Five intrepid walkers met at Marylebone station togged up for the dire wet weather which was forecast and which we had already experienced on our respective ways from home, not seriously expecting to meet any other Polyrambler at the station! However the sky lightened up as the train made its way to Rickmansworth where we met up with Gillian and Stuart. The morning was still wet but we made good headway along the Chess valley. The Chess was Continue reading Sunday 23 September 2018: Chess Valley – Rickmansworth to Chesham (Linear) →

Despite soaring temperatures and the England world cup match, 9 polyramblers turned out for the walk.  The advantage of the conditions was that there were far fewer people on the Ridgeway than would be normal and the heat was made more bearable by a gentle breeze.   Lunch in the Valiant Trouper in the pretty old village of Aldbury was excellent and as it was a football-free zone (i.e. no TV) there weren’t many customers so we were very well taken care of. Continue reading Tring to Berkhamsted: 7 July →

Nine Polyramblers for this Kent walk on a hot and sunny day. After leaving Gravesend and its industrial estate, we walked along the Thames and marshlands described in the map as « danger area ». But Martin reassured us by saying that the army range is only used during the week. It was quiet and we only met a couple of fishermen and hordes of horses with their foals. We passed a fort built by General Gordon before Higham Creek.  The path near Cliffe Fort was quite overgrown. We turned inland along Cliffe Creek and Cliffe Pools RSPB Nature Reserve – where we saw a couple of avocets – before reaching our lunch stop: the Six Bells Pub in Cliffe. After a short break, we continued our walk through farmland and orchards, passing Cooling Castle and Northward Hill RSPB Nature Reserve. We did not stop to sample the strawberries in the field but Anna, who ate a few on the recce, told us they were delicious. An exhilarating climb of a 50m high hill was recompensed with chocolate from Martin. We reached High Halstow where we waited for the bus to Strood. We caught the javelin train to Gravesend where we changed for a train to London.  The walk was supposed to be 9.5 miles but there was some disagreement about the length and it is being investigated.  After verification, it seems the walk was 11.9 miles.  Continue reading Saturday 23 June 2018: Saxon Shore Way (1) – Gravesend to High Halstow (Linear) →

17 walkers for this London walk on a lovely summer evening starting from Farringdon, one of the earliest stations to be completed (1863). We made our way to the Clerk’s Well which was rediscovered in 1924 during building work. The walk then took us to the Sessions House – which is now a Masonic Hall, the Marx Memorial Library (it was originally an 18th century school for poor Welsh children and later was the home of ’20th Century Press’ where Lenin published), the old Hugh Myddleton School (named Continue reading Wednesday 20 June 2018: Evening walk in Clerkenwell →