Mike's Country Walks and Treks

Tideswell (circular) – (Peak District) – (Derbyshire) – 14/01/12 – 8.75 Miles – Helen (Molly)

2012-01-16T10:56:00.000-08:00

On the coldest of days we began our winter wonderland trek at the disused station at Millers Dale. Thus the amazing visual thing about this walk was the contrast between bright winter sunshine, and the carpet of white frost in the shaded areas (a contrast that was to last for the whole duration). Anyway this particular point on the Monsal Trail appears to be a very popular start point for both walkers and the cycling fraternity, no doubt in part because the station facilities are still in use. So once two out of the three of us, had made use of available facilities, we were on our way.

Basically we didn’t stay on the trail long enough to be bothered by the cyclists (which seems to be a bit of a problem in walking circles at the moment). Thus once we had passed the lime kilns, we headed off up towards Wormhill. As responsible dog owners/walkers (well most of the time) we followed instructions and kept Molly on her lead. This being just as well as we soon encountered a local farmer (+ working dog) rounding up his flock of sheep. Unsure of what to do, we basically watched proceedings until he said we could move on, whilst he bemoaned that he was one sheep missing. So in our quest to continue to do the right thing, I decided to shut the next open gate we came to, only for a loud voice to bellow “leave it open”. Thus we hurried on, eager not to be trampled by the flock, once the numbers were complete.

Lunch wasn’t too long after, but given the cold one didn’t want to sit still for too long. However Helen (who periodically enjoys making me retrace my steps uphill) tried to pull a ‘lost her glasses gag’ which I refused to fall for (they were of course in her rucksack). So presently we passed through the village of Tunstead, which seemed to consist of two semi-derelict houses and a red phone box with no door. We then had trouble negotiating some fields where the OS trail seemed to be deliberately run down, as if to discourage pesky walker types. Latterly some farm dogs didn’t make us feel all that welcome either, when we passed them by on our way to Dale Head (Molly however maintained an air of nonchalance).

At Dale Head we joined the Limestone Way, passing though Peter Dale, which was waterlogged but frozen (and spectacularly beautiful). However when we came out of that and attempted to continue through Monks Dale, it became too much water and too little ice. Thus we made a strategic withdrawal, and instead headed on up the road to pick up the Limestone Way again.

However after a bit of zigzagging along some dry stone walled fields, the woman in the black woolly hat, misplaced the Limestone Way somewhere (I take no responsibility as I was playing follow the leader). Anyway a check between the GPS and the OS map, confirmed we were a little further over than thought, at a fork called Meadow Lane. So although it was getting late in the afternoon, with the sun setting on our right, it didn’t present a real problem, as following the road took us all the way down (and eventually up some steps) to where the car was parked at Millers Dale. As we reached the car we saw the last of the day’s other walkers packing up to head home, no doubt like us doing a quick mental double check that they had taken all their litter etc’, home with them.

Anyway this was a really good walk (which I think even began to wear the energetic Molly out), so much appreciation to the woman in the brown coat who thought of it. However her suggestion that we then head off dancing before we went home, was appreciated as much as the smell of silage on my boots and gators.

Farningham Road to Otford – (Kent) – 02/01/12 – 9 Miles – IVC

2012-01-02T11:57:00.000-08:00

There was a double figure turn out for this bank holiday walk to see in the new year. Thus whilst there was a slight chill in the air, there was no wind to exacerbate it, and it was a very bright day. That said I can’t ever recall doing a walk before, where the Sun was so irritatingly low and in your eyes, the entire day.

Anyway the first half found us walking along the Darent valley path, in the process of which we crossed a set of footbridges over the River Darent, confirming to me that I had done this walk with IVC before. As we headed off towards Eynsford we spotted Eynsford castle (pictured) to our left, which apparently dates back to 1088 (them Normans built things to last).

After crossing the Ford going into Eynsford we stopped for a pub lunch. I had the malt burger (local delicacy) and chips, which seemed a tad underdone, as well as a pint of local cider.

The second half found us following the crowded path beside the River Darent. Before long Lullingstone Roman Villa (which apparently is all enclosed within the visitor centre), but which was shut for the Bank Holiday. A little further on and we came across Lullingstone Castle and its restored 16th century gatehouse. From there on it was a case of glooping along in the mud (with the crowds having thinned out) alongside the river. A couple of the group dropped out at Shoreham, but the rest of us continued on to Otford. There we saw the local church covered in various types of cladding. However in a sign of the times a notice read: ‘if you see workman on our roof between 6pm and 8am, phone the police as they are probably stealing it’.

So overall a good walk, save for the Sun constantly in ones eyes, given that we always heading South. I can’t tell you the exact distance as the pound shop batteries in the GPS, gave up in the pub but our leader assured us it was around nine miles.

The Best Walk Awards - 2011

2011-12-31T07:27:00.001-08:00

For the third year running I hand out awards (of the purely ceremonial kind) to my favourite walks of the year (now in four categories).

BEST WALK WITH IVC

This one was a beautiful Summer's walk, on the second sunday in April (?) Billericay-to-Brentwood-essex

BEST WALK ON MY OWN

Given that most waking on my own was over my usual haunts of Osterly Park/Grand Union Canal, Thames Towpath, and Richmond Park, there wasn't a lot of stand out candidates. However this walk from January was a very good day, as I recceed out this one from Country Walking magazine, to later lead IVC on. Dudswell-circular-Hertfordshire

BEST WALK WITH HELEN

As usual too many to pick from. However this one was a very good one, if for no other reason than the extraordinary carpeting of pink heather that we encountered. Win Hill (Circular)

BEST HOLIDAY WALK

A new category, but as it has featured strongly in previous awards, it is only right that it now comes into its own. With three holidays this year to: Isle of Wight, West Sussex, and finally Bath, there was a lot to choose from. However this for me was the stand out candidate. Freshwater Bay-circular-via-Yarmouth-and the Needles

As mentioned the three holiday's were the Highlights, and I am pleased I am still hanging in there with IVC (although probably not for much longer). The Lowlights however were a sense that walking has had to take a back seat for the latter part of the year, due to the whole flat purchasing/moving thing, and also that Luther is no longer fit enough to come out on long walks with me and Helen.

So to all my readers/followers and walking partners, have a great 2012.

Ashover (circular) – (Derbyshire) – 27/12/11 – 5 Miles – Helen (Molly)

2011-12-29T08:30:00.000-08:00

Following the usual Christmas Day indulgence, and something of a Boxing Day Sales extravagence, a walk was definitely in order for the Bank Holiday Tuesday. Helen chose a walk that was very familiar to her, and also one that I had done on at least a couple of occasions.

So having parked at Ashover village hall, we made our way along the village before having a look inside the ‘Parish Church of All Saints’ (perhaps where we should do midnight mass next year), before beginning a fairly steep series of climbs. This took us up to Cocking Tor and along to Ashover Hay, encountering some mountain bikers along the way, as well as some stunning views on this unseasonally bright and warm(ish) day.

After finding a nice seat to have our provisions we made our way back via Four Hill Quarry. We eventually looked in at The Crispen pub for a swift half, with Helen meeting some familiar faces, before the day concluded with an encounter with some manic little dogs. The GPS said 4.87 miles, but I am rounding it up to 5 (so there).

Oxted (circular) – (Surrey) – 18/12/11 – 9 Miles – IVC

2011-12-18T12:07:00.000-08:00

Well if I thought the process of buying a flat was time consuming, that is as nothing compared to the time required to get said flat up to the required standard. So with just about every minute of every free day currently being spent on that, walking (and everything else) has had to take something of a back seat. Therefore the last walk walk worth mentioning (short of the occasional circuit of the park with Helen’s dogs) was actually six weeks ago. That walk was with IVC, and by some strange coincidence it also began/ended at Oxted railway station. Suffice to say of course, that this one was a different (figure of eight) route, compared to the previous circular one.

Anyway as a fourteen strong group set off outside the railway station, I just about managed to get my gators on before being left behind. It was certainly worth the effort though as this was a muddy squelch fest for much of the proceedings. It was also a crisp and frosty winter’s day, but was not particularly cold due to the still air. Thus most of the walk was through a variety of countryside below the North Downs, with us at various times picking up and leaving the Greensand Way.

Lunch was at the Hare and Hounds at Godstone, who didn’t seem at all bothered by our muddy boots. They certainly took their time serving up our grub, but the other side of that was it was good value, with my gammon baquette and chips coming in at £4.95 (washed down with a pint of cider of course).

The second half was pretty much of the same ilk as the first, although it did rain for a brief period (which wasn’t on the script), before we made it back to Oxted for the 1628 back to London Victoria. So overall a good Winter’s walk, which was just what I needed.

