Cycling and walking
The Canal Centre offers a great deal of information leaflets and maps on walking and cycling in the Batchworth area. Many of our volunteers have invaluable local knowledge of the area and what it has to offer. The Ebury Way is for cyclists, walkers, and horse-riders. The track crosses the Colne, Chess and Gade rivers and the Grand Union Canal. Cycling is permitted along the whole length.
Take a gentle stroll along the Canal or visit Rickmansworth Aquadrome offering walks around three lakes, Bury, Batchworth, and Stockers together with a surrounding area of wooded and parkland. If you intend to explore further by foot you will need: Ordnance Survey Explorer No 172 Map, which covers all of the local and surrounding areas.
You can also walk the Chess Valley Walk all the way to Chesham and returned by Metropolitan line to Rickmansworth.
Information about staying safe on your bikes can be found here. Thanks to Paul East, the Community and Content Manager from BikeParts.co.uk
Circular Walks from Batchworth with an introduction by Jillian Christensen
The idea for a series of circular walks came from visitors to Rickmansworth, who regularly ask for this information at the lock centre. It seemed a good idea to include information on the canal, and it's importance to the local area over the past 200 years or so. After I had completed a couple – up the canal and down the canal - it was inevitable that walks would become longer and leave the canal behind. I now hope that people who live in the area will find a different route to enjoy.
I thoroughly enjoyed researching the routes, both on foot and in print. There will not be a 'stroll' suggesting a trip along the towpath from London to Birmingham (145 miles), although this is graded 'easy' and would make an interesting holiday!
I would like to thank people at the Waterways Trust with whom I have discussed ideas. This task would have been much more difficult without their encouragement and help. My information on the history of the area was acquired from many sources, none of which I have acknowledged due to lack of space.
The walks: -
- Walk 1 – To Springwell
- Walk 2 – Croxley Hall Farm
- Walk 3 – Croxley Common Moor
- Walk 4 – Loudwater Lane
- Walk 5 – Springwell Lane
- Walk 6 – Croxley Green
- Walk 7 – Hampermill
- Walk 8 – Harefield
- Walk 9 - Rose & Crown Harefield Road
- Walk 10 - Cassiobury Park via Croxley Green
- Walk 11 - Chorleywood Station via Springwell Lock
- Walk 12 - Church of the Holy Cross Sarratt
- Walk 13 - Withey Beds nature reserve
- Walk 14 - Chandlers Cross via Cassiobury Park
- Walk 15 - Harefield and Ruislip Woods
- Walk 16 - Figure of eight from Batchworth Lock
If you are interested in more walks follow the link below to the Ramblers organisation.
Jillian Christensen
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Festival
The festival takes place on the third weekend of May each year, and celebrates our canals, our community, and the environment.
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Learning at the lock
Our education programme for primary school children
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Around Batchworth
The Canal Centre is the hub of our education work and our information centre.
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The Roger
A truly historic boat, and our main heritage and educational asset.
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Document Library