Photothon 5a: Boxmoor

This would have been yesterday's photo if I had not been distracted by the dog club - hence the strange numbering.



Just look at this path. Doesn't it look as soft as an Impressionist painting? Doesn't it invite you to put one foot in front of another and run?

If it doesn't go very far and it is not a route in its own right, then that doesn't matter. It is a section and a place to make you feel good.

For this we have to thank a quirk of history and the generosity of someone in 1594 who bequeathed this area of land around the Bulborne and Gade rivers to the 67 inhabitants of Hemel Hempstead and Bovingdon. The aim was to preserve grazing and fishing rights on land that was once part of the Monastery at Ashridge. Since that time it has remained Common Land administered by a trust (now governed by and Act of 1809) and used for the recreation of the people, a wildlife sanctuary and the grazing of some rare breeds.

Over the years it has adapted and changed, taking on a farm and a disused brickworks here, giving up land for the railway and canal there, yet it always maintains its character. When you arrive at Hemel Hempstead station and beyond the forecourt it is the first thing you see.

Parts of it are given over to sport: there is a golf club, rugby club and two cricket pitches. So it is entirely appropriate to run. It is part of the spirit of the place