Take A1(M) to Junction 8. (WARNING - much traffic heads north past Welwyn at 4:30pm-6:30pm weekdays; consider the Very Scenic Routes instead at this time.) Turn left onto A602; after a few miles you arrive in Hitchin. When you come to a roundabout, take the 3rd exit (straight on) towards Luton. After a 1/4 mile take the next left signposted to Charlton. Carry straight on until the end of that road (ignoring the next left turn to Charlton), until you reach the A505, where you turn left towards Luton. Follow this dual carriageway for a mile or so and turn off at the first exit signposted Great Offley and Lilley. (Don't miss this, else you must continue all the way to Luton and then come back again.) Proceed up the hill to Great Offley, and turn left into the High Street at a sudden crossroads by the famous Green Man pub. Court Cottage is then number 33, after 100 yards on the left hand side, unmistakeable with white painted ground floor and dark brown timbers upstairs.
Two to choose from (for advanced navigators only), both about 11 miles from the A1(M) at Welwyn (compared with 13 miles for the Quick & Easy Route). Take care on them there back roads, lest ye meet tractors and buses and the like...
Take A1(M) to Junction 6 at Welwyn. At the roundabout take the second exit, the A1000. Continue straight over the second roundabout (again, the second exit). At the third roundabout, turn left on the B656 to Welwyn and Codicote. Go over a hill and at the roundabout at the bottom turn right on the Codicote Road. Continue for a few miles to Codicote, and go right through it. On reaching the Wyevale garden centre, on the right, turn left towards Kimpton and Whitwell. Ignore the left turn to Kimpton, instead bearing right towards Whitwell. Follow this road for a few miles into the tranquil Mimram valley, where lies the village of Whitwell. (Here one can turn right on the B651 through St. Paul's Walden picking up the Grass-Up-Middle-T'-Road Route from where it passes the Sue Ryder Home gates.) Go right through Whitwell, ignoring the left turn to Kimpton, carrying straight on towards Lilley and Kings Walden, out of the village past Nine Wells Watercress Farm. Carry on this road which follows the River Mimram, passing turns to Preston, Bendish and Breachwood Green. On the right hand side is Kingswalden Deer Park, an idyllic place amazingly only two miles east of the sprawling suburbs of Luton. At a crossroads, one can either turn right into picturesque Kings Walden, passing the church and some rather large houses before reaching the top of a hill and bearing left, then going straight on through Ley Green, turning left to Offley on a right-hand bend with trees in the centre of the road; follow this road into a tunnel of trees leading to a T-junction, where you want to turn right towards Offley, then flick a sharp left and follow the directions later on... Or one can go straight on at the crossroads along Lilley Bottom Road, signposted to Gt. Offley and Lilley. Take the next right up a hill to Gt. Offley (in fact the second and third right turns all lead to Offley, coming in the other way (see the North Routes)). After a tunnel of trees emerges from the right hand side, flick a sharp left... This road rises over rolling hills; watch out for a little jump half way along. After a mile you arrive in Great Offley, passing the Red Lion pub and the church on the right. Court Cottage is then directly ahead, the first house on the right hand side (number 33), unmistakeable with white painted ground floor and dark brown timbers upstairs.
As above, but at Codicote, don't turn left towards Whitwell; instead carry straight on for a few miles, passing another garden centre and The Node conference centre on the left. An exquisite castle gatehouse on the right is the cue for a sudden left turn down Three Houses Lane which disappears into Winter Wood. Not far along, turn right to St. Paul's Walden and Rustling End. This road becomes a bit rural and narrow, with steep Cornish-style hedges, so be careful on those blind corners. After passing some farm buildings, ignore a left turn where the main road bears right. Then keep bearing left, following the road into St. Paul's Walden. At the crossroads, turn right up the hill, passing the gates of a Sue Ryder Home. The road then darts into and around the magical Hitch Wood. At the bottom of the hill, after passing a right turn to Langley, take a sudden left onto Hitchwood Lane. The road leads uphill through atmospheric woodlands for about a mile. Ignore a minor left turn, and then take the next left after a big farm lodge conversion, onto an unsigned road. This leads into Preston, passing by the Red Lion pub. Turn left here at the village green onto Church Lane, which leads past the church onto Back Lane (carry straight on at the crossroads out of the village). Follow this road for a mile to Cox Green and Ley Green, ignoring two left turns and minor right turns to Austage End. Bear left, following signs to Offley, then turn right on a left-hand bend with trees in the centre of the road. Follow this road into a tunnel of trees leading to a T-junction, where you want to turn right towards Offley, then flick a sharp left. This road rises over rolling hills; watch out for a little jump half way along. After a mile you arrive in Great Offley, passing another Red Lion pub and the church on the right. Court Cottage is then directly ahead, the first house on the right hand side (number 33), unmistakeable with white painted ground floor and dark brown timbers upstairs.
Now find your way back again...
© copyright Malcolm Smith 2002-06-09 - last updated 2002-11-27