A walk from Cookham to Maidenhead, where we ‘had the weather for it’. Cooler and much more tolerable for a longish walk.
16 arrived on the shuttle between Maidenhead and Cookham, Geoffrey (our back marker) and I by car, and Pam joined us at the pub near Bourne End.
The walk is a figure of 9 – a circular walk back to Cookham High St and then linear down to Maidenhead – much researched and recce’d and Chris had his trusty app just in case. Continue reading Cookham to Maidenhead – 22 August 2026
I had been concerned that following recent high temperatures in London the walking conditions might have been uncomfortable especially as there was no shade. But I needn’t have worried. The temperatures were already on the way down after the latest heatwave and the gentle sea breeze made the conditions just perfect for walking.
12 Poly Ramblers assembled at St Pancras and made the journey down to Rye. After the briefing, we began with a short tour of the main highlights of the town. Rye is a very old town with evidence of existing since Anglo-Saxon times. It is one of five ports (including Winchelsea) or ‘Cinque Ports’ on which were conferred a special status and tax privileges by the Crown in medieval times in return for defending the coastline from invasion. After admiring the old buildings, particularly in Mermaid Street, we made our way out of Rye and along the extensive salt flats that lie between the town and the sea two miles away. It’s hard to imagine that, until a succession of massive storms between the 13th and 16th centuries, both Rye and Winchelsea were on the coast. Continue reading Rye Circular via Winchelsea – 15th August 2026
Fully booked. Enquiries to Gillian
Photo: Philip Halling / Kleve Walk, Worcester / CC BY-SA 2.0
It was ideal weather – sunny but not hot – for this 7-mile walk continuing our circle around London on the Green London Way. Fourteen Poly Ramblers met at Richmond tube station and made their way to the Thames through busy shopping streets. We followed the shaded river path northbound along the Old Deer Park, the Royal Mid-Surrey Gold Club and Kew Gardens. There were quite a few walkers and cyclists, some with bells and some without (the cyclists – not the walkers announcing they were lepers!). We walked at different speeds and met at Kew Bridge where two speedy walkers were already having lunch in a café. We crossed the bridge and some of us had a picnic, others went to a café or a pub. I lost three walkers after lunch; one who could only do a short walk and two who had planned to stay in the pub. Continue reading GREEN LONDON WAY – RICHMOND TO BOSTON MANOR 6 AUGUST
For the second year in a row, our trip to the Norfolk coast coincided with a heat wave in the south east, so we were delighted to hear reports from the early arrivals that Great Yarmouth was positively chilly in the evening. The town was clearly struggling economically but has a rich maritime history and those who managed to visit the Time and Tide museum were impressed. On the first evening most of the group gathered in the Alexandra restaurant for an excellent meal.
The next morning was hot as forecast, but we need not have feared as sea breezes came tumbling over us as we stepped onto Happisburgh beach. The cloudless sky had turned the sea a Mediterranean blue. A vast, white swathe of firm sands, damp from the retreating tide, made the going easy as we strode out to the sound of the waves. Continue reading Norfolk Coast Path: Happisburgh to Hopton on Sea 26-28 June 2026
