There were twenty three of us on this 10 mile walk over the hills to Amersham. I was delighted to see so many ramblers come along after almost three days of gloomy wet weather which didn’t clear until Friday afternoon. We set off from the railway station passing the 14th c. parish Church of St Peter & St Paul and then climbed to the top of the hill which has some very fine views of the surrounding countryside. The going was quite soft and rather muddy in places but the heavy rain I was fearing didn’t appear. We descended the neighbouring valley to the ancient village of Little Missenden, crossing the busy A413 on the way. We visited the St John the Baptist Church, parts of which date back to the 10th c. and after removing our muddy boots we admired the medieval frescoes which can be seen inside the church.

After leaving the church we climbed a long incline up to Beamond End, stopping for a quick snack at about 1.15pm. We crossed the busy A404 safely and then we were amongst the beech trees of Penn Wood. After leaving the wood it was time for a well deserved lunch, either a picnic on the green or a meal at the Hit or Miss Pub nearby. In the pub and sat next to us was a group of men who said they were a ‘Dad’s Group’ each person was dressed to represent a different London underground station. One man was dressed as an angel for Angel Stn, another as a baker, for Baker Street Stn etc!

We were over half-way now and set off to the village of Winchmore Hill across the fields and through the woods. It was quite muddy going in places. Then on to Coleshill where we passed a 19th c. Church, then down the road for a while. Still no rain! And making good time. We emerged via a country path onto fields with a a fine view of a distant Old Amersham in the valley below us. We arrived in Amersham at 16:45 and some of us visited the small and crowded tea shop which was closing in 15 minutes. Others headed directly up the steep hill to the station. We had been lucky with the weather. It had been a great day out.

Chris.  Photos by Ida and Stuart

Twenty two  Poly Ramblers turned up for the fourth and final part of the Thames Estuary Path – or so they thought! It was a grey, cold day and, although the sky got quite dark, rain did not materialise.  And neither did the mud I experienced in the first field when I did the recce.  After successfully counting participants, we were soon out of Pitsea and walking in fields along the railway. We quickly arrived at St Margaret’s Church, Bowers Gifford, an English Heritage historic Grade 2 listed building which dates back to Saxon times and is recorded in the Domesday Book commissioned by William I in 1085. It is a rare example of a working ‘marsh located’ church. Leaving the church, we continued through the RSPB Bowers Marsh Reserve and reached Benfleet Creek after walking under the A130.  We walked on the sea wall accompanied by the noise of motorbikes riding on a track alongside the footpath. We arrived at Benfleet, our lunch stop. Half the group went to the Hoy and Helmet pub to eat in the warmth. The other half had a picnic (watching an avocet, a curlew and other birds we could not identify) and a drink at quirky Barge Gladys.

We all reunited after lunch and then entered Hadleigh Country Park following Benfleet Creek – which separates the mainland from Canvey Island – along marshes. We could see the ruins of Hadley Castle in the distance. The castle was begun around 1215 by Hubert de Burgh but extensively refortified by Edward III during the Hundred Years War. We continued along the sea wall parallel to Two Tree Island, a nature reserve, and Leigh Marsh before reaching Old Leigh, passing shellfish shacks where a few people stopped to make some purchases for dinner. We walked along the harbour and followed pretty Old Leigh High Street then continued along the busy sea wall to reach Chalkwell station with only 10 minutes wait for the train. Someone mentioned her surprise that the walk did not end in Southend. When I checked the information about the walk, it said the walk is from Tilbury Town to Southend – something that I had forgotten since we started the walk over a year ago. I will remedy this for the purists with another walk in late autumn.

Dominique. Photos by Stuart, Jo and Hilary

It was a classic February day, cloudy, average temperature with a nippy north easterly wind blowing but dry, when 15 Poly Ramblers assembled outside Tring station for a circular walk.  

The walk would take us not in the direction of the Ridgeway but the opposite direction around the village of Wigginton and up into Ashridge forest.  

We set out and no sooner had we turned the corner into Beggar’s Lane than we came across the somewhat embarrassed faces of Gillian and Stuart standing by their car which had been driven into a puddle on parking.  This had turned out to be deeper than they had expected and the car had got stuck.  It was decided not to get the strongest of the Poly Ramblers to put their weight in front of the car and try to extract it from the puddle but instead Gillian rang for road side assistance and said she and Stuart would catch us up once the car had been sorted out. 

We diverged from the road on to a footpath that took us up an incline where we could look across the valley towards Ashridge in one direction and Aylesbury vale in the other direction.  We crossed a footbridge over the A41 eventually turning into the woods of Tring Park where we eventually came into a lane leading into the village of Wigginton.  Here we made a lunch time stop at a sports field where there was a community shop and café at one end.  We increased their customer numbers probably three fold but they were very welcoming and managed to accommodate us in their small inside seating area where Poly Ramblers  soon fell into conversation with local dogwalkers.  Soon after our arrival, Gillian and Stuart appeared, swelling our numbers to 17 Poly Ramblers.  Thankfully there had been no damage done to their car.  

After lunch, we continued out walk through a field with overcurious horses trying to bar our way through a kissing gate, and back across the A41, this time crossing under it, reaching a hamlet with the curious name of Cow Roast.  Apart from a dilapidated looking former pub in the throws of being renovated, we passed two sports fields filled with teams of men and women respectively playing football and hockey.  

Our path took us over the Grand Union Canal and over the Tring to London railway line, after which we started to rise up into Ashridge forest.  The superb views across the valley were in the opposite direction from those we had seen on the other side in the morning.  The sun had started to break through making an otherwise chilly day appear almost warm.  

At a National Trust café in Ashridge Forest next to the Bridgewater monument ( a monument to the local aristocratic canal builder) we stopped for much needed hot drinks.  Rain had threatened at various points on the walk but hadn’t amounted to much.  Whilst we were at the café however, it turned heavier and we all retreated under an awning in the outdoor café to keep dry.  By the time we got up to leave however, the rain had stopped and we took the steep path down the hill into the pretty village of Aldbury.  On the 0.2 mile footpath from Aldbury to Tring station, the sun suddenly turned very bright and we saw the most magical sight of an intact rainbow one end of which was clearly visible over the village of Aldbury.  Someone mentioned that this could be interpreted as a good luck omen.  

Once back at Tring station we did not have to wait long for a train that took us back to London.  

Mary. Photos by Mary and Nita and the car photo by Chris (thanks Chris!)