Eighteen Poly Ramblers arrived at Oxted Station to begin our walk to the start of Section Three of the Vanguard Way. It was a very hot, quite muggy, day as we wended our way through the woods and up on the Downs. We enjoyed spectacular views of the countryside before we reached our starting point, joining the Vanguard Way at Limpsfield Chart. We stopped for a much need drink at the Carpenters Arms Pub before making our way to St Andrew Church and the official start point of Section Three. We passed the gates of Trevereux manor and an ornamental lake on the northern link to Crockham Hill our lunch stop.  Crockham Hill is a sleepy village on a south -facing promontory of the Greensand Ridge in Kent. In the village garden there is a memorial to the seven staff and twenty-two of the London County Council residential school in nearby Weald House who were killed by enemy action on the thirtieth June 1944.

We enjoyed our picnic with outstanding views outside the Holy Trinity Church. Inside is a marble effigy of Octavia Hill (1838-1912) a housing reformer and co-founder in 1895 of the National Trust, she is buried in the churchyard. Unfortunately, we were unable to visit the interior of the church as a wedding was taking place. After lunch we rejoined the Vanguard Way and continued along a series of tracks and through wooded areas. It was at this point that we realised that a number of the group had gone in a different direction which added to their walk! We came out onto a lane and continued our route reaching a series of golf courses. We followed the link to Edenbridge Town where a number of us enjoyed an ice cream before catching the train back towards London Bridge.
Hilary

Photos by Stuart, Hilary and Lan

Report by Danny

On a warm but overcast morning, nineteen ramblers met at Cambridge Station for a leisurely circular walk along the River Cam to the village of Grantchester. We were pleased to see, amongst that number, three ex-members who lived in the vicinity. They were Heather Preston, Mike Nicholson and Mike ‘Trainers’ Hilton. The latter wore a new pair especially for the occasion! 

We started our ramble through a new housing development and then along a tree-lined road which took us to Coe Fen, a marshy area on the banks of the Cam historically used as free grazing land. Passing some cows, we crossed the river by a footbridge and then entered the Paradise Nature Reserve with its native wild flowers. A short section of road walking then took us past Skater’s Meadow and onto the riverside path with further meadows alongside. Punters, paddle boarders and kayakers accompanied us as we headed for Grantchester. There we had lunch in the famous Orchard House Tearooms, the essential riverside stop for undergraduates since it opened in 1897. By this time the sun had come out and many of our number sat in deckchairs in the extensive garden, sampling some excellent scones, with jam and cream, amongst other treats.

Suitably refreshed, the group admired the picture-postcard village, forever associated with the poet Rupert Brooke, before returning to Cambridge along a higher path, enabling views of the Cambridge skyline ahead. Reaching the city, we passed the busy mill pond with its numerous punts awaiting customers before looking at the mathematical footbridge, reputedly free-standing even with all its nuts and bolts removed. A short stroll then took us back to the station although some of our number a little footsore opted for the bus!     

Danny

Report by Jill Forgham

We had a wonderful day  yesterday. According to Alison’s app she did 23 km, oof! It was beautiful weather with a good breeze and there were 17 of us on the walk. We boarded a very packed HS1 train to Ashford International (full of people heading to the beach at Margate) and then all crammed onto a tiny train 3 stops to Rye (I had to sit in the luggage rack as there was no room left to stand in the aisles).

We did a quick tour of the quaint streets of Rye (very pretty) and up to the castle for a viewpoint and then dropped down to start our hike through fields of corn (scenes very reminiscent of Paul Nash, who had lived in the town), picking blackberries along the way as we headed across country to Winchelsea. We arrived at the New Inn in time for lunch and explored the gorgeous, partly ruined church (where Millais did two paintings) and in the churchyard, found the gravestone of Spike Milligan.

We headed out through one of the ancient town gates (13thc) and then crossed vibrant green fields with hundreds of pristine lambs grazing, heading no doubt to be salt marsh lamb fairly soon. With Camber Castle ruins on the horizon, it was glorious.

Finally we got to Rye Harbour, a good 40 minutes schlep beyond the town and now part of a nature reserve and bird sanctuary. We could see across to Camber Sands and the silhouette of Dungeness power station on the horizon, and we all collapsed into the Discovery Centre for a very welcome cup of tea and cake.

Jill.  Photos by Jill, Stuart and Lan

Sixteen keen Polyramblers aligned at Rochford for the second challenging walk of the summer programme. This 13 mile walk was cancelled last year (can’t remember why) and we eagerly waited for the bus to take us to Canewdon to start the walk. The bus was late – which is not unusual – and we were not too worried until two ladies who were passing told us that, because of roadworks, the bus had been diverted and we had missed it.

This walk seemed to be doomed! After checking that there was a bus from Canewdon to Rochford at 17.00, I decided to do the walk in reverse. So we set off from Rochford, following the river Roach along the sea wall for a few miles while being buffeted by the wind. We turned inland at Bartonhill Creek and had lunch in the shade. We continued along Green Lane, passing a lake and walking along a path made of seashells. We reached Paglesham and stopped at St Peter’s Church to use the eco toilet. We passed a defunct pub and reached Paglesham Creek then walked along fields before reaching Lion Creek which we followed. We continued alongside the river Crouch on an overgrown path on the sea wall with the wind against us.

We finally reached Upper Raypits where we turned inland, crossing a meadow and then climbing the only hill of the day to reach Canewdon and the bus stop with half an hour to spare. No time for a drink in the pub but we headed to the local shop for a well deserved ice cream.

Dominique

This was a walk that nearly got cancelled due to a train strike and closure of parts of six TFL lines so we were delighted to meet nineteen polyramblers at Tring Station.

After a safety briefing we made our way towards the entrance to Westland Farm and joined the Ridgeway Path passing through Aldbury Nowers nature reserve. We had a few spots of rain before we started to climb but fortunately it stayed dry and sunny for the rest of the day. We reached the top of the ridge with Pitstone village in the distance. We walked through undulating grassy hillside, with a smell of camomile underfoot, before descending and a tackling a second climb to Ivinghoe Beacon.

It was very windy and rather busy at the top with walking groups and families. Obviously a few of us discussed how we had previously celebrated completing the Ridgeway Trail. We dropped down a bit to find a reasonable spot for a picnic amongst the meadow flowers. We then retraced our steps downhill and made our way towards the Bridgewater Monument and Ashridge visitor centre, our route taking us through a well stocked wood, part of the Ashridge estate. I saw several varieties of butterflies including Cabbage White, Cinnamon Blue and Peacock.

After a refreshment stop at the visitor centre we passed by the picturesque post office, village hall and church in the village of Aldbury arriving in good time to catch the 4:00pm train home.

Sunita

Photos by Ida, Jill and Chris