Twelve Poly Ramblers met at Sunningdale Station on a lovely warm day to begin our hike, a thirteenth member of the group joined us at our lunch stop at the Saville Garden restaurant having missed the rail replacement bus. We quickly encountered obstacles from a fallen tree at the start of our walk, negotiated with difficulty. After a pleasant walk though Cowarth Park we entered Windsor Great Park and made our way to Virginia Water Lake where we stopped for a tea break at a refreshment kiosk. We followed the sign posting to reach the Valley Gardens where we wended our way onwards attempting to follow somewhat complicated route instructions. The flowering Camellias and Azaleas were stunning. We crossed a bridge and walked though the open grass of Azalea valley, unfortunately going once again off our route, splitting into two parties. We managed to regroup by the stump of the giant Wellingtonia tree sadly cut down owing to disease. We headed towards the Totem Pole and continued on our route towards the Obelsisk Pond and our lunch stop at the Saville Garden Restaurant, where we enjoyed a leisurely picnic in the sunshine. After lunch we walked down the Rhododendron Drive towards the Cow Pond where we spotted Egyptian ducklings out with their parents. We went through a lightly wooded area and followed the path round towards the Royal Lodge before entering the Deer Park. At this point we deviated off the main route to explore the deer park spotting a large herd of deer in the distance. After re-joining the main route, we continued along the Long Walk till we finally reached the gates of Windsor Castle. We followed the route back towards Windsor Central Station for some and Eton and Windsor Riverside Station for others. A really enjoyable day out with lots of sunshine and blossom. Hilary

Fifteen Polys set off from Crowborough station for a circular walk taking in fields and woodland on the High Weald. Two members had missed the train and departed one hour later, aiming to meet us at the lunch stop. Soon we crossed one of the many ghylls found in this area. Ghylls, with their steep sided valleys, create a microclimate with high humidity and low levels of frost. They support rare flora including ferns, mosses and liverworts.

The leader was keen to miss an extremely waterlogged section, which was managed after consulting the map, and we stopped in a field to consume our picnic. It was quite chilly and we were keen to move on but had received a message from the delayed members who had nearly caught us up. The couple of stretches along country lanes had been propitious for their energetic sprint and they arrived flushed but happy to have made it.

The afternoon offers the best part of this walk, although we did encounter quite a bit of mud. After crossing the bridge over the deep Crowborough Ghyll we proceeded over the fields towards the pretty woodland of the Ghyll Nature Reserve. As we were passing the ford on Palegate Lane a rather forlorn, skinny dog attached itself to our group. We were wondering what to do when a lady from Happy Pawz drove along and took it with her and was hopefully able to reunite it with its owner. We were very pleased to find that our train back was running, as we had had a negative experience with this line on a recent walk.

Susan (photos by Ida and Stuart)

Twenty one Poly Ramblers gathered at Rickmansworth station on a glorious sunny Sunday morning in late February. We started by picking up the Chess Valley path and enjoyed a short stroll along the lovely River Chess at Scotsbridge before crossing the river and leaving it to head uphill towards Croxley Green, passing fields of sheep. From there the route took us uphill towards Chandlers Cross. This section caused some problems on the walkover but today the route seemed obvious and we easily picked up the right path towards Oak Farm and Harrocks Wood. Continue reading RICKMANSWORTH AND CROXLEY GREEN CIRCULAR – 27 FEBRUARY →