In September the Stop Stansted Expansion Campaign (SSE) organised a Runway Ramble' through Hatfield Forest. The walk/demonstration was supported by the National Trust and attracted about 300 people including the novelist Will Self who led the way.

Hatfield Forest is of great historical and ecological importance; it is a rare surviving example of a mediaeval royal hunting forest and has been designated a Site of Special Scientific interest.

The wide rides between patches of woodland give a sense of space and beauty which is unique in Southern England.

The lake and the Victorian Shell House provide additional interest for the crowds of people which visit the venue at the weekend.

The area soaks up people and ten minutes into the walk the crowds will be left behind and you will enjoy the wonderful peace which is only disrupted by the noise of aircraft from nearby Stansted.

This walk follows the route of those campaigners, who are not only concerned about the damage which has already resulted from the contamination from aircraft activity, but are more worried by the threats of future expansion: the increases in air pollution threatening the fragile habitat and the huge variety of animals, insect and plant life that currently flourish in this ancient woodland.

1. Start

Leave the car park via the gates and walk past the toilets and café.

Veer right in front of the lake to pass in front of the newly restored Shell House (at weekends you can enter this to examine the decoration on the ceiling; around the fireplace and the mirror).

Keep the lake on you left; following the surfaced track which feeds into a board walk (this is worth remembering as the first part of the walk is accessible to wheelchairs).

Go through one gate to reach a metalled road which you cross.

2. 0.6 mile/0.9km

Keep forward - there is no path. Keep Elgin Coppice to your left and reach a metal gate to a lane (the long handle is to allow horse riders to operate it without dismounting).

Go right and, after a few metres, left through a similar gate. Go forward between the third and fourth of a line of trees ahead; you should then be walking to the left of a handsome dead tree.

You arrive at a stile by a five-bar gate.

3. 1.1 miles/1.7km

Re-enter woodland (Spittlemore Coppice) on a clear track. When you reach a junction with a bridge ahead, turn left and continue until you reach a couple of Scots Pines. Go past one major cross-track but take another which goes diagonally right and is roofed by branches arching over. (Move quietly here and you are almost guaranteed to see deer). Cross a stile and head for a bridge on the left.

4. 1.6 miles/2.6km

Once over, go left to cross a double gated bridge and, after another 100m cross yet another bridge and continue on the narrow, twisty, mud path to enter a clearing. Go diagonally right, there is no path, to find a yellow waymarker on the edge of woodland. Follow the waymarker into a broad area with a fence on the right which comes to and end, you continue forward guided by more waymarkers for about half a mile. Eventually you will arrive at a wide cross-track and be able to see a brick wall some 200m ahead.

5. 2.3 miles/ 3.7km

Turn left on the wide ride which is a bit of a walkers' dual carriageway with two lanes and a central reservation. After another half mile you will reach an extensive clearing; continue forward until you meet a clear cross track.

6. 3 miles/4.7 km

Go right to walk roughly parallel to the Forest Lodge enclosure on your right. Just before reaching a stand of fir trees, go right on a semi-surfaced track. After a few metres, when this track swings right, keep forward and follow an insignificant path as it curves to the left taking you down a ride which gets narrower and narrower.

7. 3.8 miles/6.1 km

Go left at a wide ride. Continue forward across a massive cross-ride and, a little later, go left at a gigantic fork. Continue leftwards to pick up a fence and reach an enclosure corner.

8. 4.2 miles/6.8km

Go right here on a path between fencing. At a T-junction go right with the fence, now on a wide ride and continues forward to reach the car park.

Starting Point/Parking: Hatfield Forest is signposted off Takely Street which is on the old A120 and can be reached on the first roundabout at the Junction 8 of the M11.

The car park entrance is on the left and is often characterised by lines of cars in the lane whose drivers are too mean to pay the £4.20 fee which goes to support the National Trust's upkeep of this wonderful resource. Once through the entrance continue on the surprisingly long and twisting drive to the main car park, deep in the Forest.

Distance: 4.8 miles/7.7km

Time: Three hours

Terrain: flat; most paths are reasonably clear but the instructions are very important this time, can be muddy.

Suitability for Dogs: good but remember to keep them under control near deer and other livestock and when birds are nesting.

Stiles: Five

Near: Hatfield Broad Oak and Hatfield Heath.

Refreshments: Excellent café at the start.

Public Toilets: At the start.

Public Transport: None

Map and Grid Reference: Explorer 183: 538 198 - you also need Explorer 195 to follow the whole walk.