To celebrate my 75th birthday, I offered to lead a walk from Hendon Central to Hampstead on May Day Bank Holiday Monday. However, I did not expect to see twenty-nine Poly Ramblers when I arrived at the start point! After a ‘brief’ briefing, the group crossed into Hendon Park with its Holocaust memorial Garden and then walked along some residential roads before joining a strip of woodland running beside the River Brent. Despite the presence of the adjacent North Circular Road, it was a pleasant spot with a number of ponds popular with wildlife. Further on, we joined the Dollis Hill Greenwalk which took us to a local nature reserve consisting of Little Wood followed by Big Wood. A disused amphitheatre was seen in the former and numerous bluebells in the latter. We were now in Hampstead Garden Suburb and, in the Central Square, we admired the two fine churches designed by Edwin Lutyens and the imposing Edwardian buildings of the Henrietta Barnet School. We then crossed the wide-open spaces of the Hampstead Heath Extension, passed the remains of the planned North End Northern line station and reached our lunch stop in Golders Hill Park. After refreshments in the cafe or picnics on the grass, we adjourned to the nearby Bull & Bush pub for a drink on the patio and a rendition of Happy Birthday! We returned to the park for the last leg of the walk up to Whitestone Pond via the hidden gardens of Inverforth House and then through the back streets of Hampstead to the endpoint of the Northern line station. All in all, a very enjoyable way of celebrating my birthday.
Danny
Photos courtesy of Maggie Carman, Meng Lim, Nita Patel, Susan James & Gillian Swan
Ignoring the not very promising weather forecast, fifteen members assembled at Taplow station on Easter Monday 10th April for a circular walk of 6 miles in a rural corner at the far south end of Buckinghamshire. After crossing the busy A4 trunk road, we went down a quiet lane to a bridge over the Jubilee River. It is a man-made channel completed in 2002 which reduces the risk of flooding in Maidenhead, Windsor & Eton. It is about 7.5 miles long but initially we only followed it for a short while before heading across fields to the River Thames. Its waters were sparkling in unexpected sunshine as we walked alongside for about a mile past expensive-looking riverside properties before leaving the path near Dorney Lake, the site of the rowing events at the 2012 Olympics. Passing the listed Tudor manor house of Dorney Court, we crossed the Jubilee River again so that we could reach our lunch stop at the busy Pineapple pub in Lake End. Most of us sat in the garden, fortunately under cover, as the forecast heavy rain showers soon appeared. Suitably refreshed and the rain having stopped, we headed back to the Jubilee River and followed it to the M4 motorway bridge from where a muddy & overgrown path took us to Marsh Lane and back to Taplow Station.
Danny
Photos courtesy of Maggie Carman & Rochelle Bloch
Fifteen keen Polyramblers arrived promptly at Watford Station. Jennifer was unable to partake in the walk so she volunteered to take and phone through lunch orders and direct any late comers to join the main group. This enabled us to make a prompt start walking through Cassiobury Park, crossing bridges over the River Gade and Grand Union Canal and following the Grand Union Canal briefly before turning off towards Chandlers Cross with a golf course on our left. We walked through Whippendale Woods followed by Harrocks Wood. Both woods were covered in blue carpets of bluebells. We had lunch in the outskirts of Sarratt. A few opted to have lunch at The Cock Inn and the rest of used the benches in the Holy Cross Church. This twelfth century church has beautiful glass stained windows and fourteenth century painted murals. We went past the Alms Houses and dropped down to the beautiful Chess Valley and made our way through the grounds of Chorleywood Estate, Chorleywood Common and on to Chorleywood Station. I really enjoyed leading this walk as we were well matched and walked as a group.
This being the day after the Coronation, the train was busy with people en route to friends and family gatherings. There were 15 of us on the train and there was plenty to talk about, some of our members having been in the crowd lining the mall. There was general agreement as to the high quality of the music.
Changing trains at Guildford, we trundled two stops to Chilworth in a 3 coach diesel unit. It was dry but overcast as we set off; to the North we could see St Martha’s Church on the North Downs, that we would reach in the afternoon. Walking eastwards, and then north, through farmland and heath we reached Shere. Shere was celebrating the Coronation big time. The road down by the river was closed with tables full of happy diners. Some of us had our lunch behind the parish church, St James. This is famous, not just for being in Bridget Jones Diary but also for the unsettling history of the Anchoress of 1329.
Despite Barnes Bridge station being closed the evening before and a
mediocre weather forecast, we enjoyed a pleasant and warm walk along the Thames path with blue skies and in bright sunshine. There were many boats and birds to see and plenty of places to stop on the way. The walk ended at Richmond.
Rob
The Polytechnic Rambling Club – Walking with friends
