IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Hunters Oak, HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, HP2 7SZ

There appears to be a tax on window space from the look of these.

This is a flood reservoir, so presumably it is normally empty. It is about 180 metres long and about 70 metres wide. The trackbed of the former Hemel Hempstead to Harpenden railway, the Nicky Line, is just beyond the high bank to the right. The local government boundary between the Dacorum and St Albans council areas runs left to right across the middle of the reservoir.

This is a same view, same viewpoint, same photographer image as Image] from 2009. The spelling Nicky appears on a lot of old signage, but Nickey appears to now be the current vogue.

Viewed from Image this is the trackbed of the dismantled Hemel Hempstead to Harpenden railway (The Nicky Line), completed in 1877. Passenger services ceased in 1947 and the track was lifted in the late 1950s. The trackbed now forms a section of the National Cycle Network Route 57.

Seems to be well kept and neat.

The trackbed of the dismantled Hemel Hempstead to Harpenden railway (The Nicky Line) viewed looking through the double arch bridge at Cherry Tree Lane. The route is now a footpath and is also one of the few opened sections of the proposed National Cycle Network Route 57 that will eventually run from Cricklade in Wiltshire to Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire.

I have called this a flood reservoir as that is how it is described on a map accompanying a local authority housing development document for the area. In the centre is a valve tower while on the right the concrete spillway would allow excess water to flow out in a controlled manner if the reservoir ever filled to capacity.

This is a near same view, near same viewpoint, same photographer image of the Cherry Tree Lane bridge as Image] from 2007. As far as the photographer is aware, this section of the railway was only ever single track, so the purpose of the double arch in the bridge is unknown. Perhaps it was built with a planned expansion to double track in mind, but the doubling of the line never materialized. The spelling Nicky appears on a lot of old signage, but Nickey appears to now be the current vogue.

The Nickey Line is a cycle route over a long disused ex railway line.

The old railway bridge on Cherry Tree Lane, now used for the Nickey Line path. This bridge was built for the Midland Railway line from Harpenden to Hemel Hempstead which closed forty years ago. Much of the length of the railway trackbed has been surfaced and is now used as part of the National Cycle Network Route 57 which goes from Oxford to Welwyn. The double arched bridge was built with a view to doubling the line, which never happened, it remaining a single line until closure.