Visited 10th April 2004: The following information is a public disappointment warning. Do not visit the Bridgewater Monument round barrows unless;
a) you are especially fanatical about tiny undulations in the ground,
b) you are visiting Ashridge anyway, perhaps for a nice stroll or something
My visit fell into both categories, but if I’m honest mainly the second. After a rather pleasant pub lunch in the Greyhound in Aldbury we walked back up the hill and I asked at the shop where the barrows were. After lots of discussion I got some directions from a member of staff, and with two young female National Trust volunteers in tow (not the kind of thing that happens to me a lot on these excursions!) I headed off to find the barrows.
We wondered round the field by the monument, looking for these things, but couldn’t see any sign of them. Then I realised just how messed up these monuments are. I was standing right in the middle of the larger one. The two National Trust volunteers were relatively philosophical about it all, but to be honest, it was a bit disappointing. Later on my dad posed for the photo, which cheered me up a bit because it’s quite ludicrous.