Ten Poly Ramblers were on this walk which followed part of the Royal Military Canal. The notes for this walk say: ‘The canal was hastily constructed in the early 19th century to protect England from a threatened Napoleonic invasion which never came. The project was soon being condemned as an extravagant military folly. Napoleon whose armies had crossed the Rhine and the Danube was hardly likely to be deterred by this innocuous waterway.´ The canal is 28 miles long and goes from Hythe, Kent, to Cliff End in East Sussex. Continue reading HAM STREET CIRCULAR VIA APPLEDORE -10 AUGUST →

Seventeen Polyramblers gathered at Kingston Train Station for the circular walk. A group photo was taken after a health and safety briefing.

We then crossed the A308 onto Wood Street and then Fife Road and left onto the pedestrian road. We then turned left at the end of the pedestrian road onto Clarence Street and continued straight on to Kingston Bridge, and walked across the bridge staying on the left-hand side of it. We continued straight to the roundabout and then left onto Hampton Court Road where we crossed over at the zebra crossing in front of the Wick Memorial Garden. We then made a right turn on to Church Grove (B358) and walked up to the pedestrian crossing by St. John’s Church where there is a gate in the park wall (Church Grove Gate) went onto a tree lined avenue (Church Grove Passage) to another gate which led us into the park. Bushy Park started as a royal hunting ground with several water features constructed during the reign of King Charles I.

Once in the park there are various paths but we continued right onto a broad grass path. We walked past a bench where one could sit and listened to the Skylarks. We saw deer with some trying to shelter from the heat and others grazing. Lots of photos taken.

We continued straight and crossed a small bridge over two ponds. We walked left to Heron Pond and after a short walk along the pond we continued right on a narrow path with lots of Ferns presumably the Warren Plantation. We continued straight on to a building on the right and then left onto an unnamed road which led us Chestnut Avenue. We crossed the road and continued left towards the Pheasantry café where we had lunch and the toilets.

After lunch we continued our walk through the park to the Waterhouse Plantation where we saw lots of fish, water lilies and a lot more.

We then crossed over to the Woodland Gardens where a slight detour got some of us separated from the leading group, but we were reunited. We then walked through an overgrown path where we avoided the stinging nettles with arms raised above our heads. We then made our way to the Diana Fountain (not the Princess) and Hampton Court Gate where we continued our walk towards Hampton Court Park.

We turned right on to Hampton Court Road, we crossed the road and walked on the left towards Hampton Court Palace. The Palace was originally built for Cardinal Wolsey then passed to Henry VIII in 1529 when he fell out of favour. It was extended in the 17th century by William III and Mary II. We had a brief water break within the grounds of the Palace.

Fourteen of us continued the walk along a short stretch of the Thames path past the Palace to Hampton Court Park onto the golf course. We continued along Long Water with three lime tree avenues (added by Charles I Mary II). We then continued walking right at where there was T-junction and then left after a short distance to rejoin the Thames Path Kingston. 2 went left which was the way back to Kingston Gate.

We all got to Kingston safely where some went shopping and the rest either took the buses or train back home.

Lucy & Nita.

Photos: Hilary, Nita, Ida & Patricia

On Saturday 20th we set out on our annual 14.5 mile pilgrimage to the Little Cottage Tea Room at Glynde. We gathered at Lewes station, had a very short briefing and set off through the lovely Southover Grange Gardens, past  Anne Boleyn’s house which would probably be well worth a visit but there is never time and up Jugg’s Road which took us out of town and into the beautiful midsummer countryside.

Chalk downland is threatened and apparently 50% of what remains in the world is in the UK so we are very fortunate to be able to walk in this tiny precious patch. The climb up to the top is long and steep and luckily the sun refrained from coming out until we’d made the summit. We were rewarded by the song of many sky larks and views of the sea in the distance.

We dipped down to Rodmell for a swift pint at the pub and then on to have lunch in the grass outside Southease church which is lovely and is mentioned in the Doomsday Book. Again, it must be well worth  looking at inside but the tea shop called and we had another, enormous hill to climb, so  we gathered our resolve and set off.

We all made it to the top; some in one go, some in swift bursts  & some slow & steady. Again there were larks and beautiful views in every direction and we continued along the top in the sun. After a steep descent and crossing a horrible dual carriageway, we arrived at the Place of Great Joy – the tea shop. 