Oxted (Loop) – (Surrey/Kent) – 06/11/11 – 10 Miles – IVC

2011-11-07T02:23:00.000-08:00

Given how late I was finishing work on Saturday, the fact that my two connecting hourly SWT trains would miss each other by two minutes on my way home, and it was down to a replacement bus service on the Piccadilly line, I decided that this walk was going to be a non-starter. Yet human nature being what it is, come Sunday morning I decided I was raring to go anyway, and did. The other thing pushing me on (as mentioned last week), was the fact that this could be one of my last opportunities to go walking with IVC. So whilst contemplating all this at Clapham Junction for the train to Oxted, I treated myself at Costa’s to a cream topped hot chocolate in an impressively tall glass (I thought primo meant small).

The majority of this walk involved following the Greensand Way (which has featured on other IVC walks before, including one I led) heading East towards Crockham Hill, whilst returning back to Oxted via a different route. Like last week, I was doing so much chinwagging for the first half at least, that I wasn’t paying too much attention to where we were going. That said when I did look up, one noticed that at lot of the first half was actually going through villages, as much as open country.

A relatively early lunch stop found us at the only pub in Limpsfield Chart which is called The Carpenters Arms. They seemed both walker and dog friendly (not ours), and didn’t seem too phased by our numbers. I had a pint of cider as well as ham, eggs, and chips. This was all very acceptable except the amount of chips was a little on the low side.

The second half of the walk was a lot less village and a lot more country (good), and eventually found us crossing into Kent. There we passed Churchill’s house Chartwell. Well I say passed, in fact two of us with cameras made a small detour so we could get a picture of it. Further along we also passed a large number of Canadian Geese having a meeting in the middle of a field.

It was certainly not what you would call a bright winter’s day. Thus given the fact that the clocks have gone back, and this group seems to have an average pace (given all the stops and catching up) of two miles an hour, things were getting seriously gloomy near the end of this walk (Considerably so whenever we crossing through a wooded area). Thus by the time we made it back into Oxted, the street lighting was something of a relief. As we had three quarters of an hour to kill before the 1728 back to Victoria, we all piled into the next door (to the station) Wetherspoon’s for coffee and biscuits.

Hildenborough to Tonbridge – (Kent) – 30/10/11 – 6.75 Miles – IVC

2011-10-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about a walking group like IVC, is that you can be absent for well over four months, and then slot straight back in again, as if you have never been away. Anyway with an extra hour in bed due to the clocks going back, there was no excuse for not getting up for this one.

This was basically a short walk, down the Medway Valley, admiring the autumnal colours as one strolled along. Although given my long absence, I tended to do more chinwagging about what I have been up to, then I did admiring the scenery. Thus some three and a bit miles in we had arrived in Leigh for lunch.

Lunch was at the Fleur De Lis pub, who promptly explained that all the tables were booked inside, and even with us sitting outside, we could forget about ordering any roast dinners. Thus we made the best of it, by ordering a variety of baquetee’s, which were served promptly enough. They then seemed a bit undecided about whether we could order pudding, but eventually our pleading hungry faces won through, and for my part I had a sticky toffee one with ice cream.

The second half of the walk continued on much the same undemanding territory as the first. Now as you will notice there is only the one photograph on this occasion. Now there are two explanations for this, so choose whichever you prefer.

One – People pulling cameras out are not always welcomed on group walks, especially when you try and surrepticiously include other walkers in said pictures for effect. It’s also quite difficult to take pictures when you are constantly having conversations with people. So what I often do is hang back from the rest of the group, on the pretext (true or not) of having a call of nature, and thus get a group shot that way. On this occasion however whilst I was taking my picture, one group member in front of me and to my left, actually was having a call of nature. Thus he was somewhat panicked by my flash going off, as was I by his startled shout (see picture for proof of me being startled, which he is not in by the way). Anyway despite my embarrassed explanations he no doubt has me down now as some weird pervert. Trying to explain that I wanted the picture for my website (this blog actually) would no doubt have made matters worse, so I left bad enough alone.

Or

Two – When I saw how much my photograph resembled one of the great ‘impressionist masters’ I decided I couldn’t possibly top that, and decided that was all I needed to take for the day.

Anyway we ended up in Tonbridge for our much vaunted afternoon tea stop, in some grimy local café. The menu was pretty ropey, but for my part I had a hot chocolate that tasted like slime and a toasted tea cake. One elderly drunk who had been having his lunch tried to claim, some twenty minutes after we came in, that someone in our party had brushed past him, ruining both his dinner and his life. There are some people in this world who are worth apologising too, and some who just need to be told to fuck off. He was in the latter category, but because the people in this group are of the civilised variety they wrongly tried to take the former approach. Anyway this was all going off at the far end of the table from me, but when I managed to get his attention, and asked him, why didn’t he say this at the time and not twenty minutes later, he stormed out of the café ranting away still.

Still nice to be back walking with IVC again. I wasn’t sure back in June whether that would be the last time, I would be out with them, and for that matter the same applies to today. So watch this space.

Walks since last blog entry:

1 x 7 miles – Osterley Park/Grand Union
1 x 7 miles – Grand Union/Osterley Park
1 x 2.5 miles – Lineacre Reservoir
1 x 6.5 miles – Putney to Kew Bridge

Bath Skyline (Circular) – (Somerset) – 09/10/11 – 8.5 Miles – Helen

2011-10-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

So yes things have been a little quiet on the blogging front as of late, especially given the walks that I have been doing (see list at bottom), are ones that have been covered many times before. So I decided what was required to invigorate the blog was somewhere untrodden, and looking at October’s Country Walking magazine I opted to do the Bath Skyline one (as featured on pages 44-48, and as cut out route (2)). Well alright I just happened to be in Bath this particular weekend for a long planned trip anyway, but hey why not run with it.

So if you are groping for the magazine even as you are reading this, the first thing to note is that we started/finished at point 3 on Bathwick Hill, as per route cut out. However to get to that point we actually started the walk at the bus station, which in itself required a mile each way to the official start (hence 8 miles, and add another half again allowing for us getting lost).

So as such our start point as per the cut out, was the one that really affords the classic view of Bath’s skyline. However as you have probably noticed already, the picture of me here isn’t as good as the one on pages 44-45 of Country Walking magazine. However I can come up with three reasons for this: (1) – Helen wasn’t standing on a ladder to take the picture, (2) – It was a bit dull and grey for our walk, and (3) – unlike CW magazine, I don’t have the facility to airbrush out the gasworks. Oh yes and if you are wondering why I am looking like the ‘elephant man’ it was because my cheeks were full of Galaxy Minstrels.

Now I accept that not all cut out walks in CW magazine are of uniform standard, however we found the instructions early on to be particularly ropey, getting lost immediately past Richens Orchard. However by a process of elimination we finally decided that when presented with three options ‘bear diagonally L uphill’ really means ‘bear diagonally R uphill’. Anyway given that this is a standard signed walk (as featured at the tourist information centre) the best option in fact was to follow the circular post markers.

There was a fair bit of climbing involved early on, which led to us briefly taking our jackets off. In fact we made such an attractive couple at this point, that we were stopped by a National Trust warden who asked permission to take our picture (God knows what for). However he went down in my estimation when he showed no interest in looking at the pictures on my camera screen. However he did say we had done the worst of the climbing at this point.

The wind was blowing up a bit and with one o clock fast approaching, there didn’t seem anywhere particularly suitable to have our sandwiches (save for a bench inbetween a load of American Footballers). Eventually however we settled on a wall in earshot of Bath Cats and Dogs home (guess which species made its presence most felt there).

As we made our way onwards towards Bathampton Woods, we came across a number of cavaliers, roundheads and student types, who eventually overtook us, before we in turn overtook them. By this time the mizzly nature of the day was making itself felt as we passed the TV mast. Thus when we reached the bench for the ‘great viewpoint’, both the weather and the canopy was giving us anything but. Helen decided she could live without the diversion off to Sham Castle (no doubt fearing being financially mugged at yet another visitor centre), and thus we headed back down towards our start point at the junction of Cleveland Walk/Bathwick Hill. The instructions surpassed themselves yet again at this point however, as we ended up somewhere else entirely. Following which the walk came to something of an indeterminate end as we wound our way through the centre of Bath looking at greeting card and coffee shops.

Walks since last blog entry:

2 x 7 miles – Osterley Park/Grand Union
1 x 9.25 miles – Putney to Osterley
1 x 4.5 miles – Osterley Park (inner/outer loops)
1 x 9.44 miles – Richmond Park (outer loop + rtn. Richmond stn.) – Helen
1 x 7 miles – Hellbank/Chatsworth (circular) – Helen (Molly)

Win Hill (circular) – (Dark Peak District) - (Derbyshire) – 20/08/11 – 8 Miles – Helen (Molly

2011-08-23T10:52:00.000-07:00

After some effort to find a place to park we eventually located a tailor made effort alongside the Thornhill Trail. We weren't sure however was the woman in the marquee collecting parking tariffs or not, but a check from Helen revealed she was just doing a survey.

So after picking up said trail we weren't on it for long, before a sharp right took us up the stone staircase to Win Hill. This required some effort on our part, especially as everyone else seemed to be taking the easy way downwards. Well that is except for two lads who seemed to have taken a wrong turn with their mountain bikes, carrying them up ahead of us; and of course Molly who was going both upwards and downwards..

