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THE BRITISH HORSE SOCIETY
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THE BRITISH HORSE SOCIETY
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The British Horse Society is promoting a scheme for a long distance riding route around Greater London, to be known as ‘The London Orbital Bridleroute’, or ‘H25’ for short. Once complete, the H25 will take its place amongst the other long distance rides in England like The Ridgeway. As the H25 opens, there will be more scope for the development of circular horse and cycle rides leading from the main route. Sections of the route in Hertfordshire are opening now, providing greater opportunities for riders, walkers and cyclists. Work on the Essex section started in July 1998. This route is part of the National Bridleroute Network. The H25 will be slightly longer than the 117 mile London Orbital Motorway (M25).
8 Aug 08: The County Council are improving the verge of a busy road to make it better for riders. The verge, adjacent to the B556 near Ridge Hill, forms part of the H25 route.
8 Oct 07: An inspection of Watford Rural 17 BW shows that an illegal obstruction has appeared. The Society has made a complaint to the County Council, who are investigating.
20 Jul 07: The Hertfordshire County Council confirmed an order recording the path known as "Brickendon Liberty 28" as a bridleway. This forms part of the H25.
8 Aug 06: The official opening by Lady Vesty, Vice-President of the British Horse Society, of the new bridleroute under the A41 in Hertfordshire took place today. Read more on the Patchetts Green Bridleways Trust web site.
29 Apr 06: The objection period has now closed into the order which will change part of the M1 motorway into a bridleway! A crossing of the A41, by using spare motorway verge where the M1 passes under the A41 was constructed in 2005, but the legal work has taken some time. It is now nearly complete and an opening of this important part of the H25 route is awaited.
20 Oct 05: The official opening of a new Pegasus Crossing to enable H25 users to cross Bell Lane, Shenley, Hertfordshire, opened today. This road has seen its traffic flows increase substantially over the last ten years. Our thanks go to Hertfordshire Highways (Hertfordshire County Council) and Hertsmere Borough Council for this work.
23 Jan 05: Work has now started on the construction of the bridleway crossing of the M1 and A41 in Bushey, Hertfordshire.
22 Oct 04: The section of H25 from Homefield Road to Finch Lane in Bushey has now been formalised: the Order recording this wide grassy bridleway was confirmed unopposed by the Hertfordshire County Council today. It has taken 10 years to have bridleway status acknowledged by the authorities on this path!
Feb 02: The section of H25 from Tylers Way to Little Bushey Lane has now been formalised: the Watford magistrates' court has sanctioned the creation of a 5m-wide bridleway as part of a scheme to alter the public rights of way at Tylers Farm, Bushey. This link in the H25 had been in doubt after the landowner applied for the existing route to be downgraded. Following the magistrates' decision, the route is secure.
7 Dec 01: H25 creation works - Bushey. Work has just started to put in drainage and create a dual surface Greenway-type route from the A41 Tylers Way to Little Bushey Lane as part of the H25 London Orbital Bridleroute. This work will ensure that once the route opens it can be used all year round, and not just in the summer. The route is expected to open in Spring 2002.
3 Oct 01: H25 improvement works - London Colney/Shenley. Work is starting shortly to improve the surface of the bridleroute between Bell Lane, Shenley (and Arsenal training ground) and London Colney, just north of the bridleway bridge over the M25. This work will retain the character of the way, but ensure that it can be used all year round, and not just in the summer.
23 Feb 01: A new section of the H25 was opened by the Mayor of Hertsmere in Ridge parish, Hertfordshire. This removes a section of the old A6 from the route by linking an existing bridleway to a quiet lane. More details here. The works needed were funded by Watling Chase Community Forest, Hertsmere Borough Council and the British Horse Society's Hertsmere Bridleways Fund. The Society is indebted to Sam Legerton (farmer) and the Trustees of the Tyttenhanger Estate (owners) for their generosity in allowing this path to be created.
30 Oct 00: H25 mentioned in an article in the Evening Standard.
10 Jul 00: Watford Rural Parish Council considered the upgrading of a footpath to a bridleway at their Parish Meeting on
5 Jul 00 and concluded, "We wish you well with this excellent project"!1 Jun 00: H25 mentioned in The Daily Telegraph's article on the National Bridleroute Network.
