The Longest Walk - Waltham Cross to Welwyn Garden City 

Those pauses to look closely - an insect, a tree, an historical object, your lunch, the badger sign by the wee stream - the unobtrusive value add of the music here and there - the non-lecturing but informing tone. God bless you John, I walk each mile with you (from , NZ - with my big AA Map open beside me)! Each square on this 4 miles to an inch map contains a million surprises and joys.

Brilliant video John, I'm slowly getting through all of them.

Ah yes, those lanes without pavements on either side where the drivers give you the impression you shouldn't be. Great job getting into that field though. I instantly fell in love with the bridleway near the end, I got a bit of a vibe from the past there.

I wonder if these marvellous walks you are documenting will be a source for historians in the future. What marvellous places you have shown me. I love it all. Thank you John for all you have shown me. The land itself resonates with history and memory. This is so different from the New World where history is not so evident, and cars rule the landscape. Brilliant work!

Another lovely virtual walk for this resident of Waltham Cross. Thank you. It seems that you're a sucker for little snippets of information so, here goes.... There was - possibly still is - a colony of wild wallabies that lived in the woods near Wormley - that's a lot of 'Ws'! They originated from some escapees from a private menagerie located at a local Manor, possibly Wormleybury House, in the 1920s. My grandfather worked for the Metropolitan Water Board from the 40s to the late 60s and often told me stories of the wild wallabies of Wormley West End (there's those Ws again!) Although I've never seen one in the wild, I have seen one as roadkill on the A10 so I believe the rumours are correct. I often walk with my grandchildren through Broxbourne woods on the lookout for fungi and wallabies. So far, our searches have only a 50% success rate 😉

Wow, he mows the grass along the river, what a great job.

I really love your videos and look forward to each new one and sometimes re-watch previous ones. They are each a pure pleasure to experience. I learn so much and love seeing the beauty and uniqueness of each place you walk through. Many thanks!

Ooh Berry green road as the Roman Ermine? You can really see and feel history in that shot. Those sheep were so funny! Then a pretty shot of the River Lea. A lovely walk through a green and pleasant land, thank you.

Brilliant, thanks for this John. Your videos always make me want to go out and explore more here in west Wales, but this one makes me want to go and stay with my sister in Welwyn for a few days, and check out its utopian by-ways.

Love your walks they are very calming.

Hi John love your videos. Enfield where I lived is beautiful such as Caple Manor. Beautiful sprawling gardens so breathtaking that King Henry viii stayed there a lot. I believe it leads to Potters Bar another beautiful place.

Oh, those sheep were hilarious. What personality.

Ermine Street though. Watling Street is the A5. There's a nice 10 mile walk from Borehamwood to Hatfield/St Albans called the Watling Chase Walk.

I use to go to school in Cheshunt and our cross country run would take us through Temple Bar and Theobalds Park.

5:03...Excellent strimming😎and a great walk.👍23:10...PMSL at all those sheep.😅

Great video John. I especially enjoyed it as WGC is my home town. That 'incredible building' opposite the station is where Shredded Wheat used to be made. It used to say 'Welgar' on the packet. It's been disused for years and as far as I know its fate is as yet undecided.

Cant believe I missed this one. Wonderful wander. Went the wrong way into Ashurst recently from the river Adur and hit nettles and blocked footpaths trying to get off a suicidal walk on the road into the village. Our environment is 100% built for cars, not walkers.

Very nice video mate, im from Brazil and i lived in Welwyn Garden City for some time, watching your videos make me want to go back..I used to just walk around just like you do so, i loved it, very very nostalgic !!!!

Wow - amazing walk. Thank you for allowing me to accompany you, all the way from the southern hemisphere. (Loved the sheep, by the way - hilarious.)

Wonderful video John! I'm also glad you weren't mauled by angry sheep or pheasants!

Watching your videos makes me wish I lived around London rather than being stuck in my obscure south Derbyshire Hamlet. Really enjoyed this!

Wow I was watching a few other of your marvellous videos and then low nand behold you pass by my house almost ! You are welcome to my area of this planet we all share and squabble over 😊 I’m Welwyn garden city mins from your pathway through to the town centre in Haldens area . Yes we are lucky to live here . I always look froward to coming home whenever we have been away in the world . Thanks for the sublime videos and music . Possibly pass you and stop for a chat one day ☺️

Incredible adventure, beautiful surroundings wonderfully narrated as usual. Always a great day when I get to come along via your videos on a walk. Thank you so much for taking the time and putting in all the effort you do, I love every second of it.

Yes, as someone further down the comments suggested- the white post in Wormley Woods is indeed a coal tax marker, I've seen them around Hertfordshire where I grew up and the one in Wormley is pictured in the Wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal-tax_post

That was truly epic!

Spent many a day climbing the temple bar and swimming In the new river lived opposite the river in Bullsmoor lane

Ah, I was wondering how much of the area around Welwyn would be in this video. Alas, got there too late (and after too long a walk) to do some exploring. A little way north of the station, tucked away in a vault under the A1, there are some Roman baths - remains of the Dicket Mead Villa - that are (usually, not whilst "the thing" is happening) open to the public.

The old white building at the end next to the station used to be the weetabix factory .. and further along the road was/is ici

Where you pointed out the Roman Road near Temple Bar, about 1/2 mile west is a pub called King and Tinker......he stayed in a farmhouse opposite the night before he failed to blow up parliament!

