I was surprised to see that 14 people had joined me for my walk on such a windy, chilly and wet day.  We started the walk from St Margarets in Hertfordshire (County of Opportunity) and headed uphill, then following the path through fields and up a pasture before reaching the A10 roundabout.  We then entered the grounds of Haileybury College – opened in 1809 – where Stephen used to go to school.  He told us how he used to climb down the drainpipe to go and have a drink at The Goat Pub.  Stuart also went to Haileybury College but in Melbourne. After this reminiscing, we made our way towards Hertford Heath walking along the scrubby heathlands of the Roundings.  We followed Roman Ermine Street (which ran from London to Lincoln and was extended to York) for a while, no longer straight and not a Roman in sight but we saw an elephant in a field. We arrived at The Goat pub, looking forward to a hot meal but, because of the Christmas Fair on the green which was starting at 13.00 and would be selling food, there was no food in the pub.  While some Polyramblers ate their picnic in the cold, others had a drink and a packet of crisps in the pub.  When we left, the stallholders were fighting the wind to keep their marquis from flying away and there was no food in sight.  We continued our walk valiantly through the autumn colours of Golding’s Wood, walking under the A10 and through more woodland before arriving in Great Amwell.  We went down to the Myddelton Monument urn island and followed the New River – passing Amwell Marsh Pumping Station – back to St Margarets.

Dominique.  Photos by Ida and Stuart

Seven Polyramblers travelled from a busy Euston station to Berkhamsted, where we were joined by three more people. Before starting along the canal we stopped to look at the paintings on a bridge showing scenes connected with the history of the Grand Union Canal. We walked along the canal for a couple of miles and noticed that it was not nearly as busy as the Regent’s Canal the previous week. We passed a heron which was very interested in something in the reeds, perhaps a frog. Herons are quite common on the canal but you don’t see many dragons. We did, however, see a dragon. It was carved from wood and was on a table in the garden of a canal-side house. For anyone who collects dragons, it is on sale for £600.
At Dudswell we left the canal, crossed the A4251 and started to climb through fields. In the first field we saw a couple of donkeys who started to approach us but then changed their minds. We saw horses and then someone spotted llamas in the distance. After a steady, but not too strenuous climb we reached a stile. Fortunately it was an easy stile, which brought us on to a sports ground. One of our party tried to push the groundsman’s roller, but without success. I suspect that the groundsman uses a tractor. After a few more fields and wooded areas we came to the Greyhound at Wigginton, where two people went off the look for a picnic spot, and one left for Tring station as she had an important appointment.
A table had been set aside for us and we sat down to order drinks and study the menu. The pub was busy and we had a long wait for our food. However we passed the time in pleasant conversation, with topics that ranged from the Himalayas to fostering rabbits and hamsters. When the food finally arrived we all agreed that it was very tasty. One of the group tackled a large plate of Wendover sausages on a bed of mashed potato, with a separate dish of vegetables. I had tried this on my walkover and can recommend it to anyone who goes to the Greyhound, provided they have a healthy appetite.
Thanks to the long wait for our meal we were able to make the 15.34 Southern service to Clapham Junction. We walked through Wigginton village and joined the Ridgeway Path, which took us through fields. From the path we were able to see Ivinghoe Beacon and then, on the high arched bridge over the A41, we were able to pick out the Bridgewater Monument and the village of Aldbury (see my next walk). We were just in time for the train, which took us to Berkhamsted, Shepherd’s Bush and West Brompton.

Sandy.  Photos by Ida

Geoffrey, Pam, Jennifer, Harriet, Chris, Les, Ian and myself headed off from Cockfosters Underground station shortly after 10am. It was our first part of the London loop, going clockwise.

On the walk we went through Trent Country Park, past 17th century Forty Hall (we carried on, leaving the museum visit for another time) and Albany Park. The landscape was easy walking, and not too muddy, so we were able to enjoy the beautiful autumn colours and smells.  A light shower led us to shelter under some trees for a while though most of the day was dry and mild.

Although the lovely old Rose and crown pub was closed for refurbishment, we did find a nice row of benches on the other side of Clay hill road and enjoyed lunch there.  We bumped into Colin Saunders en route and I’ve since bought his London loop book, in preference to the one with more ‘arty maps’ which I was struggling to follow, even second time round!

Geoffrey, being on the ball re transport, had discovered that Enfield lock station was closed that day. Our walk ended at Turkey street rather than Enfield lock station as planned. Although we did arrive home earlier, it does mean that our next stage in January will need to be slightly longer. Changes tbc.

Jackie

15 hikers set out from Godalming Station on a mild and dry Saturday. The route started along the River Wey going upstream. This was a pleasant walk along the riverbank with plenty of wildlife including a brace of pheasant and a Muntjac deer. We then turned away from the river through woodland to Hurtmore and then through Compton Village to The Watts Memorial Chapel. This is a stunning piece of Arts and Crafts grade one listed chapel in extremely good condition. Sad to say we could not stay long enough do it justice. We then went on to the Watts Gallery and cafe for an excellent lunch and it was sunny enough to sit outside. Although we were unable to go into the gallery we did peek through the large window at some sculptures and outside there were interesting wall plaques commemorating local people who had volunteered and contributed to the gallery in various ways over the years.

We then picked up the pace a little and navigated the North downs way with fine views until we were reunited with the River Wey (though Downstream near Guildford) The final run through to Godalming was along the River Wey Navigation. Most of this is National Trust and was a varied walk along the flood plane, by Lammas Lands arriving back at Godalming Station just in time for the train.

Thanks to Ida for the photos

Stephen

 

Twenty-two Poly ramblers met at the Angel station Islington, to begin our walk along the Regents Canal covering parts of North and East London. The Regent’s Canal is 8.6mls long and was completed in 1820, dozens of day trip boats, narrow boats and water cafes line this stretch of the canal. The towpath also proved to be very popular with cyclists and joggers just two of the potential hazards on our walk. Our route started with the Hanging Gardens of Islington, as the canal emerged from the tunnel under Islington. After about 5Km the towpath went alongside the edge of Victoria Park where we passed through Canal Gate to make our way to the Pavilion café via the beautiful lake with its Pagoda. Following our lunch, we made our way across the park to enter the Old English Rose Garden which surprisingly still had some roses in flower. Emerging from the Rose Garden we walked alongside a pond and crossed the main path to head for Lock House Gate and the Hertford Union Canal, also known as Duckett’s Cut. At just over a mile long, in the borough of Tower Hamlets, it connects the Regents Canal with the Lee navigation.  We left the canal by ascending steps to Grove Road to re-join the Regents Canal via a grassy bank. After a further 300 meters we approached Mile End Lock where a number of the group left to find a local hostelry, whilst the rest of us crossed the Green Bridge, affectionately known as the banana bridge, built to celebrate the Millennium and to overcome the conflict between Mile End Park and the traffic of the Mile End Road. We continued our route along the canal passing the Ragged School Museum, finally reaching Limehouse lock and our final destination the Yurt Café led by Cathy, highly recommended for its vegan cakes and drinks at a very reasonable price.

Hilary.  Photos by Hilary and Stuart