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 →

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 →