Category Archives: Walk reports

EASTER SATURDAY 2019 PERIVALE WOODS AND HORSENDEN HILL

Thirty five polyramblers joined this lovely outer London walk, Perivale woods being the main attraction, for the blue- bells. We made our way to the Grand Union Canal.  A cyclist said to us to look out for turtles, however, couple of polyramblers confirmed that we were looking at pink ear terrapins.

We arrived at Perivale Woods soon after. The blue bells were in full bloom and you could miss fragrant floral smell. We saw plenty of bird boxes and a hide. A great spot to listen to the birds, we heard wrens, blue tits, great tits, wood packer and chiffchaffe. Then we walked up to Horsenden Hill for great views. Here Jennifer shared chocolates with us. Then we made to Ballot Box Pub. The staff we superb and service was superb considering twenty of us wanted food and they had another group of thirty customers.After lunch we walked to Harrow, we were able to admire the Harrow School buildings, and St Mary Church. We had tea at Spire Café, as the funds were for being raised good cause.

We made our way to Harrow- on the Hill Station after visiting Lord Byron’s Tomb. Some members went to Cathy’s for tea. Thanks to Ida for the lovely photos Sunita

EASTER SATURDAY 2018 BLACK PARK AND LANGLEY PARK

Danny kept up his usual standard for Easter Saturday, attracting a crowd of 24 walkers to Langley in spite of very uninviting weather.  After a short walk along the canal we headed into the vast Langley Park Estate, once home to the Duke of Marlborough, with a lake designed by Capability Brown, an arboretum and rhododendron gardens. Admittedly it wasn’t the best type of day to appreciate these features but the weather gradually improved and the walking was easy with only muddy paths to contend with.  After five miles we left the park and headed for lunch at the Crooked Billet at Iver Heath which provided good, reasonably priced food and friendly welcoming staff.  By the time we left the pub the sun was out.  Nine walkers left to get the bus back to Langley, fortified by chocolate eggs (thanks Danny) and the rest carried on for the last two or three miles through the Park Estate, passing some exotic waterfowl and an impressive display of daffodils.    On the last stretch our path was impeded by a fallen tree which took a bit of team work to negotiate without crawling on the muddy trunk.  A very pleasant day.

Gillian

 

APRIL 2019 CHRISTS HOSPITAL WEST SUSSEX

For the second Club outing of a weather-blessed Easter weekend, seventeen ramblers alighted at Christs Hospital station for a sunny walk through bucolic Sussex countryside. First we entered a sylvan glade with the nascent River Arun running through it and ubiquitous wild garlic. Fields of bluebells then followed before we reached the old Shoreham to Guildford railway line, now a foot & cycle path called the Downs Link. Fringed with dandelions in places and with views of the Low Weald, this took us to the old station house at Slinfold where we walked into the village and stopped at the Red Lyon pub for lunch. Feeling refreshed, we headed back to Christs Hospital via a different but no less attractive route. Unfortunately the leader had not done a walkover for this section and we went astray at one point. A forced march followed to try to catch our hourly train but luck was not with us so a prolonged wait on the platform was necessary. Distribution of mini-easter eggs by the leader alleviated the glum faces to some extent but he was not entirely forgiven!

Danny

Many thanks to Ida for the photos lovely photos.

 

BALCOMBE CIRCULAR – 7 MARCH

Fifteen of us set off from Balcombe station, prepared for a day of mud. We knew what to expect & were prepared, we are not fair weather walkers nor dilettantes but, thankfully, the worst was over. No one fell over, slipped into a river or had to be pulled out of a mud lake with ropes, in fact it was a lovely day! A lot of the walk was in woodland with little two-plank bridges over streams but there was some lovely meadow land too.  We also passed a gorgeous and super friendly grey tabby who got a lot of attention from the group. The staff at the Royal Oak pub in Handcross were also very friendly, did pretty good chips & I saw a massive fish arrive on someone’s plate so they are clearly generous with their portions. Continue reading BALCOMBE CIRCULAR – 7 MARCH

APRIL 2018 EAST GRINSTEAD

I’ve led this walk in the past and did a walkover in February expecting it to be straightforward. Unfortunately a combination of a wet winter and construction traffic for a new water main meant that large sections of the afternoon walk were verging on the impassable. I devised some slightly less glutinous deviations and hoped for  drier weather in the intervening weeks. No such luck. A respectable 15 of us got off the train at East Grinstead on a dry morning with promise of occasional sunshine later. Passing through the town centre with its interesting mix of historic buildings, we headed east, through mostly woodland. Continue reading APRIL 2018 EAST GRINSTEAD