'The variation in geology, combined with the variation in relief, has produced in our area a well-marked and very pleasing diversity in the types of scenery and a variety of habitats for wildlife'

E.F.D. Bloom, M.A., B.Sc.

In 1992, Neil Finn- vocalist with the rather excellent New Zealand band, Crowded House- sang ruefully of 'four seasons in one day': a sentiment no doubt shared by many of us as we enjoyed the recent spring.

The good news, however, is that our beautiful area can also get in on the act by providing at least four landscapes in one day, too, and all of them quite different.

As Mr Bloom - our favourite local geologist and erstwhile school master at the Boys' Grammar School- observed in 1930, this pleasing diversity is all down to the geology: in short, the rocks, clays, sands and gravels beneath our feet not only form our land, but also shape how both nature- and man- use, exploit and enjoy it.

I'm very aware that we have touched upon these themes previously, but with summer now here I felt that the time was right to try and bring these disparate landscapes and their differences into focus, a couple at a time, as there's too much fun to be had for just one instalment.

As well as an exploration, I will also try and select a specific view or place in each- which, in my wholly biased opinion- truly encapsulates the spirit of the place.

So, here are the first two to consider, which really are polar opposites in every sense of the phrase.

Let's hit the north…

In our first area we will be walking the northern section of the Hicca Way, a highly recommended 'named' footpath, as it wanders through the sylvan riverside pastures of Ickleford Common and beyond, tracking the route of the River Hiz.

The underlying rocks here are sedimentary softies, namely blue-grey gault clay and a creamy composite known as chalk marl, all topped off with alluvium- river silt from the occasional flood.

These elements combine to produce a view that is disinclined to soar; here the landscape acts as a low and level host for the gentle meanders of the mature Hiz as it heads north for its identity-ending confluence with the River Ivel near Henlow Grange.

This is a low-lying area- only reaching the heady heights of 45 metres (147 feet) above sea level in places- but you can look around and catch a glimpse of some higher ground slightly further afield; the Chilterns dominate the southwest horizon and then much nearer to the east are the gentle hills that rise from Cadwell to Wilbury.

Meanwhile, back here on the floodplain, there are meadows alive with swaying grasses and wildflowers, which in turn give way to lush pastures and the occasional crop. And when you do occasionally part company with the river, you can still observe its course at a distance by following the stands of willow and alder that line its shaded banks.

Local industry also owes a debt to what's underfoot: agriculture, obviously, but cement and brick making also flourished briefly in Arlesey and beyond, thanks to the presence of the clay and the marl.

The topography of the 'Bedford Plain' also made this the obvious route for what is now the east coast mainline, the construction of which in the mid 1800s allowed those Arlesey white bricks and the growers' produce to find ever more distant markets.

This area - our very own 'water margin', no less- is a place of big skies and very little elevation to trouble tired legs and the Hicca Way provides a great way to really appreciate its many charms.

Hitchin to Arlesey

Four of us - and Eva the Jack Russell- undertook the walk very recently: on a lovely summer Saturday morning we caught the train from Hitchin to Arlesey and then followed the well-waymarked route all the way back to Ickleford.

And it was here that we paused awhile for well-earned refreshments at the recently re-opened and rather excellent Old George. My kind of exploring and highly recommended.

Hold the images of this first landscape in mind as we now swivel 180 degrees and head for a place just southwest of Hitchin, where we will experience a noticeable change of scenery.

Hitchin Town centre to Charlton

The walk from the town centre to Charlton - the entry point to this new world - is a lifelong delight for me and I'm sure for many others, too.

In the study of rivers, hydrologists refer to the stages of a river's life in human terms: youth; maturity and old age. Well here in its valley in Charlton you are very much in the company of an infant Hiz, before its frisky adolescence is tempered by a wholly man-made landscape as it passes through the town before escaping to where we have just met it, in gentle maturity.

But now we'll head for the easy-to-find the source of the River Hiz at Wellhead, a short stroll from Charlton village.

Pause at this special place and note the small valley cut by the spring into the hillside below the path.

If you look around you will see that you are now surrounded by high ground- both near and far- much of it wooded. And whichever way you walk on from here, it is these ever-present hills that grab your attention.

We certainly had none of this rolling upland grandeur when we were with the river in Ickleford and Wellhead is the place that exemplifies the joys of this new landscape.

Our bedrock here is chalk, whose comparative hardness to the softer marl and clays we experienced earlier has resulted in this classic Chilterns landscape: broad, gentle-sloped valleys hosting springs and pure chalk streams; myriad rounded hills; a gentle high plateau that extends far behind the dramatic scarp slope of Pegsdon and beyond; numerous delightful villages connected by atmospheric hollow ways- sunken lanes- fringed with dark, mature woodlands full of beech, oak, ash and hornbeam…

The land here is topped with a layer of the aptly-named 'clay with flints', dumped by both water and ice, and it is this that successfully supports both the livestock and crops that you see around you. These surviving ancient hedgerows are a real asset, too, dividing fields and providing a bumper crop of blackberries later in the summer.

Sheep - those woolly providers of Hitchin's medieval wealth - still graze the hillsides that are too steep for the plough. And it's also difficult to move without stumbling across an old chalk pit or two, evidence of another, but now long-gone, economic activity.

I could go on.

It matters not whether you prefer the wide-open spaces of the plain or these gently rolling hills: both are classic English landscapes. We are blessed to have both right here on our doorstep and it is the rock under our feet that we can thank: vive le rock!

See you out there.