Epic walk thanks

Not potatoes , not runner beans but broad or field beans ! A great walk and lots of memories for a new subscriber . Have you ever walked the Turkey Brook from it's source near Potters Bar to its confluence with the River Lea Navigation by the Enfield Power Station ?

Another great video john

Wow that was some walk. Really enjoyed that. Thanks for taking us along.

Bit of an epic, John. Interesting how overcast days so often turn into beautiful clear evenings. I guessed correctly on the railway airshaft.

Hi John ,great walk,some fantastic views and thank you for taking us with you.

Fantastic, your walking videos are the best I’ve seen, keep up the great work and keep walking mate 👍🙂

A superb video! I did feel like I was with you.

Fantastic video thanks , you must have good shoes....

If it's always three miles to somewhere, you're on a ring road!

Thanks for this video, you are some walker . You know there is a good camp site at Hertford . You could camp there and the next day finish the Lea Valley walk to the source of the river lea at the ancient site of Wauluds bank in Luton . It has been said that Julius Caesar watered his houses there before his last battle at Ravensburgh hillfort which he lost . Also Wauluds bank has a connection with King Lud who kicked the Romans out of London . There is a train station right near it .

FROM THE EAST HERTFORD TO HATFILD BRANCH LINE. ANOTHER BRANCH LINE LEFT HATFIELD TO THE WEST FOR DUNSTABLE AND LEIGHTON BUZZARD AND IS PARTLY IN USE AS A BUS WAY NOW.

Seeing Waltham Cross discussed by a professional is strange due to the fact I live near that area.

that disused building with the silo at the end is the old shredded wheat factory, now unfortunately halfway through being demolished. at 35:02

The badger symbol represents Broxbourne borough council, which is where Waltham Cross is. Brox I think in old English means badger, full meaning of Broxbourne is: The name is believed to derive from the Old English words brocc and burna meaning Badger stream.

Amazing film - great soundtrack choice again - and to capture that sweeping landscape between and near north London conurbations is inspiring - please avoid narrow roads as I'd like you to make these a little while longer!

I do like walks in the woods and lakes in w.g.c

A mighty effort John..I use the OS app but prefer getting lost, like yourself and using the map. (Map not app!). Never seen anything like the path through the quarry either. The coal post was interesting . Another enjoyable video, thanks.

When you said you had 5 miles to the nearest station, you were only a mile or so from Bayford station!

is this the furthest you've walked john? it's seems a very long distance love these walks so much always look forward to your next x

Welcome to my quaint little town. :)

Beans. Easy mistake, as broad beans - like in the film - grow more like potatoes than runner beans which as you know, are climbing vines so they don't look so similar.

Hello John, I love watching your videos (fan from Vancouver, BC, Canada here). Sad to see the gang problem in England's green and pleasant land, though (23:03) ;)

Another lovely walk :)How do you get the old vintage look on some of the shots?

John .. do you use a name for the strip of land that circles London from just inside the M25 out by about 5 miles ? .. it's an intriguing space . rural yet urban .. . btw I walked the lea Tottenham lock to cheshunt on Sunday... well worth a film

Any plans to do Epping to Chelmsford?

AGAIN JOHNS ON HIS WANDERS LONELY AS A STAR !!!!, THE GNOME WAS NOT AT HOME !!!., PETER.

Wow, I'm shocked about how close you came to where I live - literally just a 5 minute walk to where you were in some of this video, heck maybe you even walked past my street :p

WHO MIGHT GET LOST IN WORLMEY WOOD, JOHN WOULD !!!,PETER.

sheep were after those pretzels.

Resting places.... Do you stop for many rests on your walks ? If so, someone should put up crosses where you stop. I was thinking - they're funny looking potatoes. Are they broad beans (or bored beans as spellcheck suggested) ?

Is the map true to the territory, in all places at all times? How can we be sure? How do we really know the true nature and extent of our realm...?

Did you ever walk the New River John?

Do you never take your dog walking?

WHAT WAS THAT A 10 WOODLANDS WALK, DESPITE ME SUBSCRIBING T0 Y0UR FILMS, I NEVER GOT A LINK TO SUCH A VIDEO YOU SAY YOU DID JOHN, SO IT IS A MYSTERY, SO WHAT HAPPENED , WAS IT A SECRET WALK ??, PETER.

those posts are coal post to do with tax i think John

S0 FOR YOU JOHN IT WAS EXTREMELEY VERY UNPLEASANT // WHEN YOU WERE JUMPED AT BY A NAUGHTY PHEASANT // THEN A SELFISH PERSON HAS A PATH CLOSURE IN FORCE // SO HE HAS AN ENCLOSED FIELD FOR HIS HORSE//. BUT JOHN TO REPORT THEM TO THE AUTHORITIES YOU SHOULD'NT BE HESITANT // !!!! PETER,

Everyone spends far too long in Waltham Cross town centre!

Waltham Cross still had a Village feel in the 1960's/Early 70's. They - (Broxbourne Council) 'illegally' destroyed many Historic buildings on the High Street (Four swannes -Falcon Inn - Castle) to create a empty nothing land ! Disgraceful !

......and it should be other way around, those roads are for walkers and cyclist and horses, cars obey their speed

They are broad beans. Known in Suffolk as 'friggers' Draw your own conclusions.

you must lose so many viewers ,over the crappy so called music