31 May 00: British Horse Society press release on the National Bridleroute Network cites H25 as National route.
29 May 00: H25 mentioned in The Times's article on the National Bridleroute Network.
2 Apr 00: The first of the special route marker signs was put where the H25 crosses Bell Lane, Shenley. This shows how the Regional Route symbols will be added to the normal highway signage.
8 Oct 99: Hertsmere Borough Council and the Highways Agency designate the wide verge of the A41, between a bridleway on one side of the road and a RUPP on the other, as a margin for horses by using s.71 Highways Act 1980.
4 Oct 99: The Countryside Agency issued a statement of support: "Responses we received to our 'Rights of Way in the 21st Century' Consultation paper made it clear that horse riders regard themselves relatively poorly served by the currently available network. In our recommendations to Government (CCP 550) we recognised that attention needed to turn to making improvements to the network through new creations. We therefore welcome, in principle, the development of H25 which will benefit long distance and local users as well as cyclists and walkers."
Sep 99: Phil Wadey (right) outlines the progress of the London Orbital Bridleroute to HRH The Princess Royal and Jim McQueen, BHS Head of Access, at the BHS Access and Rights of Way Conference.
21 Sep 99: The Ordnance Survey advise that sections of the H25 that are over 10km in length, open for use, and waymarked, can be shown on the next edition of local Explorer maps.
23 Jul 99: A Public Path Creation Agreement between Hertfordshire County Council and the Arsenal Football Club was signed, upgrading the former footpath between Bell Lane and Bridleway 13 Shenley. This followed a planning condition applied by Hertsmere Borough Council to secure the H25 route.
30 May 99: Opening of part of H25 between the Old St Albans Road and Salisbury Hall, Shenley, adding to the non-motorised route opened on 14 Jun 97. More details here. The works needed were funded by landfill tax credits.
2 Feb 99: ENTRUST approves the H25 Hertfordshire section as a qualifying project under the Landfill Tax regulations. This means that the project can get landfill tax grants for suitable pieces of work needed. Special thanks go to Gill Taylor of Groundwork Hertfordshire, and colleagues, for getting ENTRUST's approval.
4 Sep 98: Opening of the Merry Hill Greenway, a new bridleway created by the Woodland Trust in Bushey. More details here.
28 Jul 98: Preliminary consultations on the route of the H25 through Essex started.
12 Mar 98: Confirmation of St Albans' order recording part of the H25 by Smug Oak Lane.
14 Jun 97: The Highways Partnership cleared the route of the Old St Albans Road at Ridge Hill for use on the H25. This gets walkers, riders and cyclists off more than half the length of the busy road on this section of the route.
7 Jun 97: Route from Merry Hill to Oxhey Lane shown on Woodland Trust stall at the OVEG fayre. This route leads the H25 out of Hertsmere Borough.
26 Mar 97: Official opening of Bridleway 77 Aldenham following a dedication for the H25 by the owners: Hertfordshire County Council and the University of Hertfordshire. More details here.
27 Jan 97: Confirmation of St Albans' order recording part of the H25 at Colney Street.
29 Jan 92: Confirmation of Hertsmere's order recording Bridleway 35 Shenley, linking Bell Lane, Shenley to RUPP 1 London Colney. This was just after the Society's idea for the H25 had been conceived.
Route
A route for the H25 is fairly well defined in Hertfordshire and Essex. Unfortunately, some of the current route has to use minor roads, and the Society with its Partners in the H25 scheme will seek off-road alternatives for the on-road stretches, by negotiation with land owners and occupiers. The Society's local access and bridleways officers will negotiate with the appropriate local authorities, land owners and user groups to define the route more precisely. The route is shown in red on the regional map, left. As the route reaches its final location, gets fully waymarked and approved for use as the H25, it will be shown on future editions of the Ordnance Survey Explorer maps. The sheets concerned are:
- Explorer 172: Chiltern Hills East,
- Explorer 173: London North - Harrow, Enfield and
- Explorer 174: Epping Forest & Lee Valley.
© 2001-7 The British Horse Society and Phil Wadey.
