Ricnor one

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This route was walked in November 2023. It was walked from Northwood in the direction of Rickmansworth.

After leaving Northwood Underground Station and crossing over Green Lane, walk on to Eastbury Road. Take the first footpath on your left that follows alongside the Metropolitan Line. Cross over the railway footbridge on your left, which involves ascending and descending a number of steps. Continue on footpaths until you reach the Batchworth Heath area, where Rickmansworth Road meets the junction of Batchworth Lane. This is a busy junction and there are no dedicated crossing points, so please take care. Walk along the London Road, in front of Ye Olde Greene Manne pub. There are no pavements for this section, but plenty of room to walk on the grass. Turn right on to Park Close. You will then see a footpath entrance on your left which leads on to the grounds of Moor Park Golf Club. The footpath takes you directly across the golf course, which felt a little hazadous at times. The path is marked by a series of white posts. They are sometimes quite difficult to spot and the route is not entirely obvious. You definitely have right of access through the golf course, but I got the distinct impression that the golfers didn't love having us there! When you exit the golf course, cross over Moor Lane and head towards Batchworth roundabout. Go through the grounds of St Mary's Church and you're back in the centre of Rickmansworth.

Things to note: there are lots of steps on the footbridge that crosses the Metropolitan line, plus the footpath is partially blocked by a large tree at one point. For these reasons, the route is not suitable for wheelchair users. Crossing the golf course did not feel particularly relaxing.

I walked from Rickmansworth to Northwood
There is a short road section past the lovely church and not so lovely roundabout before entering Moor Park golf course. The path is easy to follow with yellow arrows on tall white posts. Talking to one of the members, she says that walkers were very welcome and would be safe if they stuck to the marked path. Rooks and Geese seem to like the path and there are lakes near the end. I did not have to wait at all. There is a narrow walkway to The Green Manne and Batchworth Heath. Following the London Loop sign there are some woods with muddy paths, steep in places. Cut-through paths keep you away from roads but are made very narrow by trees on the path. There is a bridge over the tube line with lots of steps. The path carries on alongside the line to Northwood station.
This was a lovely walk with lots of greenery and little roadside walking. I enjoyed it, I much prefer greenery over roads. Not for wheels.

About 1.5 Km of this route is along roads - with footpaths. There are two crossings at very busy junctions without pedestrian aids such as zebra crossings or traffic islands. 2 Km of the route runs through two adjacent, and popular, golf courses. The (well-marked) footpath criss-crosses the fairway five times. At the busy time I walked this route I found myself waiting several minutes at each fairway crossing, for the golfers to move on.
Near the end of the route there are three steep flights of steps, where it crosses the railway line, that render it impassable for wheelchairs or mobility scooters (see photos), though these steps can be avoided by turning off the route and using the street parallel to the line, to get to Northwood station.
This was the first time I have walked along this route and I doubt I would walk it again, unless it were to revise some element of this review, or to gather data for a survey.

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