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 →

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