9 brave Polyramblers turned up at Manor Park station on an inauspicious day for a 6.5 miles walk through parklands. We started with flat Wanstead Flats, passing Alexandra Lake dug at the beginning of the 20th century to give work to unemployed men. The lake was named after Alexandra of Denmark, the Queen Consort of King Edward VII. Next was Wanstead Park where we walked along lakes, then crossed over the river Roding as the rain started.
We passed St Andrew’s Church – Grade II listed – which is of a similar design to Pretoria Church in South Africa (that’s what my guide says). After some road walking, we reached Valentines Park as the rain eased off. We had the Garden Courtyard Cafe to ourselves for our lunch break. Afterwards, we visited Valentines Mansion (free to visit and open Sundays and Mondays) – built in 1696 for Elizabeth, Lady Tillotson, the widow of John Tillotson who had been the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Mansion was later the family home of Sir Charles Raymond who made money from interests in the East India Company. The house and grounds were then acquired by the Council who created a lovely public park with nice gardens and flower beds.
Two Polyramblers left after lunch and, as it was no longer raining, the rest of us walked around the park and the lakes. We were approached by many squirrels wanting food to store for the winter. It’s worth coming back to Valentines Park in spring or summer to enjoy the flowers but we enjoyed the autumn colours. We then made our way to Gant’s Hill station (which has a design similar to Moscow metro).
I was just about to start the briefing at Otford when snap! I manage somehow to break my glasses. Happily I can still read if I squint. Anyway, it was very pleasing to have such a big turn-out, 21 in all, on what turned out to be a fine, sunny, November day.
We headed straight up our first ascent; Otford Mount or ‘mud mountain’ as one of our group calls it. There were lots of leaves on the path and there was some mud but the going was pretty good really. I expect it will be a lot muddier later in the season. Then we went through some beautiful woods descending to Magpie Bottom. I had been delighted to see two Magpies there on the walkover but today they weren’t to be found – they were probably watching us from a nearby tree.
After some road walking we climbed a stile and then up another steep and very muddy track heading eventually to Dunstall Farm. The second stile is on a slope and has a very high step but we all got over it very well. Then through the farm itself, no cattle in the surrounding fields. They were all under cover and enjoying their silage as we passed them.
Then we were heading through another wood and down a long series of steps covered in leaves and quite muddy too.
We took our time down these slippery steps arriving at a busy road just before Shoreham. Then we went through the Churchyard and stopped for lunch outside the Kings Arms where I had made a reservation. Some walkers went to the Honeypot Cafe and others had brought there own food.
When we arrived at the pub Geoffrey was waiting for us, he wasn’t able to do the walk proper because of his ankle injury but he joined us for a while on the walk after lunch. In the pub I got very agitated by the long wait for our orders to arrive. Apparently they only had one Chef today. That’s the problem with pubs sometimes!
At this point two of our group headed home via Shoreham station while the rest of us and Geoffrey did the long steady climb up to the summit of the hill on the other other side of the valley. Including passing through a field of bullocks who ignored us (phew). Most of the hill is thickly wooded and it is a lovely experience walking through the woods on a fresh afternoon. Nearing the top Geoffrey turned back to avoid aggravating his ankle injury. The rest of us continued and eventually emerged from the woods. We stopped for a water break and some very fine views across the Darent Valley and beyond.
In another 20 minutes or so we were heading down a steep path with Filston Hall ahead of us at the bottom of the valley. Then it was an easy walk back to Otford along a track between fields. Soon enough we were back at the station before sunset. I needn’t have worried so much about the long lunch!
It had been a good ramble with great company and the weather had been kind to us.
Despite severe warnings about getting lost in the dark if we didn’t keep up a good pace & a very uncertain weather forecast, 15 of us appeared at Dorman’s station for the walk.
Luckily this walk got us out and into proper countryside very quickly, with little walking in built up areas and we were soon in the lovely Surrey Weald. Weald is an old English word for ‘wood’ or ‘forest’, related to the German ‘Wald’.
We skirted Greathed Manor which must have been a very grand house but is now a, probably also very grand, Care Home. The walk was undulating with lovely views over the North Downs when we emerged from woodland and could see to the North. Someone had created a Bug Hotel in the woods which seemed, in appropriate imitation, fairly grand itself. We went through woodland and some open grassland and found our way to the little village of Cowden for a lunch stop.
The second half of the walk was a bit more open again with lovely views and, towards the end, a lot of paddocks and horses having their evening hay. The rain kept off except for a little towards the end and we made it to the station before dark so – well done and thank you to all the walkers who came for keeping up the pace.
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.
