Seven Polys plus leaders Sandra and myself  met at Hampton Court station. A surprising number of people got off the train, this due to a bank holiday fair in the palace grounds. We hadn’t seen each other in person for 6 months and comparing notes, we all seemed to be in the cautious category regarding the Virus.
It was a touch autumnal and crossing the Thames bridge towards the palace, some of us already wished we had brought our gloves. Turning down the towpath towards Kingston, we were amazed to see 3 women swimming in the river. They were towing orange markers, but seemed to wearing ordinary cozzies rather than wet suits. All power to them. A brief internet search suggests that this is the second best wild swim site in London (after Hampstead ponds obs) partly because of the easy sloping bank access on the Surrey side.
We were not alone in walking the riverside path but there was plenty of space and everyone was observing social distancing.
We turned into Home Park, the large space to the east of Hampton Court Palace. We walked along the Long Pond, with its lovely view of the Palace in the distance. Walkers were far outnumbered by Canada geese. Continue reading Hampton Court to Fullwell →

17 Polyramblers for this evening walk starting from Sloane Square. We passed the Duke of York’s Headquarters, built to provide a home for children of soldiers’ widows, which is now the home of the Saatchi Gallery and where the Tutankhamun exhibition is taking place. Then we continued to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, built by Christopher Wren. None of the Polyramblers meet the criteria to live there. There are carol services in the Wren Chapel in December Continue reading Tuesday 4th February Evening walk :Battersea Power Station’s First Light Festival →

After a week of damp and dull weather, some improvement had been forecast and 16 of us stepped off the train into watery sunshine. A number of us hadn’t been to Guildford and were surprised to see the remains of the castle and it’s well manicured grounds, virtually in the town centre. (Yes, it is town, despite having a cathedral. City status is apparently granted by the monarch, and although applications have been made in the past,  they have been unsuccessful.)  We headed steadily uphill past increasing larger and desirable houses emerging onto Pewsey Downs. By this time the sun had come out properly and we enjoyed extensive views towards the South Downs. Continue reading 1st February Guildford circular →

A walk of two halves on Saturday.  Fifteen Poly Ramblers, led by Harriet, alighted at Box Hill and Westhumble station along with several other walking groups.  We headed towards the stepping stones over the River Mole, but only Stuart and Chris were game to cross them as the river was quite high, the rest of the group opting for the bridge.  Then we had to tackle Box Hill itself, a long series of steep steps.  At the top we were rewarded by ……. zero visibility due to the mist.  A little later we tackled White Hill, a long series of even steeper steps.  For there it was level and then downhill to Mickleham. Continue reading 25th January Box Hill to Leatherhead →