Stevenage Walking Festival: Stevenage & Aston Walk (5.5 miles / 8.5km - Leisurely)

Hosted by Stag Walkers as part of Stevenage Walking Festival. This is a short introductory walk through woodland and gently rolling farmland to the east of Stevenage, visiting Aston for a packed lunch stop and a pub stop. 

Starting from Ridlins car park in the southeast corner of Stevenage, first we’ll skirt the edge of the village of Aston then briefly pass through a golf course to reach Lady’s Wood then Astonbury Wood. These are both great sites for bluebells at the beginning of spring. Astonbury Wood is an ancient woodland leased by the Herts & Middlesex Wildlife Trust since 2023 and is a designated Local Wildlife Site.

After a snack stop at the edge of the wood, we’ll follow part of the Stevenage Outer Orbital Path (STOOP) for just over a mile, taking us past fields with horses, across arable farmland and along a country lane. On reaching the River Beane we’ll leave the STOOP and take a cross-field path uphill back to Aston. We’ll have our packed lunch stop at the village playing field, followed by a quick drink at The Rose & Crown, a community owned pub which reopened in 2024 after being closed for 10 years. Finally, the last mile of our walk takes us through the village and along tree-lined paths back to our start point.

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: There is no limit on group size for this walk and booking is not essential; however, we do find it helpful to know who's coming, so:
• if you plan to come along, please book a place for yourself and any guests you are bringing
• if you have to cancel please update your RSVP so we know not to wait for you
• you can RSVP via our Meetup group or e-mail stagwalkers at gmail dot com
Unless you opt in to further communications, we will only use contact information you provide to get in touch about the walk.