The sunshine attracted 16 Poly Ramblers on this walk in historic Bexley village and along the Cray river to Sidcup.
Nobody in the group knew what their home town or village were worth. But I could tell them that Bexley, in the Doomsday Survey of 1086, had 41 inhabitants, with 100 pigs and 10 ploughs, and was valued the equivalent of £20.

We passed the poor house which, in 1787, had 40 ‘inmates’, Freemantle Hall, 15th century Kings Head pub, the renovated mill, the church of St Mary and the graveyard. We walked along the edge of Churchfield Wood listening to many birds singing. We enjoyed this peace whilst it lasted as we had to walk briefly along the busy A2.  We reached Hall Place, a beautiful house built from 1540 and extended in bricks between 1649 and 1666. The highlight was the Queen’s Beasts, a hedge of topiary installed in 1953 to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. It depicts animals from royal coats of arms.  We had lunch outside by the river – picnic or food from the cafe. My order had been forgotten so our break was longer than planned. But it was lovely to sit in the sun.

We made our way back to Bexley – over the A2 this time – passing the National School established in 1834, Victorian almshouses dating from 1837 and an old brewery.  We walked on the other side of the railway line and were suddenly in the countryside. We were in the Cray Valley with farmland and cattle in a field – on the other side of the barbed wire fence. We joined the Cray river and walked alongside it to Footscray Meadows and then crossed it by way of the Five Arches Bridge. We left the river and made our way to North Cray Woods. Out of the woods, it was approximately one mile along the road to Sidcup station where the walk ended.

Dominique

Photos by Ida and Joyanna

I was surprised and pleased to find eighteen hardy walkers had arrived at Berkhamsted Station on an unusually dry morning. After the safety briefing we started the walk heading right from the station and then along the Grand Union Canal passing some pubs and cafes along the way. The path was not as muddy as when Jennifer and I did the recce previously. 

We left the canal path after  2 miles and then made our way to Sharpe’s Lane where we crossed the A251 safely. We then continued uphill on Sugar Lane to Bottom Farm which had some lovely views. We passed a really well constructed tree house on the way to the Granary. Here we turned right in the direction of Swing Gate Lane instead of taking the planned route in order to avoid a really muddy ploughed field. After a gentle ascent we found a suitable picnic spot. 

Continue reading Berkhamsted Circular Walk on 21st February 2026 →

We were very lucky with the weather on our walk, with a lovely blue sky and no rain.  We started with 14 walkers at Uxbridge station.  Heading down the High street and having crossed a few roads, we were able to drop down though the car park of The Swan and Bottle pub, onto the canal towpath.  Soon we reached Fran’s Tea Garden (closed but a bit early for a stop anyhow!). 

When passing Denham Lock some of our group listed off notable residents of the village; Cilla Black, Paul Daniels, Brian Conolly (The band Sweet), Mike Oldfield,  Harry Saltzman (James Bond producer in the 1960s) and the founder of the British Union of Fascists, Oswald Mosley and his wife Diana. As we continued along the canal, to our right lay Uxbridge Alderglade Nature Reserve and later Fray Valley Nature Reserve. We were accompanied on our left by the River Colne and Broadwater lake, often used for sailing. 

Continue reading Uxbridge to Croxley on 14th February 2026 (9 miles) →

Despite the weather forecast of no sunshine and intermittent rain, an impressive turnout of twenty-four members and three guests assembled at Wimbledon Park station for a 4.5 mile walk across Putney Heath and Wimbledon Common.

A stroll along a suburban street took us to the gates of the nearby park. It is a recreational green space that sprawls across sixty-seven acres. Passing a children’s playground and numerous tennis courts, we reached a large lake with much wildlife. Zig-zagging past an athletics track took us out of the park and onto a road with a distant view of the home of lawn tennis. Turning off beforehand, we climbed up a side road until we found ourselves at an entrance to Putney Heath. Highwaymen once prowled here and duels were fought but we only saw locals enjoying the attractive woodlands.

Our train to Oxford was pretty much full as we left behind us an exceptionally busy Marylebone Station.    Arriving at Beaconsfield we were joined by others who had come by car.   We were 15 strong now and were packing out the small station building so we went outside for the briefing (in the rain unfortunately).

Happily the rain stopped quite soon after we began this 9 mile ramble although the sky remained in threatening mood all day. After passing a sign to the model village and walking along some residential streets we reached open fields and headed northeast towards Seer Green.   A couple of fields later we passed through an attractive avenue of trees and then we had to cross the very busy Amersham road.   We had to wait quite a long time before we could all cross safely.   Then we were walking through a wood and then across wet fields to Seer Green for an early lunch.  

Continue reading BEACONSFIELD CIRCULAR ON 7th FEBRUARY 2026 →