Wonderful blue sky, light breeze, not as much mud as we had encountered, especially on the first walkover, a jolly chatty crowd (19 in all, including 3 friends lured along by Kim and Siew Kee), up the hillside, past the cattle having their elevenses in a barn, glorious rolling views of Kent, woodland and wild boars, to the North Downs Way and dip down to the pub.

We made good time to the Hook and Hatchet at Hucking. Picnickers munched their lunch in the adjacent field and then came in for refreshment. Pre-ordered cooked food arrived promptly. Walkers were chomping at the bit while the leader was still waiting for her Ploughman’s but it was a very copious plateful when it arrived! After lunch we set off along a narrow lane often frequented by speeding motorised locals. We were lucky that none came along as the group made its chatty way, ignoring tales of previous near misses and exhortations to keep to single file on one side of the road! Continue reading HOLLINGBOURNE TO BEARSTED – 9 APRIL →

This was a substitute walk I had volunteered to lead at the last minute as the original leader was out of action due to COVID. Not having done a walkover I was hoping that the route was as straightforward as the Chilterns AONB leaflet suggested. On a sunny but chilly morning 15 Polys headed east out of the town on the Grand Union canal with the River Bulbourne, a chalk stream, flowing alongside. There were a few canal boats negotiating the locks but the towpath was quiet with little cycle traffic. After a couple of miles we left the canal and headed south, gently uphill on Sugar Lane. In the valley below the A41 came into view and hearing. According to my leaflet the Bourne Gutter, a usually dry tributary of the River Bulbourne has flowed in the valley nine times since the 19th century. Apparently its appearance heralds war and expensive bread, so we were surprised not to see it today. We crossed under the A41 and headed west along the valley past Bottom Farm. The lunch stop was a choice of a grassy bank or a wood. The timing was good as it allowed one member who had lost touch with the group to catch up before we realised he had gone. After lunch we walked through woods, crossed under the A41 again and made our way back into town via playing fields. We hit Berkhamsted high street and dispersed to the station and various tea shops.

Gillian.  Photos by Stuart

We started where we left off on 19 February. But what a difference! Today we had a bright sunshine and it was warm when it had been cold, windy and wet. 23 Poly Ramblers met at East Tilbury station. We went through Gobbions Park, along a path running down the side of houses before reaching the stile to allow us to enter into Thurrock Thameside nature park.

The nature park was opened in May 2013 by David Attenborough. The area was the site of a Saxon village but was occupied as far back as the Stone Age. Gravel was extracted from the site until the 1960s. Once the gravel was all extracted, it was used as a landfill for 50 years by London boroughs.. The waste is stacked 30 metres (98 ft) high. A thick clay cap was placed on top followed by soil and plants. Methane from the rotting waste is being captured and burned to produce electricity. Read more about it here: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/may/11/david-attenborough-thurrock-nature-reserve-london-waste  Apologies, I should have said all this during the walk!

We followed a track along the train line and a huge lake and continued through the nature park to the Enovert Community Trust visitor centre where we had lunch. After enjoying the amenities and the views over Mucking Flats SSSI, The Thames Estuary and the huge cranes of the London Gateway container port, we resumed our walk in the nature park. We followed the path over the sluice gate and along Mucking Creek, across Stanford marshes to Mucking church. We stopped to look at lovely horses and a white pony with a black head and tail. We reached Stanford le Hope, crossed the Hassingbrook River and reached the station where the walk ended.

Dominique. Photos by Ida and Stuart

Fifteen Polys set off from Crowborough station for a circular walk taking in fields and woodland on the High Weald. Two members had missed the train and departed one hour later, aiming to meet us at the lunch stop. Soon we crossed one of the many ghylls found in this area. Ghylls, with their steep sided valleys, create a microclimate with high humidity and low levels of frost. They support rare flora including ferns, mosses and liverworts.

The leader was keen to miss an extremely waterlogged section, which was managed after consulting the map, and we stopped in a field to consume our picnic. It was quite chilly and we were keen to move on but had received a message from the delayed members who had nearly caught us up. The couple of stretches along country lanes had been propitious for their energetic sprint and they arrived flushed but happy to have made it.

The afternoon offers the best part of this walk, although we did encounter quite a bit of mud. After crossing the bridge over the deep Crowborough Ghyll we proceeded over the fields towards the pretty woodland of the Ghyll Nature Reserve. As we were passing the ford on Palegate Lane a rather forlorn, skinny dog attached itself to our group. We were wondering what to do when a lady from Happy Pawz drove along and took it with her and was hopefully able to reunite it with its owner. We were very pleased to find that our train back was running, as we had had a negative experience with this line on a recent walk.

Susan (photos by Ida and Stuart)

Twenty one Poly Ramblers gathered at Rickmansworth station on a glorious sunny Sunday morning in late February. We started by picking up the Chess Valley path and enjoyed a short stroll along the lovely River Chess at Scotsbridge before crossing the river and leaving it to head uphill towards Croxley Green, passing fields of sheep. From there the route took us uphill towards Chandlers Cross. This section caused some problems on the walkover but today the route seemed obvious and we easily picked up the right path towards Oak Farm and Harrocks Wood. Continue reading RICKMANSWORTH AND CROXLEY GREEN CIRCULAR – 27 FEBRUARY →