Thirteen ramblers arrived in Tudeley on a beautiful sunny morning, despite a train cancellation and delayed bus. They were met by another three who had travelled by car. We set off across fields towards the Norman St.T homas a Becket church in Capel. This grade 1 listed building is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It is no longer used for regular services but is still consacrated. We admired the 13th century wall paintings which were discovered in 1927. As there were a large number of benches in the churchyard, we decided to stop for our picnic.

On leaving the church, we passed the 800 year old yew tree under which St. Thomas a Becket is said to have preached. The sun then disappeared and we were surprised by a, fortunately brief, fairly heavy shower. The next section of the walk took us through woods and orchards, where we collected delicious windfalls. There were quite a few stiles, some not very easy to negotiate. The leader managed to lose four members just before arriving at Tudeley, due to the difficulty of climbing the last one. We were, however, all reunited at All Saints Church where we were joined by another three members who had made their own way there. Our guide, Daphne was waiting for us. She treated us to a very interesting talk about the history and installation of the wonderful stained glass Chagall windows. If you have not seen them, they are well worth a visit. The colours are incredible and as Daphne pointed out, there are so many small details that the more you look, the more you see. It is the only church in the world to have all its windows decorated by the great artist. The last section of the walk took us through the grounds of the magnificent Somerhill House. This grade 1 listed Jacobean mansion is now a school and was painted by Turner in 1811. After what was quite a long day, we arrived at Tonbridge station in time to get a cup of tea or coffee to take on the train back.

Susan. Photos by Stuart, Chris and Susan

It was a nice summer evening for this walk through some of the City’s gardens. There were 19 of us – we could have been 20 but Danny was doing his washing. Our first stop was Finsbury Circus which was originally part of the Finsbury Manor Estate. The garden was shut for a number of years as the centre of the site was used as an access shaft for Crossrail. Next was the small garden of All Hallows on the Wall and the larger garden of St Botolph without Bishopsgate with one of the abstract sculptures from the City Trail. We went up to the Victorian bathhouse and then headed to Devonshire Square, then Cutlers gardens and Jubilee Gardens. We made our way to the Swiss Re Tower. The walk description says: ‘it is one of the most distinctive buildings in London’s skyline to date. It is 590 ft (180 m) tall, making it the second tallest building in the City of London after Tower 42.’ How things have changed since this was written! We made a small detour to St Helen’s Church and then headed to St Andrew Undershaft. The name Undershaft appeared in the 15th century and was derived from the tradition of raising a maypole each year, directly opposite the church. The maypole is still there but by the Leadenhall building. We went past the Lloyd Building to Fen Court where we were entertained by a big rat running around the garden. This old churchyard contains the ‘Guilt of Cain’ sculpture commissioned to commemorate the bicentenary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in 2008. We then turned into Fenchurch Street and, at number 120, after going through security checks, we went up to the rooftop garden. It’s a beautiful garden with a water feature and amazing views. Continue reading MOORGATE TO TOWER HILL – 2ND AUGUST →

As we made our way to Mucking and though the Stanford Warren Nature Reserve to the sluice gate on Mucking Creek, some of the 12 walkers who were on the walk on this sunny day had an impression of deja-vu which caused some confusion. I explained that we did this bit in reverse last April and we had to do it again to join the walk where we left it. Reassured they were not going mad, the group continued along the sea wall above Mucking Flats and Stanford le Hope marshes with views of the London Gateway container port in the distance. After crossing the railway line leading to the port, we joined Rainbow Lane and then crossed a new blue bridge over the access road to the port. We followed a path along the access road and then a lane, arriving in Corringham. We made our way to the Bull pub and Corringham Church, our lunch stops. Continue reading Saturday 2 July: Thames Valley Estuary Path part 3 – Stanford le Hope to Pitsea (Essex) →