Around half way to the top we found a pile of stones to have lunch on, while Molly looked on wondering what had happened to her Bonio (an apple core having to substitute). Following which she decided to act somewhat retarded when it came to drinking out of the blue plastic thing Helen had brought along for her (probably still waiting for that Bonio).

So picking up the trail again (past some young energetic types, who had been running downhill), we constantly turned around to gawp in admiration at both the view and the carpet of purple heather. Thus in just a few short strides (or not) we found ourselves at the top of Win Hill, save for three lads taking pictures, and about 10 million enormous great flies. However such was the stunning views of green and purple around us, for brief moments one could pretend the flies weren't there. When I say view that of course excludes the one of the cement works, which Helen tried to talk up by calling it something like Hope Castle.

There were more stunning and greener views on the way down with Helen pointing out the likes of Mam Tor, Lose Hill, and Kinder on the horizon, meanwhile some guy appeared out of nowhere on his bike, looking for all the world like he was in the middle of delivering the local papers. So after negotiating a pine wood + christmas tree plantation, we found ourselves walking along Ladybower reservoir. In this instance the scenery wasn't great (not helped by the road opposite). However Molly had a brief dip in the water, the levels of which seem worryingly low.

After a brief break at the Dam crossing, Helen's map reading skills went on a bit of a walkabout at this point, insisting we must climb upwards, when the Thornhill trail sign said straight ahead. Something about avoiding a road somewhere ! Anyway we eventually found ourselves on the stone staircase again, only this time coming down back onto the path we had just left. Fortunately I only fell the once, and managed to break my fall and not my arm (not so good with descents you see).

Back at the car the GPS proved it could stay switched on for the duration of a walk, with real batteries rather than rechargeable ones. However it was having a bit of trouble with distances (probably getting its confidence back up), so instead we ignored its guesstimate and came up with one of our own (8 miles).

Walks since last blog entry:

1 x 7 mile – Osterley Park/Grand Union
1 x 15.5 mile – Richmon Stn/Park (outer/inner loops) and back
1 x 2.5 mile – Ashover (circular) – Helen (Molly)

Curbar Edge (circular) – (Peak District) - (Derbyshire) – 23/07/11 – 9 Miles – Helen (Molly)

2011-07-27T14:02:00.000-07:00

You know it must be July, when it’s time to put the fleece’s and waterproof’s back on. So having parked at Curbar Gap, there was nothing about the weather that suggested we would be taking them off any time soon. Well okay it wasn’t raining exactly, but then it wasn’t exactly the height of April either (please read previous blog entries to understand that). Anyway what we did have was a very clear day, so as we made our way along Curbar Edge we could see for miles around. Not that this was of particular interest to Lab dog Molly, who had umpteen trails to follow (but sadly without Luther, as such outings are getting a bit too much for him these days).

Thus for a late Saturday morning, this neck of the woods (or Peak) was proving a popular spot with other people as well, but once we made a hard right and headed off towards White Edge we managed to shake off the masses. Not only that but the effort to climb up to the edge, had me taking my waterproof off a little too hastily, as once exposed to the biting wind it soon found its way back on again. It turned out we hadn’t shaken off humanity either as we met a group of ramblers heading towards us. One of whom had an identical black Labrador and informed us that he kept his on a lead to protect it from ticks (we however assumed our dog would be able to stand up to a tick if it happened to meet one).

Following a quick lunch stop on a stone ledge where we had frozen sandwiches and crisps, washed down with that biting wind, we then headed down towards the Grouse pub. There we had a quick mug of coffee outside, whilst Molly barked at and attempted to verbally bully a small dog that was entering with its owners (all the while keeping her back to the window where a Staffy/Rottweiller cross was looking out, who was no doubt hoping for the opportunity to bully her).

Once on the move again, the weather had warmed up, and the top layers were coming off. Thus we passed around the outskirts of Longshaw estate, as we made our way towards Froggat edge. We were somewhat surprised when two guys passing us, suddenly shouted “Helen” on the top of their voices. When a young woman passed us by a few moments later we realised both that: there is more than one of them who lives in Derbyshire, and that this one was probably rushing to thank her mates for (not) holding up the traffic whilst she was (assume) answering a call of nature.

After being shown a stone circle by the first Helen mentioned in this blog, we then speculated (me and Molly that is) as we stared over Froggat edge, whether we were looking at my old stomping ground of Grindleford. With no real definitive answer to that one forthcoming, we instead went through something of a photography moment around all the jagged stones and rocks.

Presently we made our way back to the Curbar Gap car park where we came across a wedding party having their photos taken. In fact they came into view at just the right moment as we would otherwise have had to come to blows over whether a Tomato is a fruit or a vegetable. Anyway having found some common ground on the distance being something around the 7 mile mark (no thanks to my malfunctioning GPS), we were then able to drive home happily listening to Status Quo’s ‘Leader of Sound’.

Walks since last blog entry:

2 x 7 miles – Osterley Park/Grand Union
1 x 2 miles – Lineacre Reservoir (circular) – Helen
1 x 2 miles – Hellbank (circular) – Helen

Chequers/Coombe Hill (figure of 8) – (Buckinghamshire) – 24/06/11 – 9 Miles – Helen

2011-06-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

So if you’re sensing a tad of deja-vu here, you’re correct this is the same walk I did last time out on this blog as well. The reason for the hasty repeat, is that Helen wanted to try the full circuit (as well as IVC) after we had got ourselves lost the first time out we tried it.

So rather than retread old ground describing too much of the walk again, let me bang on about the journey instead. Thus on my previous three outings here, I had taken the underground from Osterley to Marylebone, and then Chiltern railways to Wendover. However Helen didn’t fancy the long traipse into London only to in effect, come all the way back out to Wendover. I on the other hand didn’t fancy driving all the way to Wendover and back on a rush hour Friday. However thanks to the tube dot com, we were able to follow an alternative travel plan. So here it is.

Take a 12 minute walk from home to Osterley station. Then travel from Osterley to Acton Town, cross over the platform. Then travel Acton Town to Rayners Lane, cross over the platform. Then travel Rayners Lane to Harrow on the Hill, cross over the platform. Hang around there some 30 minutes for an Amersham train, then hastily cross over the platform again when it turns up on a different platform than it is supposed to. Eventually arrive at Amersham, and cross over the platform to buy a ticket for Chiltern Railways, then cross back over the platform again to get the train to Wendover, only to find you have just missed it and will have to wait half an hour for the next one. Arrive at Wendover the best part of three hours later, having lost all idea of why you had actually travelled there in the first place.

Anyway suffice to say we didn’t fancy that route back home again. Thus we took the Chiltern Railways train back to Harrow on the Hill, and then picked up on the previous journey only in reverse order. Although this enabled us to take about an hour off the journey it was something of a pyrric travelling victory.

However returning to our eventual arrival at Wendover, we decided we didn’t want to begin the walk until we had our lunch. To this end we were excellently served by the Shoulder of Mutton pub just outside the station (where I had afternoon tea the other week with IVC). We both had the fish and chips and mushy peas, which were of a much higher standard than what most pubs throw up, and to wash that down I had a pint of Strongbow.

So what about the walk ? Well you know the usual. Up to the Coombe Monument where we met some belted Galloway cattle. Go past David Cameron’s weekend gaff, then past Beacon Hill and onto Ellesborough church (no diversion here off to lunch as obviously we had already had it). Cross a field with the Coombe Monument way off in the distance, before the steepest of climbs. Watch Helen play silly buggers with a swing on a tree. Go through Low Scrubs cursing that the ice cream man isn’t there on weekdays. Up a wooded hill, down a long bridleway, keeping ones distance from someones horse-shit eating dog, then enter a field after waiting for the cattle to cross it, to arrive back at Wendover station.

Walks since last blog entry:

1 x 7 miles – Osterley Park/Grand Union

Chequers/Coombe Hill (figure of 8) – (Buckinghamshire) – 05/06/11 – 9.5 Miles – IVC

2011-06-06T13:10:00.000-07:00

Having twice before tried to lead this walk for IVC only to be thwarted by engineering works on Chiltern Railways, it was finally third time lucky. However I was feeling more irritated than lucky when one particular member kept ‘busting my balls’ (as the Americans would say) at Marylebone station over where we going to be having lunch. I had figured the previous evening that the planned pub venue (The Russell Arms, where I had previously ate) might be unable to cope with a large walking group (given that it is a gastro pub, that are often very popular on Sundays). Thus I decided I would wait on the walk until we got to a potential turn off towards Great Kimble (and an untried lunch alternative) and then ring ahead. Not good enough for said member who insisted I should be ringing them from Marlebone station. Having said this once too often, I then insisted that he went and bought himself a sandwich if it was that much of a problem for him, as well as shutting up in the process. When we alighted at Wendover station he subsequently apologised for going on too much about it, only to then spend the first half of the walk doing exactly that all over again !

