LANGLEY means "Langlei", a long meadow although it's hard to believe that this area was once a forest where kings hunted deer, and stayed over on their journey between London and Berkhamsted castle.

Or that, in 1349, King's Langley (with apostrophe) was England's seat of government at the time of the Black Death.

The Grand Union canal was my companion, no one around except a chap outside the Ovaltine factory opposite. It was founded by Albert Wander in 1913. His purpose was to market the famous drink in the UK.

His was certainly a success story. Further on, having abandoned the towpath, I passed through Home Park industrial estate, where there were modern names, such as Astra Zeneca and Video Logic. Time will tell whether they will be around for so long.

After the railway station car park, a muddy lane led past muddy compounds where scores of pigs spared me not a glance in their quest for food, and fat sows with tiny piglets skulked inside corrugated huts.

One piglet had got out and couldn't get in again. He squealed in his futile efforts to rejoin mum. His was a quest for food, too.

At the top of the hill the view was bizarre: the piggeries backed by the M25. Things were better in retrospect, where golden cornfields reached across the Gade, a scene worthy of any canvas.

The right of way led to Abbots Langley. The village dates back to 1045, when the Saxon Lord, Ethelwine the Black, gave the land to the Abbots of St Albans. It was worth £10. Henry VIII sold it at the time of the Dissolution.

St Lawrence Church stands back from the bustling High Street. St Lawrence was martyred in 1154. They roasted him alive on an iron grill over an open fire. Inside the church, a plaque tells you that Nicholas Breakspear, born in the parish, was England's only Pope Pope Adrian IV (1154-59). Described as stern and haughty, it seems he was murdered by poisoning. Tragic ends for men of such status.

Love Lane led to a tunnel beneath the M25 and a rubbish dump. Everything from old pushchairs to burnt-out bedsteads, discarded by persons unknown. Even the pigs would have been ashamed. Passing through the tunnel, I went from the ridiculous to the sublime, for here is a scene untouched for generations, dark woodland throwing a canopy over beech and holly bordering the lane, as though to protect it from change. Long may it do so.

At Bedmond, the Church of the Ascension is unusual in that it is the only "tin church" with a steeple. Sadly, it was locked. Opposite, the White Hart is ideally placed for refreshments, tucked away from the main road. Just beyond, perhaps to assist those who take advantage of the pub, a signpost, marked "Public Footpath 55" points the way across cornfields, where the right of way runs a narrow course through growing crops. Follow it carefully or you may not be found until harvest.

Highwoodhall Lane - very muddy - leads to Abbots Hill School, previously Abbots House, home of John Dickinson. His factory became world famous for stationery, notably special paper with a silk thread running through to prevent forgery, and, in 1840, the Penny Post. The house was bought by two sisters, who founded the school in 1912.

Half a mile along Rucklers Lane, a path crosses meadows to Kings Langley, where, along Langley Hill, the present-day Rudolf Steiner school is the site of the Royal Palace, visited for 200 years by England's Kings and Queens. Edmund, son of Edward III, was born here in 1341 (his tomb is in All Saints Church in the village), and Richard II visited the palace as a boy.

Langley's royal connections gave the village the right to fly the Royal Standard until 1935. They should fly it again think of the tourists.

Down on the main street, you can reflect on Langley's royal past in the Saracen's Head, which was rented in the 1600's for two shillings a year from the lord of the manor. Nearby, in 1381, there were riots over the collection of the poll tax. They wouldn't do that sort of thing today. Would they?

Routefinder

Start and finish: Car park next to library, The Nap, Kings Langley.

Abbreviations: l. = left; r. = right ; n. s. e. w. = north, south, east, west; br. = bridge; r.o.w. = right of way; m. = mile

Take The Nap, then Grand Union Canal towpath (Optional diversion to All Saints church) | Return to towpath and leave at br. by Lock 70 | Cross to Home Park industrial estate | Cross main road | Pass through railway station car park, turning r. up metalled lane, past piggeries | Cross M25 | Contine on r.o.w. to Abbots Langley High Street | Continue to Tibbs Hill Road and take Love Lane opposite | R.o.w. leads to lane where you turn l. towards M25 | Pass through tunnel and lane emerges at Bedmond | Head n. along main road, turning right into Serge Hill Lane at the tin church | Take left fork (St Albans Lane), then r.o.w. on l Public Footpath 55 | R.o.w. cuts through cornfields for 1m. (waymarked) | Pass Blackwater Wood |Take l. turn to Bedmond Road | turn l and then r. down Highwoodhall Lane to Abbots Hill school | Take Red Lion Lane, then Rucklers Lane | Pass Round Wood on r. and turn l. through woods at signpost | Go up wooden anti-erosion staircase | Cross lane and go around school playing field | Cross Vicarage Lane | Continue along Langley Hill to the Old Palace Pub, where, opposite, Rudolf Steiner school marks the site of the former Royal Palace | Follow Langley Hill to the main road (formerly A41), at Kings Langey |Turn l. at High Street and The Nap is second on right.

Reproduced from Limited Edition magazine, exclusive guides to living in Hertfordshire, Middlesex and the London Borough of Barnet (01923 216295).

For a printable map of the walk, please click the image below.