds near Hawkshead Bridge in 1930 Image from A Nott, part of the Images of North Mymms collection |
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| Children, local residents, and parish councillors beating the bounds in August 1950 Image from D Denchfield, part of the Images of North Mymms collection |
In June 2013 our local walks site, Hertfordshire Walker attempted to trace that route as closely as possible to the parish boundary using public rights of way, permissive paths, and quiet lanes - and without trespassing on private land.
The result is a 12-mile circular route around the parish that goes through Bell Bar, Brookmans Park, Gobions Wood, Little Heath, Water End, and Welham Green. Walkers can start and finish the walk at any point along the way.
Brochure being produced by North Mymms Parish Council
In early 2017 this site contacted Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) and NMPC suggesting that The North Mymms Way be adopted by one of the local authorities as an official way-marked long-distance path.
Representatives of both HCC and NMPC discussed the plan, and in May 2017 the route, along with images and directions was presented to NMPC for consideration. Subsequently, the parish council decided to recognise the route.
NMPC has since been working on the production of a brochure for those who want to walk the North Mymms Way.
In the meantime, directions, a map, and pictures for the walk can be downloaded free of charge by going to Walk 22: The North Mymms Way on Hertfordshire Walker.
Copyright conditions
The North Mymms Way has been published under the terms of Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0.
This means that anyone is free to copy and republish the route as long as:
- attribution and a link is provided acknowledging the creator of the walk
- any derivative of the North Mymms Way is published under the same Creative Commons license terms including a link to the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence
- any publication of the walk is non-commercial.
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