“This train has been cancelled please disembark!” was announced as fifteen polyramblers sat waiting on the 10.20 train from Waterloo to Sunningdale. Oh no! When I asked the guard, he said there had been an incident further up the line and investigations were in progress. Thankfully we caught the next train half an hour later (which terminated at Woking instead of Reading to avoid the problem).
All posts by Chris Maslen
Kingston Circular Walk via Bushy Park and Hampton Court Park – 27 July 2024
Seventeen Polyramblers gathered at Kingston Train Station for the circular walk. A group photo was taken after a health and safety briefing.
We then crossed the A308 onto Wood Street and then Fife Road and left onto the pedestrian road. We then turned left at the end of the pedestrian road onto Clarence Street and continued straight on to Kingston Bridge, and walked across the bridge staying on the left-hand side of it. We continued straight to the roundabout and then left onto Hampton Court Road where we crossed over at the zebra crossing in front of the Wick Memorial Garden. We then made a right turn on to Church Grove (B358) and walked up to the pedestrian crossing by St. John’s Church where there is a gate in the park wall (Church Grove Gate) went onto a tree lined avenue (Church Grove Passage) to another gate which led us into the park. Bushy Park started as a royal hunting ground with several water features constructed during the reign of King Charles I.
Once in the park there are various paths but we continued right onto a broad grass path. We walked past a bench where one could sit and listened to the Skylarks. We saw deer with some trying to shelter from the heat and others grazing. Lots of photos taken.
We continued straight and crossed a small bridge over two ponds. We walked left to Heron Pond and after a short walk along the pond we continued right on a narrow path with lots of Ferns presumably the Warren Plantation. We continued straight on to a building on the right and then left onto an unnamed road which led us Chestnut Avenue. We crossed the road and continued left towards the Pheasantry café where we had lunch and the toilets.
After lunch we continued our walk through the park to the Waterhouse Plantation where we saw lots of fish, water lilies and a lot more.
We then crossed over to the Woodland Gardens where a slight detour got some of us separated from the leading group, but we were reunited. We then walked through an overgrown path where we avoided the stinging nettles with arms raised above our heads. We then made our way to the Diana Fountain (not the Princess) and Hampton Court Gate where we continued our walk towards Hampton Court Park.
We turned right on to Hampton Court Road, we crossed the road and walked on the left towards Hampton Court Palace. The Palace was originally built for Cardinal Wolsey then passed to Henry VIII in 1529 when he fell out of favour. It was extended in the 17th century by William III and Mary II. We had a brief water break within the grounds of the Palace.
Fourteen of us continued the walk along a short stretch of the Thames path past the Palace to Hampton Court Park onto the golf course. We continued along Long Water with three lime tree avenues (added by Charles I Mary II). We then continued walking right at where there was T-junction and then left after a short distance to rejoin the Thames Path Kingston. 2 went left which was the way back to Kingston Gate.
We all got to Kingston safely where some went shopping and the rest either took the buses or train back home.
Lucy & Nita.
Photos: Hilary, Nita, Ida & Patricia
SOUTH DOWNS Circular from LEWES – 20th July 2024
On Saturday 20th we set out on our annual 14.5 mile pilgrimage to the Little Cottage Tea Room at Glynde. We gathered at Lewes station, had a very short briefing and set off through the lovely Southover Grange Gardens, past Anne Boleyn’s house which would probably be well worth a visit but there is never time and up Jugg’s Road which took us out of town and into the beautiful midsummer countryside.
Chalk downland is threatened and apparently 50% of what remains in the world is in the UK so we are very fortunate to be able to walk in this tiny precious patch. The climb up to the top is long and steep and luckily the sun refrained from coming out until we’d made the summit. We were rewarded by the song of many sky larks and views of the sea in the distance.
We dipped down to Rodmell for a swift pint at the pub and then on to have lunch in the grass outside Southease church which is lovely and is mentioned in the Doomsday Book. Again, it must be well worth looking at inside but the tea shop called and we had another, enormous hill to climb, so we gathered our resolve and set off.
