Danny kept up his usual standard for Easter Saturday, attracting a crowd of 24 walkers to Langley in spite of very uninviting weather. After a short walk along the canal we headed into the vast Langley Park Estate, once home to the Duke of Marlborough, with a lake designed by Capability Brown, an arboretum and rhododendron gardens. Admittedly it wasn’t the best type of day to appreciate these features but the weather gradually improved and the walking was easy with only muddy paths to contend with. After five miles we left the park and headed for lunch at the Crooked Billet at Iver Heath which provided good, reasonably priced food and friendly welcoming staff. By the time we left the pub the sun was out. Nine walkers left to get the bus back to Langley, fortified by chocolate eggs (thanks Danny) and the rest carried on for the last two or three miles through the Park Estate, passing some exotic waterfowl and an impressive display of daffodils. On the last stretch our path was impeded by a fallen tree which took a bit of team work to negotiate without crawling on the muddy trunk. A very pleasant day.
Our first Spring walk was foggy and felt quite autumnal but at least it stayed dry. The walk was in the Chilterns, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and in Hertfordshire, the county of opportunity. After leaving the station, 9 Polyramblers were soon in the countryside, walking in a valley before crossing Frithsden Beeches and reaching the Golden Valley in the Ashridge Estate, well named Continue reading Saturday 24 March 2018: Berkhamsted (Circular)→
After a train and bus/coach journey, we arrived at the Street youth hostel, the oldest hostel in the South West opened in 1931. It is an alpine style chalet on the brow of a hill overlooking Glastonbury Tor and the Somerset Levels. Geoffrey had baked banana cakes so we had tea and cake while waiting for our food delivery and then went to explore Street. There was a bread shortage at Ocado but, Continue reading Friday 16 to Sunday 18 March 2018: YHA Weekend, Street, Somerset→
Thirteen Poly Ramblers gathered at Stanmore on a mild and breezy Saturday morning to try to walk off the Christmas excess. We headed up Stanmore Hill, passing some impressive properties, and then across Stanmore common, the Bentley Priory nature reserve where we saw deer in the enclosure, and on to Harrow Weald Common. We walked through the grounds of the Grimsdyke Hotel Continue reading Saturday 30 December 2017: Stanmore to Pinner (Linear)→
The day started with sunshine and 19 Polyramblers. A few of us reminisced about the walk we did in St Albans in December 2010, led by Danny, when snow started falling when we went into the pub for lunch and, when we came out everything was white and magical. A photo taken by Stuart that day ended up as one of the Club’s Christmas cards. But, this year, the snow that had fallen the Continue reading Saturday 16 December 2017: St Albans Cathedral and Carols→
The Polytechnic Rambling Club – Walking with friends