Anyway when the 13 of us alighted at Wendover station, the first thing we were met with on the main road was some sort of running race going in one direction, and a group of cylists (also wearing numbers) going in the other. Thus when the marshals saw us, they were left scratching their heads wondering what category we belonged to. However we were soon out of their way and with a fairly gentle climb up onto the ridgeway, we were soon at the Coombe (Boer war) monument. The views from here are always fairly impressive, only this was the first time I have noticed that you can actually see Chequers from this vantage point.

By the time we started our descent and into the wooded area, the weather was starting to drizzle, which it continued to do on and off for the rest of the day (but thankfully not through lunch). Hovering around us at this time, were a pair of walkers who looked rather irritated at out presence (all the chatter ruining their quiet countryside), so when we entered Chequers estate, I purposely held everyone up so we could finally get shot of them.

Once we reached the driveway to Chequers (and the potential turn off to Great Kimble) I phoned the Russell Arms, who confirmed they could accommodate us provided we sat in the garden and were prepared to wait for our food (fair enough). All the while as I was doing this I had to fend off some great wasp or knat type thing that was both buzzing in my ear, and complaining of a rumbling stomach. So after circumnavigating the base of Beacon Hill, and subsequently crossing a field, we assembled by the church in Ellesborough, where I explained that the first half of the walk had come to an end. We then split into two groups with the sandwich eaters staying in the church yard, whilst seven of us diverted down the road (off route) to the Russell Arms.

At the pub they kept to their word, with us waiting half an hour in the garden for our grub, with myself having the double egg, ham and chips. Subsequently we were joined by the sandwich eaters for a drink. Given the amount of OS maps they had between them, it turned out they had discovered a nice country footpath between church and pub (unlike my road diversion) which we all used on the return to the church for our second half (definite addition if I do this walk again).

Having crossed a large field with the Coombe monument far away in the distance, we picked up the bridleway and the start of a short and extremely steep climb. Even I had trouble with this one, stopping twice to gasp for air, although to my credit I was second one to the top, with only the youngest member of the group ahead of me. Following this we headed into Low Scrubs where I had to hold everyone up in order to recce out the right path (I got lost here last time). A climb up to and along a fence in the woodland, then a very long descent down a bridleway, followed by crossing a field and we were back at Wendover station. Given that we had half an hour before the train was due, several of us partook of afternoon coffee in the pub next door.

This is very scenic walk with fantastic views over the Vale of Aylebury from both the Coombe Monument and Beacon Hill. This is contrasted with two woodlands en-route. Several members of the group commented during and afterwards about what an enjoyable walk it was. Unfotunately it is not reflected in my mediocre pictures. So apologies for that, but leading walking groups is not conducive to great photography.

Monsal Head (circular) - (White Peak District) - (Derbyshire) - 28/05/11 - 5.25 Miles - Helen (Molly)

2011-05-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

Four pounds for four hours at the Monsal Head car park, certainly made me glad that this was a five mile walk and not a ten mile one. Anyway this was a repeat of the one we had attempted from Country Walking magazine last November. Only on that occasion we had been forced to do a different walk after the high water levels meant we couldn't walk along the Limestone Walls at Water-cum-Jolly (just like Julia Bradbury). Then we had to later retrace our steps to recover Helen's hat.

So anyway having descended down from Monsal Head to pick up the Monsal Trail, our first surprise was the amount of cyclist's going up and down necessitating Molly having to be on a lead (Luther wasn't able to make it on this occasion). By the time we got to the point overlooking Cressbrook Mill our second surprise was that the tunnel there was now open.

In fact this was something of a special weekend for the Monsail Trail, as four tunnels that run from Bakewell to the edge of Buxton had been opened a few days prior, for the first time since they were sealed by the former Midland Railway's in 1968. All part of a large scale enginnering project to make this part of the trail more accesslble for walkers and cyclists. Oh yes cyclists, as apparently their numbers were explained not just by the special occasion, but also by the fact that two hire centres had been set up on the trail to take advantage of this opportunity.

Naturally being the sort of people who never hesitate to seize the moment, we got off the trail as our route cut out instructed and headed down to Water-Cum Jolly. Helen for her part was displaying what I thought was a 'Hungry and Homeless' placard, but actually turned out to be an OS map. Anyway no problems this time (like high water levels, or potentially drowned doggies), as we made our way along, passing rock climbers and leaping fish. Eventually however we left the track and after passing by Litton Mill we began another climb which eventually and briefly took us back onto the Monsal Trail, before beginning the steepest of climbs with magnificent views of Millers Dale behind us. We made a point of continually stopping to look as well as take pictures (nothing to do with gasping for air and waiting for the lactic acid to clear out of our legs).

Eventually we reached a crossroads (following some unneccesarry intimidation from my bovine friends), and then after passing some farm we carried on a long track which was slightly less scenic than all that had gone before. The weather was starting to close in at this point requiring jackets to be put on.

The scenery picked up somewhat as we started to make a descent with Monsal Head in the distance. Thus after a steep and stony descent we found ourselves on Monsal viaduct facing another of the newly opened tunnel's. That is to be left for another day however, and so after a swift stepped climb, we were back at the car park.

Arundel (Circular) – (West Sussex) – 20/05/11 – 7.88 Miles – Helen

2011-05-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

Having visited Arundel Castle and its gardens the previous day, the power that be decided that we should go back again, to do one of Country Walking Magazine’s cut out walks for the vicinity. So leaving the car park opposite the castle, we began our walk along the river Arun.

As you wind your way along the river the view of the castle, which you actually have to keep looking back at, is constantly changing. However despite numerous attempts by me to get the definitive picture, the one shown is about the best of the bunch (no doubt Helen’s pictures will be a lot better). Now this was a day where I decided to crack the shorts out again, yet the weather never really decided for the duration if it was going to be a scorcher, or eventually chuck it down. No matter as by the time we had got to the one and a quarter mile point, it was time for lunch at the Black Rabbit pub.

Wow, this was a perfect location for a pub, as it sat alongside the river with a view of the castle way off in the distance. Naturally with all that on offer I wanted to sit indoors, but Helen found a compromise by getting us a table outside, but under cover by the entrance. Given the size of the car park, and the amount of people there for a Friday lunchtime, word about this place has obviously got round. Anyway for the record I had the gourmet burger + fries (with cider) whilst Helen had the Chicken Tikka Massala.

Back on the move again we continued along the River Arun, with the castle no longer in sight, before turning off by the Saxon Church at the hamlet of South Stoke. Well actually this one passed me by somewhat giving as it was hidden by houses once off the river. My more observant other half however had already recorded it all on her camera. As we made our way through a path between two walls we found the way nearly blocked by a couple of marquees, although we were told beer would be available if we came back the next day.

From there we walked up and into a wooded area, whilst never entirely 100% sure about how far along we were (although the deer fence to our left gave us some reassurance). We eventually got our bearings however at the entrance of Arundel Park (see picture). Then it was a sharp left through the gate and a long wooded climb, which eventually opened up into fantastic views towards (as Helen pointed out) Amberley, where we had walked on the Monday.

Having reached a gate at the top of the climb (as the cut out instructed) I insisted we stop for a brief refreshment break, as the wind began to pick up. Pushing on upwards however it turned out the instructions were a tad ambiguous with me insisiting that we had to walk through a wooded area, whilst Helen insisted we had to walk round it (guess who was right).

So after walking round the wooded area, we began a very scenic descent with the haunted (apparently) Hiorne Tower far away to our left. Once at the absolute bottom of this eventually very steep descent, we began another steep ascent with Swanbourne Lake below us, before eventually taking a very sharp right. We then had a short steep climb, going across a gallops, only to emerge with the Hiorne Tower now right in front of us. The only problem for me now was that somewhere along the way, it had managed to cross our path from our faraway left to our immediate right (so that’s what they must mean by haunted – a walking tower).

After some confusion about getting out of the park without going into the private estate, we emerged back into Arundel town centre passing the cathedral church, the priory inn and the castle itself. After stopping for afternoon tea, coffee and cake in a local shop, the walk came to an indeterminate end whilst Helen shopped around for presents/souveniers.

Cocking (Circular) – (West Sussex) – 18/05/11 – 9.75 Miles – Helen

2011-05-23T14:33:00.000-07:00

Having parked at the small (and easily missed) car park at the top of Cocking Hill, we began with a very steep ascent up the South Downs way (hope none of that sounds rude). Still the climb served to warm us up, which was just as well, as the weather was slightly duller and chillier than it had been on our previous walk. Our initial landmark, or place to stop for a breather, was the first of a number of two-metre diameter chalk stones by the sculptor Andy Goldsworthy. Any number of these (meaning I don’t know exactly how many) were to be found throughout the first half of the walk.

