It snowed the day before the Christmas lunch but, thankfully, this bad weather was in Scotland and the north of England and it did not reach the South East.  Around 20 Polyramblers met at Hyde Park Corner tube station for a pre-prandial walk.  We passed under Wellington Arch to go into Green Park, went to the Bomber Command monument and walked to Buckingham Palace.  Danny had ordered a band for us or perhaps we were there in time for the Continue reading SUNDAY 16th: CLUB XMAS LUNCH: FREEMASONS ARMS, COVENT GARDEN →

Hilary and I had taken over the leading of this at short notice and we were pleased that we numbered 11 , despite the dire weather forecast. Rochester was holding a two day Dickens festival and  there were large numbers of people doggedly trudging along the historic but rain-swept High Street. We stopped off at the old Guildhall, now an interesting museum of local history. Hazel recalled that when she last visited, the fine  court chamber (see photo) was in use as a café. Sadly this had become a victim of austerity.

On leaving, a traditional Punch and Judy show was starting but we didn’t stay long enough to see how PC it was with regards to portrayal of domestic violence. Our route took us along the river Medway and up past the imposing castle to the Cathedral where we  took a brief internal tour. Leaving Rochester we made our way to Chatham, enjoying  good views of the Medway from Victoria Park. Continue reading SATURDAY 1st December: SAXON SHORE-WAY (3) ROCHESTER to GILLINGHAM (LINEAR →

It was grey and miserable but 15 Polyramblers turned up for this walk in the Hertfordshire countryside. We started the walk through woodland and stopped to see the Welwyn tunnels but no train came out. The sun tried to come out but was not successful.  We continued around Digswell through arable fields then went uphill, crossing Dawley Wood before arriving at the Plume of Feathers pub in Tewin just after it opened. The menu was varied and very good value. Suitably fed, we continued along fields to Burnham Green. It has a trig point on the green to mark one of the Hertfordshire Continue reading SATURDAY 24th: WELWYN NORTH (CIRCULAR): →

There were 15 on this  walk, led by Sandra, in the heart of Constable country on a beautiful, sunny autumn day. We followed the Essex Way through the countryside to the pretty village of Dedham where we had lunch. We had time to visit the church, which has a painting by Constable, and the art and craft centre. We continued along the river Stour and strayed into Suffolk up to East Bergholt, the birth place of Constable, where we stopped for a look at St Mary’s church and bell cage. Then it was off to Flatford Mill, previously owned by Constable’s father, and its National Trust tea shop where we had tea and cakes. Most of us chose pumpkin and walnut scones which were delicious. Another two miles took us back to Manningtree station after a lovely day in the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Manningtree Station has a flourishing café and bar offering real ale. Some of us took  the opportunity of sampling this, enjoying the late afternoon sun. Coming off the London train,  I noted a fair number of souls, wearing their Bollocks to Brexit badges . A number of club members attended the march too so perhaps all is not yet lost. Thanks to Sigrid of Morley Ramblers, whose walk Sandra borrowed and who came with us to make sure we didn’t stray. Thanks to Dominique for the majority of the  text and to Pam for the lovely main photograph.

Because of a train strike, Wanborough station was shut, so 13 Polyramblers took the train to Guildford and the bus to Normandy (don’t know the origin of the name and Wikipedia is vague about it) and walked to the start of the ramble at Wanborough station. It was a lovely sunny day and, after following field hedges, we reached Wanborough great barn, built 630 years ago by the Cistercian monks of Waverley Abbey. It was heritage open day so we were able to visit the barn but no time to have coffee and cake in the lovely church. We walked uphill along a wooded path to the A31 dual Continue reading Saturday 15 September 2018: WANBOROUGH to GODALMING (LINEAR) →