Town mayor Richard Butler kicks off Elstree & Borehamwood country walks

Elstree & Borehamwood mayor Richard Butler and a group of 40 walkers were greeted on the inaugural ‘Teddy’s Trails’ walk on Sunday 11 October by Teddy, a fox terrier who has been a local resident since puppyhood. A ceremony to kick off the first walk was hosted by Thameslink railway at Elstree & Borehamwood station, the starting point of the 18 different trails on offer.

Mayor Richard Butler said:

“It was great to see so many people turn out to the launch, I had a great day and learnt a lot about the town that I didn’t know.”

Thameslink’s station manager for Elstree & Borehamwood James Gillett also welcomed the launch of Teddy’s Trails, urging those from London and the surrounding area to “come and enjoy the great country routes on offer!”

John Cartledge, Teddy’s owner, said:

“Teddy loves the open countryside that surrounds the town and is keen for others to get to know it too, so he was naturally excited to champion the trails for the Hertfordshire Year of Walking. And he was certainly at the centre of things on Sunday.”

The trails are between three and eight miles long. Walkers take a bus outbound, before tracing established footpaths and country lanes back to the town, passing places of interest described in the trail guides. All of the routes have been traversed and approved by Teddy, who is an enthusiastic and experienced user of the local footpath network.

Sunday’s inaugural walkers took the 107 bus to Edgwarebury, before strolling back past a farm once raided by Dick Turpin, a hotel frequented by film stars, Hertfordshire’s only giraffe, and the home of the surgeon who made Napoleon’s death mask.

For more information or to download any of the 18 trails, please go to http://www.elstreeborehamwood-tc.gov.uk/index.php/yourtown/teddy-s-trails. Some of the routes use London buses, which are now cashless, so for these walkers will need an Oyster card, Zip card, concessionary bus pass or contactless credit/debit card.

2015 has been declared by the county council to be Hertfordshire’s Year of Walking, and there is a programme of events and activities under way, designed to encourage us all to get out in the fresh air, explore and reap the benefits. You can check the calendar of events surrounding Hertfordshire’s Year of Walking at www.hertsdirect.org/walksandmore.

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Notes to editors

Govia Thameslink Railway

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) began running Thameslink (Bedford to Brighton, Sutton and Wimbledon) and Great Northern (London to Peterborough, Cambridge and King’s Lynn) rail services on 14 September 2014. A small number of services and stations previously operated by Southeastern transferred to GTR in December 2014 and on 26 July 2015 the Southern and Gatwick Express routes were incorporated into the franchise. GTR is now the largest rail franchise in the UK in terms of passenger numbers, trains, revenue and staff: GTR carries about 273 million passenger journeys per year, employs around 6,500 people and generates annual passenger revenues of approximately £1.3bn. www.thameslinkrailway.com