  Words cannot describe the delights of that place so I won’t try. Fuelled by scones and cakes, we managed the third serious hill and went up again in the late afternoon light with the hills beginning to cast their long shadows over the valley. A fourth but not very serious hill led us to Lewes golf club and then down into the town where we had a swift pint before we caught the train back to London.  

Harriet

Photos by Vanessa, Harriet, Mary and Chris

North to South London Trail Part 1  

Twelve Polys congregated at Cockfosters station for the first part of a new route across London from North to South: 34 miles Cockfosters to Carshalton Beeches, taking advantage of the many parks and green spaces. After a short walk through the suburbs, admiring some beautiful magnolia blooms, we negotiated some serious mud descending into the ancient woodland of Oakwood Hill Wood nature reserve where a woodpecker was hard at work in the surrounding trees. We then followed the Pymme’s Brook, a tributary of the River Lea, Trail into Oakhill Park, Brunswick Park and Arnos Park, passing the impressive Arnos Park viaduct built in 1932 when the Piccadilly Line was extended north from Finsbury Park.

We entered Broomfield Park with the remains of its, unfortunately seriously fire damaged, great house. The landscaped grounds with the original Tudor walls remain for the public to enjoy, so we stopped for lunch; either a picnic or delicious cake and coffee at the Palmers Green Community café, run by volunteers. After lunch we continued along the New River Path to Alexandra Palace station via Finsbury Gardens. This is not actually a river but a waterway opened in 1613 to bring drinking water from Hertfordshire to London. One of our members decided to return home from there, while the others took the uphill path to Alexandra Palace. 

While we were enjoying a refreshment stop Chris, who fortunately checks his phone more than the leader, informed us that Gillian, Stuart and Pam were walking towards us. We met up with them and were informed that Pam had sent a message advising of her transport issues getting to the start of the walk. The leader was mortified, but Pam was undeterred and had completed the walk starting just slightly behind us. Gillian and Stuart had been on a boat trip to celebrate the latter’s birthday. Now numbering fourteen, we proceeded along the North Parkland Walk and Highgate Wood to Highgate station. 

The other 4 sections will be offered on future programmes during the winter months when a walk in London is often convenient due to short days and uncertain weather. The leader also made a promise to ensure she checks her phone properly before setting off!

Susan

Photos by Ida and Rajesh

 

There were two groups of walkers meeting at Temple tube station: Capital Walkers and the Polyramblers.  Some Capitals Walkers were attracted to our group, but we had to disappoint them.  Anyway, upon checking their programme, I discovered that they were doing an 11-mile walk.  Ours was 3 miles but was going to include a lot of interesting stops.  

There were 19 of us and our first stop was at Two Temple Place, a beautiful building built for William Waldorf Astor in 1895.  It’s not open very often but there is a free exhibition on glass until 21 April so we spent half an hour inside admiring the glass and the building.  Then, we started exploring the first two out of four Inns of Court: Inner Temple and Middle Temple, by going through an elaborate archway.  

We passed 16^th century Middle Temple Hall where Shakespeare’s company performed Twelfth Night in February 1602 and where you can book to eat a very nice lunch Monday to Friday https://www.middletemple.org.uk/lunch . After Middle Temple Gardens, we joined the Strand, passed the premises of Twining Teas and re-entered Temple into Middle Temple Lane.  We went into Pump Court and Elm Court and then had lunch in the nice Garden Room Café.  We admired Inner Temple gardens and the Hall, Treasury and Library of the Inner Temple.  We went into Church Court where Temple Church is situated.  It is now famous for the book ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and there is an entry fee unless you go for a service.  The round section of Temple Church was built by the Knights Templars in 1185 and the chancel added in the 13th century. It is shared by Middle and Inner Temple. 

After a short detour into Hare Court, we went into Chancery Lane, passed the old Public Records Office – which is now part of Kings College – the former Law Fire Insurance Office and the Law Society building.  Then it was into Carey Street and the Silver Mousetrap shop (1690), the Seven Stars pub (1602) and the entrance to Lincoln’s Inn.  We admired the gardens, hall and library and the Ostler’s Hut, designed by George Gilbert Scott in 1852. It is London’s smallest listed building. It was essentially a porter’s hut. An ‘ostler’ was someone who traditionally looked after horses.  The next stop was Lincoln’s Inn chapel undercroft and the beautiful chapel whose foundation stone was laid by John Donne in 1620.  We admired the coats of arms of the treasurers of Lincoln’s Inn over the centuries – the Treasurer being the most senior position at the Inn.  

Continue reading LONDON’S INNS OF COURT – 7th MARCH →