Despite soaring temperatures and the England world cup match, 9 polyramblers turned out for the walk.  The advantage of the conditions was that there were far fewer people on the Ridgeway than would be normal and the heat was made more bearable by a gentle breeze.   Lunch in the Valiant Trouper in the pretty old village of Aldbury was excellent and as it was a football-free zone (i.e. no TV) there weren’t many customers so we were very well taken care of. Continue reading Tring to Berkhamsted: 7 July →

It was a hot day to walk 13 miles with no pub until the end but that didn’t deter 11 Poly Ramblers. Led by Jackie, we started at Goring and were soon heading uphill through woods to arrive on a ridge.  Much of the walk was in woodland, which was just as well as the sun was roasting out in the open.  Stuart had intended to do a shorter, lower level walk but we kept bumping into him around every corner so in the end he stuck with us.  After a nervy encounter with a frisky group of young heifers we were back in woodland and stopped in Continue reading GORING TO PANGBOURNE – 30 JUNE →

For the second walk on a hot and sunny weekend, thirteen ramblers gathered at Watford Tube Station for a ‘strollers’ walk towards Rickmansworth. The length of five miles was immediately added to by a few hundred yards taken in the wrong direction by the leader before he realised his mistake! After the false start, we entered a busy Cassiobury Park and went towards the Grand Union Canal which runs through it. We joined the towpath and headed south. The promised kingfishers did not appear but we did see a moorhen and a dead carp! Continue reading Sunday 1st July. Watford to Rickmansworth →

Twelve Poly Ramblers convened at Liverpool Street last Saturday, a last minute change of terminus after we discovered the day before that the train we had intended to catch from Kings Cross had been deleted from the timetable. All went smoothly en route other than a jobs-worth ticket inspector giving some of our group a ticking off for having tickets that were only valid on the Cambridge route. Continue reading Icknield Way stage 8 – Icklingham to Knettishall Heath →

Nine Polyramblers for this Kent walk on a hot and sunny day. After leaving Gravesend and its industrial estate, we walked along the Thames and marshlands described in the map as « danger area ». But Martin reassured us by saying that the army range is only used during the week. It was quiet and we only met a couple of fishermen and hordes of horses with their foals. We passed a fort built by General Gordon before Higham Creek.  The path near Cliffe Fort was quite overgrown. We turned inland along Cliffe Creek and Cliffe Pools RSPB Nature Reserve – where we saw a couple of avocets – before reaching our lunch stop: the Six Bells Pub in Cliffe. After a short break, we continued our walk through farmland and orchards, passing Cooling Castle and Northward Hill RSPB Nature Reserve. We did not stop to sample the strawberries in the field but Anna, who ate a few on the recce, told us they were delicious. An exhilarating climb of a 50m high hill was recompensed with chocolate from Martin. We reached High Halstow where we waited for the bus to Strood. We caught the javelin train to Gravesend where we changed for a train to London.  The walk was supposed to be 9.5 miles but there was some disagreement about the length and it is being investigated.  After verification, it seems the walk was 11.9 miles.  Continue reading Saturday 23 June 2018: Saxon Shore Way (1) – Gravesend to High Halstow (Linear) →