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LutonWalk Details:
The Walk: |
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After a couple of tops today where we hadn’t really had the opportunity to make a decent circular walk, this was our final chance of the day to stretch our legs properly. Although from the map the Luton top itself wouldn’t be much to look at, we could link it up to Warden Hill, which looked like it might afford us nice views. It took us ages to get through Dunstable and Luton, plagued by speed limits and signs which took us miles out of our way round the southern half of the Luton ring road. We saw nothing at all to endear us to either dreary town; both seemed to epitomise all that is bad in modern town planning. We were glad to pull up in a car park for playing fields to the north-east of Luton, although I felt slightly nervous about leaving my car anywhere within five miles of the town. It was chilly out and we stomped off up the track to Butterfield Green as fast as possible to warm up. The GPS showed us averaging 4.2 miles per hour, yet we were unable to make headway on another fast walker a couple of hundred yards ahead of us. We soon passed through the scattered houses of Butterfield Green, and came to the county top at Whitehill Farm. According to the map, the unitary boundary ran across immediately south of the farm, and we decided that the highest point of the unitary authority was at the point where the track split, next to the farm sign. After taking measurements we carried on down the left hand track towards Warden Hill. We soon caught up with the other fast walker again, but were still unable to pass him until he stopped at a slight viewpoint overlooking Luton. Although he appeared to be admiring the view, we vainly hoped that actually we’d finally worn him down and he’d had to stop for a breather. We were now following the top of a slight rise in the landscape, and turned left on a footpath to continue following the rise. A right turn took us up the southern slope of Warden Hill on a steep, muddy footpath that made me puff for the first time all day.
Looking back, Warden Hill looked a most agreeable mini-hill, and we were glad we’d extended our walk to include it. We followed the track for a mile or so, passing several more walkers on the way – popular spot this. The track would eventually lead back to Butterfield Green, but Jim proposed taking a short cut off to the right. This lead us back up onto the rise by a very steep slope – surprisingly it was Jim who foundered whilst I powered to the top – normally it’s the other way around. We emerged in twilight into the biggest area of playing fields I’ve seen in my life. We guessed these were the ones we were parked at one edge of. After a moments disorientation, we headed back directly to the car, briefly impeded by a crazed woman who repeatedly berated us because our dog was attacking hers. Our response – that we didn’t own a dog, and didn’t in fact like dogs very much anyway – cut no ice with her, and she continued to shout at us repeatedly as we proceeded (dogless) to the car. It had been a good day’s bagging – it had cured our hangovers
for a start! We headed back to the girls in St Albans most satisfied,
but also aware that we had now definitely completed all the county tops
within daytrip distance. From now on, county top bagging would be an altogether
slower affair.
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Considering that dusk was approaching, and
that it was bitterly cold, there were a surprising number of people out
walking. We saw the summit trig a hundred or so yards to the right of
the path, well into a wheat field, but (as this wasn’t on any hill
list) saw no need to visit. Instead we stood for a moment to look at the
view from the western end of Warden Hill, which was a grassy knoll fully
open to (and well occupied by!) the public. Normally the tower blocks
of Luton would make a dreary sight, but we had arrived at just the right
moment. The low grey cloud that had plagued us all day suddenly parted
in the west, revealing a red strip of sunset against which the tower blocks
were silhouetted. Jim fired off a number of photos before we descended
the west slopes of the hill and cut across some rough open access grassland
to reach a track running alongside the soulless modern housing developments
on the edge of Luton.