What a lovely day for a walk! The bluebells that were in amongst every clump of trees when we did the walkover two weeks ago had given way to wild garlic and the meadows are now full of buttercups. Horse chestnut trees are in full flower and their leaves luminously bright green despite attacks of leaf blotch in recent years. Lots of wisteria on the few houses and cottages we passed. We were blessed with warm sunshine but when the occasional cloud came over or when we were walking in the shade we could feel the icy wind still reminding us that spring has not yet fully arrived. But the ground was not muddy – in fact in some fields the soil in between the crops was cracked as in severe drought. Continue reading May 15th. Leigh to Sevenoaks →

Fourteen Poly Ramblers and two guests converged on Rainham, Essex on a sunny though chilly Saturday afternoon for the last 5 miles of the London Loop.  Some had spent the morning visiting Rainham Hall, others were in the pub and one or twovisited the reptile emporium.  We headed off across the level crossing towards the river, led by Martin and Anna, the latter carrying a large cardboard cake box.  After a mile we arrived at the banks of the Thames estuary, very industrial but not unattractive in a way.  Continue reading May 14th. Rainham to Purfleet →

Having just arrived from home my choir rehearsal the Tuesday before, I went to open my tablet to check something online, whereupon an email arrived from Gillian seeking a leader for this walk, as Jackie couldn’t do it due her recent ankle injury. I turned round to look at my bookshelf, and lo there was the “Time Out” book with the walk in it.  And such a lovely walk in a lovely area – it has to go ahead.  Continue reading Sunday 8th May. Berwick to Eastbourne →

It was the perfect month to do this walk from East Grinstead and 14 of us discovered why the Bluebell Line is so named. They were in full bloom, along with primula and wood anemone. There were lots of new born lambs and enough sunshine to make it feel like Spring, contrary to the gloomy forecast of Arctic winds. We encountered several groups of laden youngsters doing the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. We stopped to chat to one of the steam railway volunteers. He encouraged us to join them in  November for an 11 mile walk of the entire track (one for permanent way enthusiasts!). Only Mike actually saw a steam train, but it was going backwards. Continue reading April 23rd. East Grinstead →

After several days of warm sunshine mid-week, the weekend was heralded by a drop in temperature of at least 10 degrees and the steady rain was turning to sleet as twelve walkers waited for the bus from Luton to Streatley. We  spent a couple of hours trudging through the rain, including an unintentional 3/4 mile detour through Sainsburys carpark (thanks Geoffrey for guiding us out of there). As we crossed the county boundary from Bedfordshire into Continue reading Saturday 16 April: Icknield Way Streatley to Letchworth →