St Alban's Way #1: St Albans to Borehamwood - (8 or 14 miles / 13 or 22.5km - Moderate, Booking Req)

This walk is for up to 25 people, including the leader.

This is the first in a series of three planned walks to complete the relatively new walking route called St Alban’s Way, a 35 mile trail linking St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London to St Albans Cathedral. It is designed as a pilgrimage to the shrine of St Alban, Britain’s first saint, at the Cathedral. You can join us for any or all of these. This is a linear walk. We recommend that drivers park at the end point and take the train to the start point, so that they can walk back to their cars.

The walk includes some town walking, field paths and riverside paths and the terrain is generally flat with some undulating farmland. There is an option to drop out at Radlett, 8 miles in, and get the train back to the start or end point, for those who want a shorter walk.

We begin by walking west, crossing the city centre to reach the medieval part of St Albans, picking up St Alban’s Way at the Cathedral. From here we follow the trail south across part of Verulamium Park known as the orchards, then turn east to follow the River Ver on a pleasant riverside path away from the city centre and into the Cottonmill suburb, so named for the former mill at Sopwell. We pass the ruins of Sopwell Priory and continue onto the main road through Cottonmill.

At the old mill, we turn south to continue following the Ver into the countryside. We cross water meadows, then at Park Street village we walk through an area of woodland and former gravel pits, now used for fishing and providing wetland habitats for birds. We’ll stop for our packed lunch break here.

Near Colney Street village, we cross under the M25 motorway, then leave the Ver behind to cross farmland and horse paddocks on the way to Radlett. We enter the wealthy town with a long walk along Newlands Avenue, one of several ‘millionaire’s row’ streets in Radlett. We then cross the town centre, turning northeast after the station and then exiting the town via another ‘millionaire’s row’, The Warren.

Paths through woodland and farmland lead us around the outskirts of Shenleybury and into Shenley Park. We have the option to stop at the cafe here, where drinks and snacks are available as well as toilets. From here we continue along a pleasant path past Shenley village. We turn south towards Borehamwood, following paths across arable land and past more horse paddocks to the edge of the town.

Dogs are welcome on a lead.

For information about walking with the group, including our dog policy, please visit the Stag Walkers website.

Booking your place: Please book your place using the free Meetup website/app. Join the Stag Walkers Meetup group and click the 'Attend' button on the event page.

Please do not turn up for a walk without booking, as places are limited.

If the walk is fully booked, click 'join waitlist' to get a place if one becomes available and please check back regularly as you will likely get a place. The waitlist gives priority to single bookings so if you wish to bring a guest, we recommend booking separately.

Unless you opt in to further communications, we will only use contact information you provide to get in touch about the walk.