After traversing Newfarm plantation, we then turned into West Dean Woods, which seems to be part of the (private) West Dean estate, and is managed by the Sussex Wildlife Trust. When we eventually came out of that, we turned uphill (passing the edge of a former Roman Road) before stopping for lunch at the exact moment my GPS came in at 3 miles. As on our previous walk, me and Helen diverged on what constituted the seating arrangements, before settling down to scoff our lunch.

Back on the move again, we passed under some power lines and then walked along a very long avenue of trees, before eventually climbing up off of that into a wooded area again. However when we eventually descended out of that by the entrance to West Dean Gardens, we were faced with a horrendous road walk all the way to Singleton. Alright there was a narrow pavement but the traffic came hurtling past us at roadkill speed for nearly a mile, before we were able to turn off from it. Somewhat relieved to still be in one piece, we sat down on the seat by the duckpond, to have afternoon tea.

On our way again we did a sharp left at a footpath sign by a school and made our way up towards Levin Down. The views behind us were fantastic, causing us both to waste any number of pixels trying to capture it. Also we could hear the sounds of the Goodwood Racecourse meeting blowing towards us.

We then descended back down into a beautiful valley before eventually entering a section between Singleton Forest and Charlton Forest. This was slightly monoculture in tree terms and went on for a long but gentle climb, before we eventually emerged onto the crossroads of the South Downs Way. Here we were accosted by three walkers wanting to know where we had come from ourselves (which proved to be a difficult question for me anyway). So deciding to avoid walking with them, and more difficult questions, we stopped here for our final tea break. Once on my feet again, I realised I had suddenly become rather sore in a place best not discussed. However a nice descent along the South Downs Way, where Helen made friends with a cow, eased me back to the car park.

Amberley (Circular) – (West Sussex) – 16/05/11 – 8.1 Miles – Helen

2011-05-22T10:35:00.000-07:00

The first walk of our West Sussex vacation (oh alright then, week in a caravan at Bognor Regis) was taken from one of those Country Walking magazine’s cut outs that I do so enjoy (when I am not usually getting lost with them). So for those of you who would like to retrace our steps (yea right), it was taken from the June 2010 edition.

Anyway things didn’t start well when the (limited) free car parking at Amberley station didn’t have any spare places. So a parking diversion to a road called High Titten found us adding to the walk length. Still no problem and after retracing back to the station and then crossing the River Arun on a very narrow bridge, we made a gentle start walking on the top of a floodbank.

It wasn’t long however before we began climbing up towards the South Downs, and where Helen was the first one of us to pick up the sound of a Cuckoo. Thus having passed some old boy with parked bicycle admiring the view, we decided to do likewise and have our lunch. Helen expressed a preference for sitting on grass for this, whilst I preferred the dryer and firmer chalky bits (you pays your money and you takes your choice). Thus with the rolling landscape in front of us, she was then able to spot Arundel castle in the very far distance. Anyway my scotch egg and sausage roll went down nicely with the other crispy stuff.

Back on our way again and after a certain amount of confusion over how many bars constitute a six bar gate, we noticed some gliders being towed up by a propellor driven plane. I then subsequently made a pit stop behind a bush (which is not to be confused with me posing as a flower, or me just posing for a photograph in general), which was no doubt caused by the hazy view of the sea behind and to the left of us. So saying no more about the photography incident we found our way to a Tumulus, with a fantastic view to the far off North Downs, and gave us a vantage point that I had previously visited with IVC. Suddenly and out of nowhere a yellow prop driven plane buzzed over us (presumably on his way to pick up another glider). Yet if that wasn’t enough we then had some sort of feathery bird thing picking up on the theme, and also looking to buzz us (presumably it thought we were out to grab one of its chicks).

Undeterred we then began a descent from the Downs with some gorgeous views in front of us, until we made our way into Amberley village. There we found a lovely little tea shop, staffed by two rescue dogs (amongst others), and where I enjoyed a hot chocolate with marshmallows and slice of sponge cake (Helen had something similar, but slightly more sensible). Having finished that we carried on through the village admiring the chocolate box cottages, and quaint little church, before finding ourselves facing the walls of what is apparently a 900 year old castle (or hotel).

Crossing the railway line we were once again on top of the floodbank of the river Arun with views of the Downs where we had previously come down from. However wouldn’t you know it, someone had been letting cows loose in the countryside again, and as it their usual trick, they had to be hanging around the stile where we had no option but to go straight through them. Fortunately I was on hand to protect Helen should they give us any bother, which on this occasion they thought better of. From there it was through a mobile home site, past the station and back to High Titten and the car. A perfect day’s walking in perfect walking weather.

Walks since last blog entry:

1 x 7 miles – Osterley Park/Grand Union

Godalming (Circular) – (Surrey) – 08/05/11 – 10.5 Miles – IVC

2011-05-11T14:51:00.000-07:00

Having been toasted by the Sun all week on the Isle of Wight, today was a little more in line with what you might expect in May, namely moderate temperatures and slightly overcast. So with ten of the usual suspects making up our party, I wasted no time in making sure that everyone knew I had been away. Obviously I wasn’t the only one in IVC who has had the HF holiday experience, as more than one person wanted to know was I the youngest one there, and one particular female member (who admittedly has never been on one herself) said that HF is known to stand for Husband Finder. Anyway, whatever the faults of the HF experience the walks were first class, which became very apparent when compared to this below average excursion.

So suffice to say most of the first half was spent walking between enclosed nettly hedgerows, and along various side roads. There was a brief view of the Hogs Back before more roads and hedgerows, until we made it to our lunch stop at Compton: a 16th century alehouse known as the Withies Inn. I partook of the Cumberland sausage and mash, and a pint of cloudy cider. Suffice to say both were simple and rustic (as Gordon Ramsey would say) and were ideal for a walkers pub lunch. This was all enjoyed in the garden, where there were some impressive wooden tables. Not quite up to the Alice in Wonderland standard me and Helen encountered in that pub in Dorset last year, but interesting and original all the same.

Our second half began in fairly much the same way as the first, which included some walking through Loseley Park. However things improved considerably when we picked up the River Wey Navigation for the last three and a half miles of the walk. Here we encountered a smorgasboard of users including: joggers, cyclists, dog walkers, a group of woman doing some sort of charity walk for MacMillan, as well as river users paddling in assorted dinghys, and barges navigating the locks. We also came across the obligatory World War 2 pill box guarding the river from the Germans.

To round off this pleasant section we then had afternoon tea in Hectors Boathouse (café) by the river. I enjoyed some coffee and chocolate cake, and also found myself perplexed by the unisex cubicle toilets. However the staff were a tad on the strange side. Firstly we had some guy eating his pudding on a table directly in front of the counter so that one had to pay for ones order directly across and over him. Then the female of the establishment (I assume the proprietor) came round serving us a load of empty cups/mugs, who was then followed by her husband (assuming again here) who tried to serve both pieces of chocolate cake to one of our party after I had told him one slice was for me, and then got very sarcastic with another member of our party when she enquired about the whereabouts of her carrot cake. I have tended to notice with quite a few establishments on these walks, that they often see walking groups as a passing nuisance rather than customers, and are really only interested in serving their locals. Anyway that’s their problem and future bankruptcy.

So with that all done we had about a mile walk back to Godalming station and the train home. So overall two thirds of this walk was basically dullsville, however that was offset by the nice pub lunch, and the last third on the towpath of the River wey Navigation.

Freshwater (circular) via Yarmouth and the Needles – (Isle of Wight) – 06/05/11 – 12.3 Miles – HF Holidays

2011-05-10T08:35:00.000-07:00

For our final day on the Isle of Wight we would be doing a door to door walk from Freshwater House, with our hard walking group now up into double figures. Clearly some people were starting the holiday walks on an easy basis and working up to the final long one. Temperature wise this was also going to be the hottest day of the week (not that the others were chilly), with the strong winds on day one and two having disappeared.

So starting at Freshwater Bay we picked up the trail along the River Yar, heading towards Yarmouth. It wasn’t long however before we had come across yet another ‘fascinating’ church (All Saints – Freshwater) that everyone had to stop and explore (what is it with churches and walking groups ?). Having absolved our sins we carried on and it wasn’t long before we had made it into Yarmouth. There we sat on the seafront enjoying our elevenses, and watching the Whitelink ferries head back and forth across the Solent to Lymington Pier on the mainland.

As we continued on we all took some snaps of Tudor Hurst Castle across the water on the mainland. Actually this is quite a fortified area as we took a toilet stop at Fort Victoria (which is now a converted arcade), and as we carried on we passed on our side of the water: the Cliff End Battery and Fort Albert. Carrying on we actually got down onto the beach by Linstone Chine holiday
Park, and being the daredevil that I am I let some of the tide wash over my boots.

