We got started on our 11-mile jaunt about 10.45am, going through lots of lovely woods, some of which were quite wild.  Unfortunately, we had to walk alongside the busy A1 for a bit, before being able to cross via a subway.  We quickly headed away from the road then along some quieter, residential, roads.

We soon shared part of our route with the Dollis Valley Greenwalk, following Dollis brook, going into Totteridge Fields, a nature reserve managed by the London Wildlife Trust.  We came out of the woods into fields now and then, had a group picture taken at Scratchwood and later, having walked more than 6 miles, enjoyed a picnic stretched out on the grass. 

After cutting through Barnet Playing fields, a few people went to High Barnet station and the remainder of us carried on walking. There followed a few fairly steep ascents, which the group took in their stride.   We walked alongside Hadley Green and later into Monken Hadley common, along what is know locally as Hadley Woods which stretches all the way to Cockfosters.   

At the end a group photo was taken outside Cockfosters Station to mark the final leg of the Loop, having started walking it at Cockfosters, back in November 2021. A few of us visited a trendy bar nearby for coffee to celebrate!

Jackie

Photos by Lan and Chris

After the hottest day of the year (so far), I was glad it was a lot cooler for my walk. Nine of us met at Hampton Court station after receiving a packet of wildflower seeds from South Western Railway as we exited the platform. It was the week of the Hampton Court RHS Flower Show and the Palace gardens were open free of charge. We enjoyed the rose garden and the vegetable garden and had a quick look at the royal tennis court before going into the beautiful formal gardens. We passed the privy garden, the knot garden, the pond gardens and admired the great vine which holds the Guinness World Record for being the largest vine. Grapes can be purchased in September. 

We stopped at the plant shop so that two members of our party could buy chard and beetroot which they had to carry for the rest of the walk. Half the party ate their picnic in the vegetable garden while the rest ate in the nice Lion Gate Cafe. Then we entered Bushy Park and admired the Diana Fountain which had been cleaned recently. After passing a couple of ponds and seeing a family of deer, we followed the Langford River into the lovely Pheasantry Woodland Garden. The sun had come out and it was nice to be in the shade. We then went into the Waterhouse Woodland Garden, another pleasant garden with interesting plants. We came out of the woodland, crossed Cobblers Walk and entered the Park. We saw a buck with magnificent antlers eating along the path and not bothered by our presence. After a while, we reached the Water Gardens and its seven steps cascade and exited Bushy Park. We only waited a couple of minutes for the bus taking us back to Hampton Court and the train was at the station when we arrived. Altogether a very nice day, if I can say so myself!

The Hampton Court Palace Gardens are open free of charge on the following dates:

13 September to 14 September
18 October to 19 October
22 November to 23 November
26 December (wilderness garden only)

Dom

Despite an unpromising weather forecast, 14 of us made our various ways to Plumpton to start the walk. The South Downs were completely hidden in a thick mist but I knew that there was a fence at the top so I was prepared to cling to it if we could see absolutely nothing and were in some danger of either falling off or getting lost in the greyness. 

After a mile or so of  flat walking through meadows and light woodland we arrived at the start of our ascent but made a democratic decision to stop at the pub before we went up. The pub advertised ice cream for dogs which always makes me wonder what the ingredients are but no one seems to know. Well, it seems to contain a lot of unpronounceable chemicals plus milk, turmeric, sweet potato, collagen, various vitamins, oat bran and oddly, vanilla flavouring. Probably quite nice!

We made our way up the lovely chalk path to join the South Downs Way for a few miles and despite a very brisk cold wind the mist started to clear. We had to go down a potentially unpleasantly steep and slippery chalk path but, impressively, no one fell over and we arrived in Ditchling where we had sandwiches in the churchyard and hit the cafes. 

After lunch up we went again, back onto the Downs. The sun almost came out and the weather improved so we enjoyed  beautiful views over  Sussex. Then a slightly gentler and more sheltered descent to Hassocks where some went for the train and some had a second pint or half pint, or cider or lime juice or whatever at the Jack & Jill pub before the final 20 minute walk to the station. 

Harriet

Photos from Jane, Stephen, Jo, Ida and Chris