Great Outdoors

Designated as ancient woodland, it lies on the outskirts of Berkhamsted and consists of 4,500 acres of woods, pasture, common land, heath and chalk downland - owned and managed by The National Trust.

Fallow Deer

An Abbey of blue-robed monks was founded here in 1285 by Edmund Plantagenet, Earl of Cornwall.  The surrounding extensive hardwood forests were rich in game, including a herd of fallow deer; these medium-sized deer with their flattened “palmate” (hand-shaped) antlers were brought from France as beasts of the chase by the conquering Normans. In those far off times Ashridge was also home to red and roe deer and wild boar.  They have gone now, but fallow deer still live in the forest.

Equally important, but far later in history (during the 18th century) the estate came into the ownership of Francis, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, father of canal building and inland navigation.

The old spelling of “Asherugge”, meaning a hill set with ash trees, suggests that ash was once predominant, although the area has since become better known for some of the finest examples of pollarded beech trees in Europe.   In March the leaves are unfurled, and the first of the spring migrants have yet to arrive; nevertheless there are birds aplenty with native species like song thrush and blackbirds. 

Martyn Coote and local wildlife expert Dennis Furnell began their walk from Monument Drive, opposite the Visitor Centre and tea rooms.  Just a few steps into the wood a large dew pond, originally for cattle, was alive with common frogs, newts and the tadpoles of common toads.  The pond holds several species of native waterside and marsh plants, but only the bright green duckweed is on show at this time of year; in late spring and summer this fascinating floating plant will give way to taller bog bean and common rush, perfect emerging places for several species of damselflies and dragonflies - such a feature in summer.  Now though, the predatory dragonfly larvae are stalking the tadpoles like miniature aquatic monsters, using extending mouths and claws to snare any passing amphibians.

Children will have the opportunity to see these creatures and many others during pond dipping sessions organised by the Ashridge Discovery Centre…  And, if it’s quiet, there’s a good chance of seeing a variety of birds coming to the water to drink or bathe.

Woodpeckers abound. Easy to hear, but difficult to see, in spite of the lack of leaf cover in spring, the green woodpecker is also called the “Yaffle” because of the slightly unhinged laughing contact and territorial call it makes. The smaller greater spotted woodpecker is noisy too, but its contact call can be overlooked in the general sounds of the wood.  Not so the “drumming” – the mating call made by the male when it beats its beak onto a hollow branch.  Green woodpeckers drum too although the sound is slower and more resonant as befits its larger size - at least a third larger than the black and white greater spotted woodpecker. The sharp, powerful beak has a pack of muscles and fibre in a fluid bag at the base to absorb the impact of the blow and prevent the bird from suffering concussion or, at best, a headache.

Dennis Furnell

Further along the marked path (suitable for wheelchair users) a little bridge crosses an ancient Celtic trackway and passes a mound, the remains of a Roman watch tower.   Magnificent beech trees shade the path.  These trees are shallow-rooted and can be toppled by high winds, but the Chief Forrester has left many fallen trees on the ground. After making them safe, they provide wonderful climbing for children and a fantastic source of food for beetle larvae, birds, insects and small mammals. 

Ashridge is fascinating at all seasons of the year.  You can visit again and again and always see something new.