Our leader decided that we needed to climb up off the beach before having our lunch, on the approach to Alum Bay. However somewhere along this point, as we were passing along the road in Totland, we managed to acquire a small dog. Thus no matter how much we encouraged this small basset/beagle bitch (female dog, not an insult) we couldn’t get rid of it. When we settled on our lunch stop at Headon Warren it stayed with us, but not to scrounge anyones sandwiches. Unfortunately my mobile wasn’t on me, and I couldn’t call the number on its collar, and no one else seemed to see this as important saying: “it must do this all the time”. Anyway once we set off again, along with us it came again. In fact all the way down to Alum Bay and to the car park at The Needles. However with the majority of the group making a pit stop at the public toilets there, it finally decided to go its own way again.

We then climbed up from Alum Bay admiring all the multicoloured sands on the cliff edge there (see picture), before finally making our way to the viewing point at The Needles for the obligatory photographs. The viewpoint was all well and good but of more concern to me was that our leader had encouraged us to forego an ice cream earlier for one at this location, but which no one then wanted to go and get, given the descent down to the National Trust café. Also of interest along here was some Cold War bunkers and the remains of the test sites for the British Black Hawk rocket programme.

From there it was back on to the coastal path again on what is the other bit of the Tennyson Trail which we didn’t do the previous day, until we eventually made our way up to Tennysons Monument. This is apparently 2722 miles away from the North Pole. From there it was a nice gentle descent, passing a lot of young student types, until we made our way back to Freshwater Bay.

My verdict on HF Holidays based on this one, is that although they might seem initially expensive, they do work out as good value for money. The food is fantastic, you have all coaches provided for, and instead of trying to work out walks yourselves, you get the best of the area by guides who have honed these walks long before you got there. The only downside for me was that the forty plus guests were mainly elderly, and were not interested in doing long walks. Thus if it hadn’t been for one other guest on this holiday (my nurse friend) being prepared to do them every day, I would have been doing a lot of walking on my own, and that would not have helped socially either. This I was assured was particular to the HF Isle of Wight experience (which is a shame given how lovely it is), and would not be a problem in the Lake District. However whilst that is a potential problem for the lone traveller, it is easily resolved if you travel with a partner or friend.

Tennyson Trail – (Isle of Wight) – 05/05/11 – 10.6 Miles – HF Holidays

2011-05-09T09:01:00.000-07:00

The hard (?) walking group had picked up another member overnight, meaning we were now up to five (including our leader). This however was not the planned walk, which was slated to be around 13 miles, but rather one chosen by my original nurse friend, as her chest had been playing her up. Thus if I had held out for the 13 miler, then not only would she have gone for the medium walk but then so would the two others, meaning no long walk at all.

Now the first thing you need to know (which I haven’t mentioned before) is that poet laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson is very big on the Isle of Wight, given the fact that he spent the last years of his life at Freshwater. We would be beginning the trail at its official start at Carisbrooke Castle, but ending the day at Freshwater, whereas the trail continues on to The Needles (no worries as we would be doing that leg in the other direction the following day).

Now although we had seen Carisbrooke Castle in the distance as we were dropped off the coach, such was the haze that it was completely shrouded in the distance, as we made our way, after a steep climb, along Bowcombe Down. Eventually we picked our way through the trail as it wound its way through Brighstone Forest, periodically getting hassled by flies again, until our leader settled on a lunch stop in a field with a nice view below us. Unfortunately this field also belonged to an encroaching group of black bullocks who decided we shouldn’t be in it. No problem according to our leader however, as all we needed to do was move to the other side of a very small thicket that was dissecting the field. Well guess what, just as we didn’t have much problem stepping over it, than neither did the bullocks. At which point I decided lunch was going to be relocated over the gate and out of the field altogether, hastily followed by everyone else. As we then sat on the other side of the gate, the asbo bullocks stared us all out, inbetween trying to physically mount each other.

The second half of the walk found us clearing the edges of Brighstone forest before we eventually began to climb up Mottistone Down with the Sea far away on our left and some ancient burial mounds on our right. Here we came across a guy carrying his hang gliding gear up the hill, who enquired whether we were from the walking hotel (yes). As we sat in one of the mounds having our tea break he made one abortive attempt to get airborne, before packing all his gear up again.

We carried on towards Freshwater on what was now becoming the coastal path with both beautiful views of the bay and Freshwater house (far left in the picture) to guide us. Crossing both the golf course and eventually the military road, we made our way to the house, and the earliest finish of the week (around 1530).

Whale Chine to Shanklin Old Village – (Isle of Wight) – 04/05/11 – 11.4 Miles – HF Holidays

2011-05-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

For day two of the four our hard (long) walking group had picked up a new member, namely another nurse (retired) who was to stay with us for the rest of the week (obviously they are made of strong stuff in the NHS). Anyway our four strong group was the first to be dropped off by the coach at Whale Chine. Now if you don’t know what they are, Chines are probably best described as steep narrow ravines caused by coastal erosion (and there are a lot of them on the Isle of Wight).

Now it is perhaps worth mentioning at this juncture that every day on these HF holidays the walk leaders are alternated, so we found ourselves having to adapt to the slightly slower and more formal approach of this leader. It is probably also worth mentioning, that I found myself slightly irritated over all four days, by the constant stop and listen to another interesting fact approach, by all of them. That said I know people like that sort of thing, and it does allow the leaders to correctly time out their walks.

Anyway from our start at Whale Chine this coastal walk initially shadowed the Military road, before climbing up to the cliffs up around St Catherines point where we stopped to have a tea break, whilst looking down at the 19th century lighthouse. Now as coastal walks go, this wasn’t one of the better ones as basically we were constantly driven inland, and when we did see the Sea it was far below with a big land buffer between us. Also like the previous day I was having trouble with the wind, keeping my hat on, leaving my slap head a little too exposed to the Sun.

Eventually however we got considerably nearer to the cliff edge at Ventnor, in fact in my case a little too near, when I was allowed to nearly walk straight off it. Thus having been unsighted coming up a grass verge and looking at my feet with someone in front of me, I was faced with an immediate hard left or oblivian (such is how we ride our luck in life, and no thanks to the leader for that one). Anyway I survived as you have no doubt worked out, so descending down the coastal steps we ended up at Ventnor botanical gardens where we sat on the benches outside to have our lunch, and where both the easy and medium groups were already scoffing theirs.

Thus both of those groups set off in front of us (with the easy group on a completely different route). However by the time we had passed along the undercliff at Ventnor we had caught and passed the medium group, all the while keeping one eye on the sea spray coming up from our left. Coming a little inland and up an ascent we then explored the church of St. Boniface which is a Norman church dating back to AD 1070. By this time the medium group had caught us back up again, but once we left we the church we showed them a clean pair of heels.

We then climbed across the landslip, which was supposed to be beloved of the Victorians for its microclimate and vegetation. Apparently HF holidays have funded the steps and railings placed here to assist walkers (see plaque in the picture – if you can make it out). We then passed an old ARP Wardens hut in the drive of someones house, where the owner appeared out of nowhere to inform us that Mr Hodges was no longer resident, but rather it had now been taken over by bats. Thus passing Shanklin Chine we then caught and passed the easy group before arriving at Shanklin old village, and an excellent afternoon tea stop. Following which I diverted in my tracks from boarding the coach to go and purchase some fudge and rock for my special squeeze whom I left at home.

Godshill (Circular) – (Isle of Wight) – 03/05/11 – 10.9 Miles – HF Holidays

2011-05-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

So day one of my four day Isle of Wight walking caper, began with the coach picking up all of the differing walking groups from Freshwater house to take us on to our start/finish point at Godshill. Now the format of these HF Holidays is that the night before a brief description is given of what will constitute the easy, medium and hard walks, before you are invited to sign up for one of them. Thus for a walk to go ahead, it requires a minimum of two people to go with the leader. However given the advanced ages of the forty strong people making up this holiday, it began to look as if I would be the only one signing up for the hard walk (not hard at all in actuality, but just a walk in double figures). Anyway thanks to one other member, my new found nurse friend for the week, we had the minimum number necessary and the walk went ahead (the two of us forming the core of the hard walks for this holiday).

Having reached Godshill, both us and the medium group initially explored the Church of the Lilly Cross, which had been a feature of the previous night’s slide show. Apparently God had to lug all these stones up the hill to build this church and so I think you can now make the connection. So splitting from the medium group we made our way through a wooded area full of bluebells before catching up with the easy group at a stile among the downs there. Being somewhat hardcore though we left them in our wake, and made our way up to the Worsley Obelisk. By now we were feeling the full force of the wind, which forced me to take my hat off, getting somewhat toasted in the process. However when we got to a point where we could drop down from the wind, we then found ourselves being plagued by a mass of rather large flies.

Anyway undeterred we carried onwards to the outskirts of Ventnor in the process of which we picked up the Stenbury trail. Following another descent we arrived at Ventnor Radar station where we had lunch leaning up against the smiling pillar box (see picture), where we could see the Worsley Obelisk in the distance. In the course of our munchies we also found ourselves being caught and passed by the medium group (who were on a slightly different route to us). Now I have to say the choice of sarnies, baqueetes and all round goodies available for your lunch on these HF Holidays has to be seen to be believed, and one has to hold ones self back from being the proverbial kid in the sweet shop when making up your lunch in the morning.

