Despite the walk coming with a warning of unusual amounts of mud & waterlogging, 24 walkers gathered off the hourly – remember this detail- train, in the sun at Hever station, which is a long way from Hever village & is completely un-manned – remember this too!  I had the timings nicely worked out with time for a sandwich at Chiddingstone & a swift half in Bough Beech & back in time to catch the 16.05 train. However, we have a few prescient or maybe sensibly suspicious members who had checked & seen that the 16.05 train was cancelled so, having an extra hour, we set off at a more leisurely pace than usual. Continue reading HEVER CIRCULAR – 5 FEBRUARY – A walk to be remembered →

I arrived at Hornchurch around 9.50am on a glorious sunny morning. I did not see any Poly Ramblers; however it was not a surprise as there were issues with the Tube. I went for a stroll when Harriet called out from a café, The Sip House, that served speciality coffee. I was ready to sit down and enjoy the coffee when I remembered that we should meet the rest of the group at the station and was glad I had my drink in a take away container so I was able to enjoy my beverage.
On my return to the station I was astonished to see over twenty Poly Ramblers (24 in total). It was a long train journey for most of us so a few members were in need of refreshments and for many a comfort stop was much needed. Dave, the Station Master very kindly opened the toilets especially for us.
We set off for the walk some fifteen minutes later. It was not long before we were making our way through a really muddy patch. After the mud it was very pleasant and quiet walking to Berwick Glades and then onto Berwick Woods and its pond considering we were in zone 5.
We made our way to Hornchurch Country Park. This park contains the largest continuous freshwater reed beds in London, is designated as a site for Special Scientific Interest, was a former airfield and has a fascinating legacy of being used in both World Wars. We were able to see many of the remaining features which included pill boxes, Tett Turrets (see photo with demo from Chris) and aircraft dispersal bays. We went past Albyns Lake which was full of birds, to which we returned about half an hour later for our picnic lunch.
From the lake we continued to Ingrebourne Hill, a former sand and gravel quarry which had been filled with a range of materials including bricks, concrete and metal. We were able to enjoy splendid views of the London Skyline and the QE2 bridge from here, all at just 11 metres above sea level.
After lunch at Albyns Pond we walked past a dog memorial and the Airfield flightways and stopped at Ingrebourne Nature Reserve with its a small RAF museum for tea before returning to the station.
It would be well worth doing this walk in spring/summer to see appreciate the wildlife.

Sunita.  Photos by Gillian, Stuart and Hilary

I met a group of Polyramblers including a new member, at Paddington station. We boarded the 1013 train, run by TfL, to the delight of freedompass holders who could enjoy a free ride to Slough. The train gathered up more of us en route, and outside the main entrance of Slough station, we all assembled with even more in the group who had travelled by other means. So we eventually set off with as many as 28 in the party. It was quite a cold day.

Our route took us across through several pedestrian crossings over the busy A4, then south along the Windsor road, where after some 200 yds we passed through a gateway and path into the cemetry of St Mary’s Parish Church. I considered giving a talk to the party here on the tarmac outside the church building, but changed my mind due
to the large size of the party.  So we carried on along Albert Street, Dachet Road, passing over the M4 and down onto a footpath via The Myrke taking us past rows of terraced houses and onto another footpath leading us into Agars Plough. Continue reading BELOW WINDSOR CASTLE – 22 JANUARY →

Twenty one Poly Ramblers gathered at Chorleywood on a cold but sunny Sunday morning. We headed through the village and then uphill through woods, under the railway and along a long sunken muddy path to reach the busy A404. Crossing safely we reached the 12th century village of Chenies and paused to admire the Grade I listed manor house, visited by Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Continue reading CHORLEYWOOD TO CHESHAM – SUNDAY16 JANUARY →

The weather forecast was for heavy rain all day but that didn’t stop 14  Poly Ramblers from meeting outside Otford station for a ramble through the Kent countryside. I was reminded that Poly Ramblers are hardy souls and are very committed to their weekly ramble whatever the weather. It also brought back memories of another occasion years ago when I led the same walk when the snow was falling thick and fast and this didn’t stop the walk from going ahead either.

After a briefing from the walk leader, we set out through a churchyard to the centre of the village of Otford where we made a diversion to look at the ruins of a sixteenth century archbishop’s palace frequented by Henry VIII and his court. The walk continued around an old village pond complete with duck house until a footpath led us away from a busy road to run alongside the river Darent. The leaders had chosen this path thinking it would be a less muddy alternative than the usual route, but it also proved to be extremely muddy and slippery as it wound its way across fields eventually meeting a golf course. From here we turned down towards a road which led us to a path up the first of our steep climbs. Unfortunately, the sky was so thick with mist and rain, we were not rewarded with the normally splendid view that there is at the top of this hill. However, what goes up has to come down as the saying goes and the path down into Shoreham village was steep and slippery and had to be managed with care. Shoreham is a pretty characterful village with the river Darent running through the middle. The group divided up with some people going for lunch at the Kings Arms and the remainder who had brought their own lunch to the Honeypot Cafe where the owner kindly allowed them to eat their own lunches undercover from the rain. It hadn’t stopped raining all morning, so we were glad of a respite inside somewhere dry and warm. The heaviest of the rain came down whilst we were at lunch as we could hear it beating down on the marquee rooftop at the Kings Arms.

After a good meal and friendly service, we were ready to face the elements again. The puddles outside had grown even bigger and it was still raining but everyone was still committed to finishing the walk! The afternoon walk continued along the river Darent, passed Samuel Palmer’s beautiful Georgian manor house (a nineteenth century English landscape painter), up another steep hill and eventually into a wood from where we emerged on to another golf course. The golf course had a lovely open aspect to it and from here we walked downhill to reach the gatehouse of the sixteenth century Lullingstone Castle which has been owned by the Hart Dyke family for centuries. Within the grounds which are open to the public in the summer is a World Garden containing plants from all corners of the globe. The owner apparently hatched the plan for the garden whilst he was a hostage of a terror group in Colombia. From the castle, the path continued along a tarmac lane passed an English Heritage site containing the remains and mosaics of Lullingstone Roman Villa. We didn’t have time to stop and go inside, but instead continued with our walk along the lane passing under a high nineteenth century railway viaduct. Eventually we reached the village of Eynsford with its old packhorse bridge and ford. At this point, the group disbanded, with half deciding to go into the Riverside Tea Room for tea and cake and the remainder hot footing it up the main road to Eynsford station for the train back into London.

Despite this being one of the wettest and muddiest rambles I can remember, spirits had been high and all in all it had been a very enjoyable day out.

Mary and Chris