The summit is at Oldfield Grove (482ft) on Chrishall Common in the far north west of the county close to the border with Cambridgeshire and their county top, Great Chishall. It had been my plan to combine the two on the walk, however Noddy had other plans.It was a glorious day in early September. We had spent the day before at the very pretty village of Ashwell in Hertfordshire camped at the Caravan Club site. It was only a short drive to Upper Langley where we parked. It is quite hilly for these parts forming little outcrops from the Chilterns. You can get some fine views from the tops of the ridges.
We set off from the car park by the cricket pitch along the Harcamlow Way up what was, even by Essex standards, a modest incline. However it was obvious from the start that Noddy wasn't up for walking and took up station about 100 feet behind. You can see he has his moody face on in the picture!
I would love to enthuse about the view but sadly there wasn't one. The top is an unmarked patch of ground as the path emerges from some trees. As I did not have a GPS at the time, I put my bag down where I imagined the top to be and bribed Noddy to pose for a photo.It was a shame about the view as some of Essex's lesser hills have some great ones. Cabin Hill (300ft) in Hainault Forest has views all the way back into London, there are some fine views of the Thames Estuary from Thorndon Country Park near Brentwood. There are some impressive views from Langdon Hill (377ft) the 'County Top' of Thurrock, however I won't be able to enjoy them because of the height barrier on the car park. Even the view from London Road (200ft), the disputed 'County Top' of Southend isn't bad, as it overlooks the Thames Estuary, Hadleigh Castle Country Park and Two Tree Island nature reserve (where Noddy fell in the mud while paddling and we had to hose him down!). I think it's fair to say that just about any hill in Essex is more impressive than this one.
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