Once moving again we initially began to ascend Wroxhall Down, before looping over Luccombe Down and then St. Martins Down. Our leader was having a slight tizzy over her instructions at this point, but with the help of my GPS our whereabouts was soon confirmed. So passing the impressive Cooks Castle (ha - see the picture) we then found ourselves descending through an enclosed nettle trail (good luck with this for anyone on next week’s walking festival) before getting out at the bottom on to the road. Presently we passed Appuldurcombe house (pictured) whose park was laid out by Capability Brown apparently, before then moving on to a rare breeds farm featuring Lama’s and woolly pigs among other creatures. Then it was back into Godshill for afternoon tea, a rendevous with the other two groups and the coach home. So not a bad start to the week, although the numbers for this initial long walk had been very low.

Walks since last blog entry:

1 x 15.5 miles – Richmond Stn to Park (outer/inner loops) & back
1 x 7 miles – Grand Union/Osterley Park
1 x 11 miles – Wimbledon Park to Osterley

Billericay to Brentwood – (Essex) – 10/04/11 – 10.2 Miles – IVC

2011-04-10T13:15:00.000-07:00

So yet another glorious Summer’s day, and it’s still only 10th April. Perhaps the weather gods are serving up some recompense for that awful snow and ice we had a few months ago.

Anyway there was 12 of us for this one with our leader winding everyone up at the start by suggesting perhaps we could turn this into a 16 mile walk to Chelmsford. The reply en-masse was something along the lines of: perhaps we could stick with the walk you advertised in the program instead. So with that resolved we set off through the boring suburban streets of Billericay, but in due course got out into open countryside. Here we found ourselves in green and gorgeous rolling hills, all enhanced by the glorious sunshine. Below us at one point was a small aerodrome where a combination of cessna’s and hang gliders rose up to meet us, and all around us there were fields of yellow oil seed rape. There was also a shimmering river of cars far away in the distance, which apparently is where Ford test and/or store them (sorry can’t be more exact on that location, but a free packet of Fishermans Friends awaits anyone who can enlighten me). This of course is half the problem with walks led by other people, namely they jealously guard their map, whilst you wonder in vain where you actually are. Although full credit to this leader who is a fountain of knowledge on just about everything around you, if you can hear what he is actually saying.

Now we were told to bring some food provisions with us on the basis that we wouldn’t be at the pub till around three, at which point they would have stopped serving food. In the event however we arrived at the Green Man in Herongate at around one thirty. Only three of us went inside to eat whilst the others decided to have their sandwiches out on the grass in the blazing sunshine. After the barmaid had checked out my Hamsters t-shirt, I ordered the fish and chips and a pint of Strongbow. Periodically as we were eating one couldn’t help noting a growing collection of biker types at the other end of the bar. When we went outside again, it was apparent that there was a lot more of them outside having some sort of Harley Davidson convention, mixed in with a barbecue in the pub garden (good job then that a certain person I know wasn’t along for this walk, otherwise she have run off with one of them).

The second half of the walk was almost exclusively within the grounds of Thorndon Country Park. This in the main was mainly wooded, which gave a welcome respite from the main heat of the day. In due course we came to Thorndon Hall which caused me to double take for a moment given its close resemblance to Osterley House (this country seat apparently is split into private residential flats). A little further on and we decided we had earned a tea stop at the park’s visitor centre. Well not me actually, as I decided an ice cream was more in order.

So after eventually leaving the park we were back in boring suburbia again, only Brentwood this time, for about a mile before making the station two minutes before the Liverpool Street train pulled in. So overall a good walk, except for the suburban bits that bookended it. I made sure I had my hat on all day, but noticed when I got home I had a very red neck and nose.

Hartingdon (Circular) – (White Peak District) – (Derbyshire) – 02/04/11 – 5.8 Miles – Helen (Luther & Molly)

2011-04-05T02:02:00.000-07:00

Having parked at Hartingdon in the car park at a shop where Helen had just bought some pots, we were stopped in our tracks by a young woman who wanted to know how far we were walking. This threw both of us a bit, mainly because the tone of her voice suggested that she wanted to come along with us. Seconds later her boyfriend came out of the public convenience there and they disappeared in another direction - strange !

Anyway off we set across some lovely Spring rolling fields, before eventually picking up a small stream which the dogs could dip in and out of. Despite scoffing my cob in the car park, I was still anxious for some liquid refreshment, and so we stopped not long after for coffee and cake. Well this was where the true value of my evil employer’s freebie thermos coffee mug was revealed (i.e. the coffee was nearly stone cold). The good thing though, is now that I know they were merely dumping a load of rubbish on their insubordinates that they couldn’t get rid of elsewhere, the natural order in the universe has been restored, and I feel much more secure in my job again.

Being a bit of a thicko, I always thought Dale was shorthand for rolling fields. However Helen explained that it is another name for a valley, and thus our walk was somewhat circular in nature around said valleys. Or for those of you who are itching to rush to your maps right now, we circumnavigated: Beresford Dale, Wolfscote Dale, and Biggin (hope I’ve spelt that right) Dale.

There was quite a few people about in this picturesque setting, (unsurprising given it was a Saturday), as well as a fair smattering of dogs. One couple who always seemed just a little bit ahead of us, also had a black Labrador called Cooper (probably called Mini Cooper when he was a puppy), whom Molly and Luther were busy swapping doggie notes with. Luther for his part was having a good day, after Helen had fretted on whether he would be up for another walk following his previous day’s exertions. Molly was her usual manic self. Having previously been all pally with Cooper, when we eventually got round them, and then ourselves stopped for some refreshments, she decided to start growling at him when they caught us up again.

Eventually we left the Dales and walked alongside (on our way back to Hartingdon) a number of enclosed fields full of sheep, and the first of this year’s new lambs (see I said it was Spring). One brief wrong left turn, and then some slight confusion over which town the church with the green top belonged to, and that was the last we saw of Cooper.

We then found ourselves being helped through a gate by a couple, literally moments before two quad bikes could have mowed us all down. Thus we carried on behind them, with behind being the approprite word here. Basically because the female half of said couple, had probably the fattest behind either of us had ever seen on another walker. One of us found ourselves appalled by what we were seeing, whilst the other one of us found ourselves hypnotised (but I am not saying which one of us was which). Eventually the spell was broken, when we broke off to allow Luther a drink from a trough that seemed to be just lying about.

Back in Hartingdon town centre we found ourselves negotiating a mobile female hen party, that was spilling out of a local pub. Skirting round them I headed for the local duck pond with Luther and Molly, whilst Helen diverted off to get us an ice cream. There we stared at a a shop that sells cheese, for which Hartingdon is famous for – apparently.

Beeley (Circular) – (White Peak District) – (Derbyshire) – 01/04/11 – 7.4 Miles – Helen (Luther & Molly)

2011-04-04T02:57:00.000-07:00

Recently my evil employer, was kind enough to give us all one of those thermos type coffee mugs (an act so out of character, that I am expecting my P45 any day now). So anyway I decided that this was an occasion as good as any other to try it out. However having parked at Beeley I decided I couldn’t road test it long enough to even get out of the car, so drunk all my coffee there and then (all washed down with a slice of coffee and walnut cake that Helen had baked earlier).

Now this was probably Helens third choice walk, having rejected an edge one due to the wind, and another possibly as it was a bit far for Luther. So yes there was a bit of a chill in the air still and nowhere near the 19 degrees forecast (even if I did eventually take my top layer off).

Anyway we started off along Gibbet Moor on what would be a circular to take us back to Beeley. However due to the signs warning that there was nesting birds, for much of this section the dogs had to stay on the lead. Eventually we found ourselves walking along a ridged section, that ran parallel to the road all the while being looked down upon by a couple of goats (no problem as I am used to being looked down upon), before eventually making higher ground and finding a nice rock ledge to look out from (it’s alright the camera exaggerates ones weight).

From there we made our way into Chatsworth Park, eventually ending up at the Stand Tower, where we sat on one of the benches (overlooking Chatsworth House) and compared notes with two elderly chaps who were on a day out from Sheffield. To my surprise Helen still had a few provisions on her, but unlike the two elderly chaps I wasn’t sharing what I was given with either Luther and Molly. They on the other hand wanted to know did the dogs eat bread, which is a definite yes (especially in Luthers case, given that he also eats sheep droppings). From there we made our way up towards a pretty little waterfall, which is part of what feeds the whole fountain configuration in the gardens of Chatsworth.

Somewhat further on Luther had some problems with some side steps along a steep wall (after earlier doing a smaller version with no problem). Having eventually got to the summit he decided he definitely wasn’t using the same method going down, and basically leapt from the top (ouch). Surprisingly the younger Molly was also having problems with this wall, having decided to cut out the steps altogether and was instead trying to go over it in one leap. Some several attemps later she did manage it, but Helen decided it was prudent to let them both calm down a bit before we moved on again. You can’t keep a good dog down for long though and this picture was taken of Molly not long after, where if you look closely enough you will see that she is so manic, one of her eyes is yellow and the other green.