We all made it to the top; some in one go, some in swift bursts & some slow & steady. Again there were larks and beautiful views in every direction and we continued along the top in the sun. After a steep descent and crossing a horrible dual carriageway, we arrived at the Place of Great Joy – the tea shop.
Words cannot describe the delights of that place so I won’t try. Fuelled by scones and cakes, we managed the third serious hill and went up again in the late afternoon light with the hills beginning to cast their long shadows over the valley. A fourth but not very serious hill led us to Lewes golf club and then down into the town where we had a swift pint before we caught the train back to London.
Harriet
Photos by Vanessa, Harriet, Mary and Chris
EVENING WALK TO ROTHERHITHE AND SOUTHWARK PARK – 18th JULY 2024
Sixteen of us were on this sunny evening walk around Bermondsey and Rotherhithe. From Bermondsey tube station, we made our way to the Thames which we followed for a short while. We learned about Dr Alfred Salter, his wife Ada and daughter Joyce. Alfred and Ada became involved in local government in an attempt to improve conditions for the poor of the area. There is a statue group of the family by the Angel Inn. Opposite are the remains of a 14th century manor built for Edward III.
We walked to The Ship pub, passed the mortuary building which is now used by the Time and Talent Association, Hope Sufferance Wharf, the Watch House and the former parish school with the figures of two schoolchildren. We went into St Mary’s churchyard where there is a memorial to Captain Jones, master of the Mayflower. There is also Prince Lee Boo’s grave in the churchyard. I had forgotten to check who he was so could not enlighten the group. But after asking Google, I found out that: “Prince Lee Boo was one of the first Pacific Islanders to visit Great Britain. His life and untimely death from smallpox, only five months after his arrival in London, captured the imagination of the British, and wider European and American, audiences.”
We passed the Mayflower pub and the Brunel Engine House which was designed by Marc Brunel with his son Isambard Kingdom to be part of the infrastructure of the Thames Tunnel. It held steam-powered pumps used to extract water from the tunnel. It was originally used as a boiler house during the construction of the Thames Tunnel between 1825 and 1843.
We rejoined the Thames to look at a statue of a Pilgrim Father reading a child’s comic. We left the Thames and made our way to the quite bland Library and Finnish Church and the pretty Norwegian church of St Olav. Both churches were built to serve sailors from Scandinavian ships who delivered their timber cargo to Rotherhithe and Surrey docks. Then we made our way to Southwark Park. It was a lovely summer evening, and the park was busy with people relaxing or having a picnic. We went through the Ada Salter Garden and along the lake. After a toilet stop by the nice new cafe, we exited the park and went through King George’s Field, passing the former Dock Manager’s Office before reaching Canada Water station where the walk ended. All the pubs mentioned in this report have been patronised by Danny. After the walk, eight of us took the overground to Surrey Quays to go to the Surrey Docks Wetherspoon pub for dinner. Get in touch with me if you want the details of this walk.
Dominique
Photos by Nita
Gunnersbury Park to Hanwell – 7th July 2024
Nineteen Poly Ramblers met at Acton Town Station made their way to Gunnersbury Park to visit the museum which has an incredibly varied collection of around 50,000 museum and archive items. The collection provides an insight into the heritage and culture of Ealing. Sadly we missed meeting the most recent occupants of Gunnersbury Park, Salt and Pepper (two Kunekune Pigs), however we enjoyed a walk around the pond before making our way towards South Ealing Cemetery. This is one of the largest cemeteries in London; Agatha Christie’s parents and Spencer Perceval, the only Prime Minister in British history to be assassinated, are buried here.
We had lunch at Boston Manor, a combination of woodland and open space adjoining the Grand Union Canal. There was a chance for the group to visit the 17th century Boston Manor House where there was an intriguing collection of spoons created by members of the community during the Covid Pandemic!
We continued the rest of our walk along the Grand Union Canal having avoided a heavy downpour. We spotted cygnets and ducklings. The leader pointed out some of the orchards planted along the canal where people could forage.
We finished our walk at the leader’s house for refreshments and Cake to celebrate her birthday.
HilaryPhotos by Joyanna, Gillian and Nita.
