After several days of warm sunshine mid-week, the weekend was heralded by a drop in temperature of at least 10 degrees and the steady rain was turning to sleet as twelve walkers waited for the bus from Luton to Streatley. We  spent a couple of hours trudging through the rain, including an unintentional 3/4 mile detour through Sainsburys carpark (thanks Geoffrey for guiding us out of there). As we crossed the county boundary from Bedfordshire into Continue reading Saturday 16 April: Icknield Way Streatley to Letchworth →

Thirteen walkers turned out on Saturday for the penultimate section of the London Loop, in spite of another unpromising weather forecast. After some drizzle as we left Harold Wood the clouds lifted and the rest of the day was punctuated with bursts of warm sunshine. This area of London was unfamiliar to most of us and as usual with the Loop we were pleasantly surprised as to how much of the walk was though parks, fields and woodlands rather than on roads. The first four miles took us through Harold Wood Park then a community woodland, crossing the Ingrebourne River a couple of times before eventually bringing us out at Upminster Bridge station. Continue reading Saturday 9 April: Loop Stage 15 – Harold Wood to Rainham (Essex) (Linear) →

A longish walking day for late January as we tackled two sections of the loop from Chigwell to Havering atte Bower and then on to Harold Wood, 10.3 miles in total. In spite of engineering work on the Central line and the threat of mud, fourteen members turned out. After a sharp shower at the start it was dry for the rest of the day but the mud persisted all day. This is one of the most rural sections of the loop with the first 6 miles taking us though open country, farmland and woods. We passed Hainault country park with its lake Continue reading LOOP 14 – CHIGWELL to HAROLD WOOD 30 JANUARY →

The valiant walkers who turned up for the Ingatestone walk were rewarded with sunshine, skylarks and snowdrops, after a pleasant early lunch at the Prince of Wales in Mountnessing where we succumbed to the temptation of a delicious apple crumble! We were pleased to see Geoffrey at lunchtime but his ankle didn’t allow him to venture very far into the rolling green fields in the afternoon. It was just as well he turned back because the terrain continued to be very slippery on the muddy paths between the bright new shoots. We were on the domain of Lord Petre (pronounced Peter) and passed Ingatestone Hall, his dark and gloomy baronial seat. We were more interested in two weathervanes we had seen earlier. One, over a kennels, which appeared to be a hunting dog missing a rusted front leg. The other, above the golden ogival cupola of a house also commissioned by a member of the Petre family, appeared to be a lady in a voluminous skirt battling a storm with her umbrella and preceded by a dog. Continue reading INGATESTONE (Essex) (CIRCULAR): 24 JANUARY →