Broxbourne to Rye House Walk

With storm Bert battering much of the country on Saturday 23rd November, I headed to Stratford on a grey overcast day, and met Madeleine before we headed off to Broxbourne on the train. At Broxbourne we met up with Cathy, Richard and Lorraine, who had come by car. The weather forecast said the rain should stop by 11 o’clock. However, it hadn’t; but undaunted, we set off northwards along the River Lee Navigation, knowing that if the rain continued we could take shelter in the cafe just two miles away.

Fish and Eeel Pub at Dobbs WeirThe river was pretty quiet as we passed some of the brightly coloured narrow boats moored up by the river banks, some in pristine condition, whilst others needed a little TLC. Even the wildlife seemed reluctant to venture out. We passed one hardy boater cruising the river and after about 20 minutes the rain stopped, although we still played “dodge the puddles” on the rough track beside the river. We soon reached the cafe at Dobbs Weir and had a stop for some drinks and a snack.

Leaving the cafe, we rejoined the river, crossing the weir, heading to Rye House. This section is a bit industrialised, but what struck me (luckily not an overhanging branch) was that I couldn’t hear the go-karts at Rye House kart track. As we reached the track, the go-karts went out on the circuit, having waited for the track to dry off.

Rye House GatehouseLeaving the Lee Navigation we crossed the river to visit Rye House Gatehouse, which was part of one of the first brick built houses in the country, dating back to 1443, and is a Grade I listed building. It has been home to royalty, ghosts and an assassination plot. It wasn’t open, so we had a look around the outside. RSPB Rye Meads is just a little further down the road, but we didn’t go there.

Retracing our steps, we crossed back over the river and railway to walk southwards along the New River path. We stopped to watch a flock of ducks, which were acting strangely, with some of the gentleman ducks rearing up out of the water and making a whistling noise, presumably to impress the ladies (no, not Cathy, Madeleine and Lorraine, I meant the lady ducks!).

The Gatehouse from the rearWe continued along the New River, an aqueduct built to bring fresh water from Hertford to north London. It’s obviously man made as it’s higher than much of the surrounding valley. We followed an Egret and then a Cormorant as we walked along the river, with good views out over the Lee Valley to our left, and some very posh houses over the river. Arriving back at Broxbourne we headed for the cafe. .

The walk had been about 6 miles along two watercourses, and the weather had been decent apart from at the start. We had included two cafe stops, and a historic building as well. All in all, it was a very enjoyable walk.

Trev Eley.   27th November 2024

 Photos by Madeleine