On the 200th Birthday of the first British railway train service ever,  at Bedford station I met 9 polyramblers who arrived on the fast train from St Pancras. I had already met another previously on the slower train from Flitwick into Bedford. We made our way onto platform 1A, where the two coach Bletchley DMU soon pulled in. All 11 of us boarded this little train setting off for the Kempston Hardwick halt, 2 stops away.

Kempston Hardwick has the reputation of being the least used station in Bedfordshire. It is easy to see why as there is very little surrounding it, other than a level crossing, a minor road and open fields. There was a small adjacent car park where I held our safety briefing. Much of the farmland surrounding this halt has been purchased by Universal Studios in order to construct a theme park for pleasure rides (possibly similar to Alton Towers?) and this received Government backing last April.

It was a slightly overcast morning with sunny spells. The initial part of the walk went eastwards away from the halt, along Manor Road where we had to keep in single file, there being no footway. Soon the side verges widened, where we reached a gateway opposite. I explained to the party that behind these gates is the Concrete Slab, being a former brickwork site about an acre in size. It is likely that Universal will use this space as their Park offices.

Continuing further along the road, passing a row of houses some now derelict, we then turned right, into the car park of a conference venue, onto a path, doubling back westwards through some woodland where, fenced to our left,  the humungous car park of British Car Auctions(BCA) appeared. Then ahead the path took us between two metal wedges onto an open field. This had been recently ploughed, and indeed a tractor could be seen moving in the distance doing the ploughing! We carried onwards towards, and in between, two more metal wedges at the opposite side of this field, then entered into another ploughed field, and crossed the Marston Vale railway  into a third field.

These fields are now part of the Universal  site. I explained that this third field would be developed into their transport hub, by bringing in a link spur from the A421 dual carriageway visible beyond the distant end of the field. Parking here will be provided for visitors, a new station to be built on the Marston Vale line, and possibly a hotel.

We then retraced our steps back over the railway to the second field, then proceeded along a southward path towards Broadmead Farm. This path was  not easily visible, but thanks to the OS Maps App, navigating us across the two metal wedges at the far field end proved to be no problem.  From this farm we continued south along a road to the edge of Stewartby, and going further down the road we passed some ex brickworks sites. Then the road curved round to the right taking us across to Stewartby station and level crossing.  At this point we took a left path into the Forest of Marston Vale.

The Forest of Marston Vale is a community forest set in 225 hectares, previously a large clay extraction site for brickmaking, now an area with several lakes yielding a wildlife habitat. After a mile or so of woodland tracks we reached the forest’s Visitor Centre. Some polyramblers ate their sandwiches in the garden, the rest of us ate in the centre’s cafeteria.

By now we were well over halfway through the ramble. After lunch we continued around the edge of the forest along shady tracks with occasional seats carved of of logs with various patterned shapes. A mile and a bit later we reached Millbrook station in good time for the Bedford train. Attached to the platform fences were some information boards about Captain Sir Tom Moore, a local hero during COVID times, including some lovely poetry.  We all boarded the train to Bedford. At Bedford station I directed most of the party to the next fast London train and we said our goodbyes as they boarded.

Geoffrey

Photos by Geoffrey and Mary

It was a cloudy, cool, early autumn day when we assembled as a modest group for the start of our exploratory walk from West Drayton station. Shortly after leaving the routines  of West Drayton town we entered a park where we progressed along a path under an impressive line of Horse Chestnut trees which were busy shedding their seasonal scatterings of conkers. Continuing on and just  30 mins from the start we reached the mighty M4 motorway and crossed a footbridge to reach the edge of Harmondsworth Moor.

In our enthusiasm to push forward we then turned right into the foliage to skirt a vast hidden lake (see photo) but alas three straggling walkers missed the turn and continued straight ahead towards Harmondsworth church and village. After a worried phone call to the detached group it was agreed that they would press on by their own navigation to our lunch stop at the White Horse pub. No worries.

The main group then headed into the body of the moor through woodland via a maze of well made gravel footpaths and across two wooden footbridges spanning  picturesque waterways. Soon we reached the high point atop a gentle rise to survey the surroundings. Behind we could hear but couldn’t see beyond the thicket of bordering trees the nearby thunderous M25 whilst ahead lay three and a half thousand acres of carefully manicured tranquillity.

Harmondsworth Moor in its present form was established around 2000 and its transformation was jointly funded by Hillingdon Council and British Airways. It’s now a very remarkable and largely unknown gem but was formerly an uninviting  derelict site of gravel pits and toxic landfill. After a massive cleanup operation it was landscaped with grassy meadows, the planting of 70,000 trees, the dredging out of two sizable lakes and ponds and the masterful diversion of three rivers.

This sprawling parkland is all effortlessly accessible by a complex network of fine mud free pathways. It’s become a worthy haven for wildlife and a you name it array of birdlife. Also a noteworthy feature at the top of our prominent rise known as ‘The Keyhole’ was a collection of carefully piled and engraved massive square stones which were transported here for storage from the demolition of the old Waterloo Bridge in 1935.

It was here that the leader informed the stunned group that this was indeed the site of Heathrow’s proposed controversial third runway. Consequentially  a large part of the moor plus several hundred homes from the nearby Harmondsworth village would all eventually be carpeted under  concrete and tarmac. Moving on the group descended and heading further south followed a sunken tree curtained path along  the banks of the serene River Colne where we presently reached the edge of one of Heathrow’s hyper active runways. We watched awestruck as a relentless procession of  giant aircraft from around the world flew noisily by, scarily almost within touching distance. Huge lumps of lumbering screaming streamlined metal just seconds from touchdown.

Then it was a short stroll to our pub stop to unite heartily with our detached ramblers and enjoy a pleasurable  lunch. On leaving the pub we headed in drizzle onto  Harmondsworth village just an easy promenade away. Adjacent  to the Five Bells community centered village pub stands the Great Barn which alas is only opened rarely for the public to admire.

The good news is that this historically important barn should  fortunately escape destruction or resiting as it is just outside the blighted zone. Built around the 14th century this vast barn still survives proudly and sturdily thanks largely to its huge thick supporting oak pillars. The local English Heritage volunteers  were keen to impart their prodigious knowledge to our group of this awesome structure. Well worth a visit.

On departing  as the weather got rainier and more miserable  we decided as a group that rather than repair to the charms of the Five Bells that a sensible option was to take the bus back to West Drayton station and head homewards to dry.

Harmondsworth Moor however is still there although its time and its full splendour is no doubt limited. Enjoy it while we can.

Les

Photos by Ida, Joyanna and Les. Incidentally the sunnier photos were taken on a previous visit.