In these photos, the Hitchin Outer Orbital Path heads off north west into open fields, before swinging round to cross the busy Bedford Road and enter the outskirts of Ickleford. We stopped to pick blackberries and watch the cricket – as these photos show.
Click on any thumbnail to see an enlarged version. You can then scroll through the pictures and their captions using the arrows that appear on the edges, or by using your mouse wheel.
The correct route swings left behind the shed
A red herring: this is a path you don’t take
A house with many visitors came close to blocking the path
A decoratively-illustrated finger post shows the Pirton/Hitchin route
Mill Way takes a gentle curve to the north
Looking north east across the fields
Another path you don’t take – go right instead
Agricultural skies
Pathside flora
More signage on the Pirton/Hitchin path
This stage is characterised by easy field-edge walking
Miles and miles of healthy crops
The end of this field seems to take forever to arrive
Not a shortcut
The stone axe waymarks are for the Icknield Way
The big brown barn at Pound Farm
Looking over at the fringes of Ickleford
At the A600 the path is safely fenced off for a while
Inevitably on a path the rings a town, there are a few big roads to cross
An abandoned glasshouse slowly surrenders to decay
Brambles colonise the empty skeleton of a glasshouse
