On a bright & breezy Sunday morning, sixteen members found their way to Blackheath Station for the start of a walk around an historic part of London. Ignoring the delights of a farmer’s market in the station car park, the group climbed away from the village centre which was rudely called the Dowager’s Bottom in the 18th Century! Passing fine villas, including one named Pagoda House because of its distinctive roof, we reached the heath itself, a treeless plateau 125 ft above sea level. Wat Tyler & his rebels assembled here to meet Richard 11 during the Peasant’s Revolt in 1381. Avoiding numerous Cancer for Life runners, we entered Greenwich Park, the oldest of the royal parks, enclosed by an uncle of Henry V1 in 1433. Passing attractive flower beds and a deer park denuded of their occupants because of maintenance works, we reached the ridge overlooking Greenwich town centre with its magnificent view of the Naval College and the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf. After a short diversion down to the river, we climbed back up the Royal Observatory where we picnicked in hearing distance of a jazz concert in the ‘secret’ garden. Enroute back to Blackheath, we passed the remains of Queen Caroline’s Bath House which reputedly was the venue for wild parties in the early-19th Century! A stroll through the Cator Estate and a look at a topiary piano in front of the Conservatoire completed a hopefully interesting and varied walk for the participants. The majority were in no hurry to get away as they joined me in the Crown pub for a debrief!
A select band of 9 Poly Ramblers undeterred by the heat and distance from London, turned out for a spectacular varied walk along the east sussex coast and inland through the beautiful south downs national park.
We started with a briefing on the Seaford seafront and then began the walk up the steep ascent of Seaford Head. Once on the top the walk was relatively flat and the sea breezes made the heat bearable. In the distance we could see the unmistakable chalk cliffs of the Seven Sisters. At Cuckmere Haven we turned inland, still on the Vanguard Way, until we reached Exceat bridge where we had to negotiate a busy section of road with heavy traffic. We crossed this and decided to stop for lunch at a magnificent viewpoint above Exceat overlooking the Cuckmere River as it made great sweeping loops out to sea. We felt a few spots of rain but it didn’t amount to much.
We continued through woods which provided much welcomed shade from the fierce sun. We eventually reached the village of Litlington where we walked along the banks of the river Cuckmere into the village of Alfriston. Alfriston is one of the oldest villages in the county and is full of quaint half timbered houses. We decided to treat ourselves to ice creams and sat and ate them on benches in the middle of the village high street. In Alfriston there were unisex public toilets that we all visited and I have to say they were the cleanest free toilets I have seen in a long time. Continue reading SEAFORD TO BERWICK – SATURDAY 18 JUNE→
I arrived at Euston early and Geoffrey did too so we were able to have a chat about railways while waiting. We were a bit late arriving at Berkhamsted, having been held up by a slow train ahead of us. 12 of us set off from Berko, after a further delay while I fiddled with my new pole. I had been worried about a narrow muddy path on one section of the walk. However what was muddy in March was bone dry in June and I didn’t need to use my steep alternative route.
We started the steady climb to Berko Common, enjoying extensive views on a bright sunny day. Although I have done the walk several times I still managed to take a wrong path. Fortunately I was able to correct my mistake with the aid of my OS Maps app. I attribute my mistake to the fact that the map shows a path which does not exist on the ground, and realise that some people might see a slight contradiction here.
Fifteen blind ramblers and helpers and nine Polyramblers enjoyed a wonderful day in Kew Gardens. We started by ascending to the Temple of Aeolus, the god of wind, who thankfully was not active that day. In fact it was beautifully sunny between the clouds! Walking back through plant evolution in the Evolution Garden we reached the colourful Rock Garden where we listened to the waterfall before passing through the Alpine House, describing the insectivorous plants in the pond on the way. We smelled crushed fallen leaves of the Eucalyptus trees before experiencing the different climatic zones of the Princess of Wales Conservatory. Homage was paid to the bee at ‘The Hive’ a structure created by Wolfgang Buttress which several of us entered to further explore and listen to the local bees humming in the key of C major!
On a rather grey Sunday morning, a very respectable turn-out of twenty-five members met at Stratford Station for the walk with a further two joining enroute. The Line is London’s first dedicated public art walk. It starts in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and that’s where the group joined it, alongside the Waterworks River. The first of twenty exhibits was the AccelorMittal Orbit by Anish Kapoor, then its slide by Carsten Holler followed by a series of Madge Gill works under a railway bridge. Soon after, we reached the Greenway with a distinct aroma signalling the Northern Outfall Sewer beneath! After crossing Stratford High Street, we joined the Three Mills Wall River towpath with a tall structure in the style of the 2012 Olympic torch on the opposite bank. Continue reading THE LINE WALK: STRATFORD TO NORTH GREENWICH – 15 MAY→
