In spite of the best efforts of the Metropolitan Line signalling system, 13 walkers finally assembled at Chesham station on a sunny but cold Saturday morning in January.  By the time the train arrived we were nearly an hour late so we set off at pace to warm up and make sure we could complete the circuit of the town before dark. A number of valleys converge on Chesham and any walk in the vicinity involves a lot of up and down.

We took a clockwise direction, through Lowndes Park and Pednor Vale, eventually reaching Ramscoat Woods,  former site of brickworks. We descended and immediately climbed again to reach the Ashley Green road and the King Charles pub, where we stopped for drinks and ate our sandwiches at a picnic table in the car park. It was a shame that this large pub wasn’t serving hot drinks as they would have sold quite a few as we sought to warm up.

Continuing our circuit across fields and lanes we encountered some motorised paragliders above us – very noisy but quite a sight to behold in the late afternoon sun. We passed the 300 year old oak tree – known as the memory tree on Marvel Hill above the town. It is apparently renowned as a site of spiritual symbolism, rituals , ceremonies and scattering of ashes in memory of friends and relatives. We descended to the town as the sun set and went in search of tea, lamenting the loss of the Wotnot Vintage Café and that all the remaining independent cafes in Chesham close at 3pm. Thankfully Costa was open.

Gillian
Photos by Stephen, Joyanna, Mary