Anyway from there we made our way below a far off ridge, before eventually retracing our steps along Gibbet Moor back to Beeley. Our dogs were back on the lead for the nesting birds, but not so for everyone coming the other way. One couple’s dog came over to be friendly, but kept getting tangled between Luthers lead and legs, following which the male part of the twosome gave me the dirtiest of looks. However not being a full time doggie person like Helen, I probably misinterpreted that, so thought it best not to smack him in the mouth.

Walks since last blog entry:

1 x 9.25 miles – Putney to Osterley
2 x 7 miles – Osterley Park/Grand Union
1 x 7 miles – Grand Union/Osterley Park

Dudswell (Circular) – (Hertfordshire) – 13/03/11 – 8.5 Miles – IVC

2011-03-13T12:34:00.001-07:00

Why do I bother ordering cappacinos at mainline railway stations, they always taste full of detergent, and cost a bomb. So black marks for Delice de France in Euston station, who charged me £4.60 for that disgusting swill, along with a pain au chocolate.

So why do you bother to buy them at all I hear you say ? Well I had an hour to kill at Euston, having got their extra early (leading the IVC troops myself on this walk you see). Anyway matters were not being helped by London Midland train drivers who decided they don’t really want to work on Sundays. All of which meant that it was a revised hourly service to Tring and back. Not a problem going out though, as the train I designated every one to be on was still going at the correct time. Anyway by the time we all spilled off the twelve carriages at Tring station, we had a nice little group of ten (self included) which were most of the usual regulars.

The weather was certainly gloomy for this one and it did threaten to chuck it down throughout the day, yet thankfully it never did. Anyway this was a repeat of the walk I recceed out in January, which started (and eventually finished) on the Grand Union Canal. Coming quickly off of that we proceeded through two farms, before entering a wooded area and eventually turning off that to walk alongside a golf course, from which the top of the Bridgewater Monument could be viewed some distance away at the top of the tree line. Following this route as it curved along it eventually brought us to a road at the outskirts of Aldbury.

Now previously when I had done this walk I had lunch at the Greyhound at Aldbury, where the landlandy had told me to ring the day before our walk to book a table. Having done that yesterday however, it turned out that there was no room at the inn. The other pub in town, the Valiant Trooper had told me a similar tale on the phone, insisting we could only book a table (yesterday for today) if I was able to give her exact numbers dining. My point therefore, is that Aldbury does not seem a very walker friendly town. Their loss I’m sure as we carried on further without diverting into Aldbury and spending our money to prop up their local, second home in the country, economy.

Anyway I had put in my flyer for this walk that there was a steep and muddy climb after lunch (along the edge of Moneybury Hill). However given the change of lunch stop the climb came before hand, which to my relief every one managed (albeit in some cases much slower than others) To be fair though there wasn’t the slippy mud I had in January which turned it into more of a scramble. So picking up the path again we diverted up towards the Bridgewater Monument on the National Trust’s Ashridge estate, and our revised lunch stop at the café by the visitor centre.

Now this actually turned out to be perfect for our needs. It was also very popular too as we managed to just grab the last of the outdoor tables for those of us using the café. The usual sandwich eaters meanwhile were able to find plenty of benches on the grounds for which to have a good stare at the monument. That wasn’t the only thing to stare at either, as given the amount and variety of dogs there was running around both the tables and the grass, it was easy to think you were at Crufts. Anyway I had a brown bap, with sausage, bacon and egg filling, as well as later having a mug of coffee and a clotted cream scone (all at usual National Trust prices). Also (and much to my relief as leader) the toilet facilities were all available and adequate, given one report from the internet which suggested they were rubbish and usually closed (this would have spelt disaster for the walk if that had actually been true).

Once back walking again we were on a downhill trajectory passing through Aldbury common, dissecting the Chiltern Way before skirting around the edge of Northchurch common. During the course of which we were joined by a dead ringer for the Andrex Puppy, who kept running away from his female owner, to follow us instead (unfortunately we had no IVC membership forms with us). Eventually we made it to Dudswell, where we able to pick up the Grand Union Canal again, and a two mile walk along there back to bridge 135, where we initially joined it, only this time to come off it to Tring Station. Arriving there at 1505, this meant a forty minute wait for the 1545 back to Euston (whereas in normal circumstances there would have been two trains an hour on Sunday). However the sun had started to peep out and everyone took the wait in good spirits.

Overall then a very good walk, which could have gone badly wrong due to a lot of potential banana skins. My GPS came in at 8.5 miles, which was exactly what I had said in my flyer it was going to be.

Somersall / Stubbin Court (Circular) – (Derbyshire) – 05/03/11 – 7.75 Miles – Helen (Luther & Molly)

2011-03-07T10:56:00.000-08:00

This being a walk that Helen had receed out on a previous occasion. Unfortunately on this occasion the weather was cold and wet, and it mainly consisted of trudging though mud. Anyway starting at Somersall, we worked our way through Walton Wood, past Stubbin Court, up to Stone Edge, and across Stanage golf course.

Actually up to that point the walk itself wasn’t too bad, save for the fact that Luther was becoming more and more distressed every time we came to a stile. Thus every time we tried to help him over, either his collar would come off in ones hand, or he would do his best to wriggle and whine away. So yes it is difficult to plan elderly dog walks in these parts, when you don’t know which stiles are dog friendly in advance.

Anyway the walk went downhill (literally) after we were sent packing trying to walk along a lane by the golf course, where apparently we shouldn’t have been. Thus our diversion consisted of a long and muddy descent through a wood, before we decided that we shouldn’t be there either, necessitating a long climb all the way back up it again. I’ve noticed with walking groups, that when a wrong route is taken, and ones steps have to be retraced, instead of everyone saying: ‘hip hooray, now we get an opportunity to do even more walking’, instead everyone gets really grumpy with the leader. Sadly I am of the same ilk.

Anyway from there on in it was a dreary two mile trudge along the side of roads, until we got home for coffee. Not the most enjoyable walk I have ever done by a long shot. Nevertheless it was still worth getting out the door for, and I certainly needed the exercise, being a bit light on walking activity over the last few weeks.

Walks since last blog entry:

1 x 2 miles – Stanton Moor (Helen – Luther & Molly)
2 x 4 miles – Osterley Park

Newport (Circular) – (Essex) – 13/02/11 – 9 Miles – IVC

2011-02-14T06:38:00.000-08:00

One regular reader of this blog at least will know that I have taken on a new fitness fad known as kettlebells (or specifically Kettleworx). This consisting of 3 x half hour workouts per week. So I am now four weeks into the initial six week program (although week one did get expanded into two weeks), and the results thus far are: I appear to freewheel more on my bicycle these days then actually turning the pedals, my knees both now have permanent toothache, and my girth has expanded somewhat. However on that last bit, I am sure that is because as my stomach muscles get bigger and stronger, it leaves the fat nowhere to go, and thus pushes it outwards (so that’s a good thing right ?).

Anywhere the relevance to this particular outing is that my legs felt shattered before I had even got as far as the tube station. Fortunately by the time I got to London Liverpool Street, I had forgotten all about their aches and pains, after I bumped into one of the walking regulars at Starbucks. Mindful of this expanding girth however, I decided to forego my usual cappacino and chocolate pastry twist, and settled instead for a hot chocolate with a shot of caramel (Mmm found my flavour) with fresh cream topping, and a raspberry and coconut slice.

Now this walk was led by a husband and wife couple, who took us on a circular tour of Widdington, skirting round the Essex end of the Chilterns. Given the squelchy conditions I made sure I had my gators on before starting, and before long the cold driving mizzle had me putting my waterproof trousers over them as well (and of course taking them off again about ten minutes later). So yes it wasn’t a great day weatherwise, although the forecasters had said it was supposed to be a lot worse.

Presently we arrived at our lunch stop in Widdington which was the Fleur de Lys (village pub ?). Suffice to say with a name like that muddy boots were definitely not welcome inside, and apparently the cold wasn’t either as we were told to keep the door shut as we were taking them off. Anyway we had our own table booked, where apart from drinks they would take our order at the table (so that meant a tip of course). The girl did try to charge me £4.70 for a pint of cider, however once I pointed that out, she corrected it to a far more reasonable £3.70 ! Anyway the food was quite impressive, with myself partaking of the mixed grilled fish, with creamy mash sauce, baby potatoes and assorted veg, coming in at a more reasonable (in comparison to the cider) £13. However one glance at the menu prices again, and even the regular pudding scoffers decided to give the deserts a miss this time round.

Now it never ceases to amaze me with walking groups, that those people who would never set foot inside a church to go to mass, cannot pass one on a walk without having to go inside and explore it. Well fair enough we all had a look round the first one we came across in the afternoon, but a mile further on and some of the group stopped to explore another one as well. If that wasn’t sufficient by the time we reached Newport, a third church had been passed necessitating yet aother breakaway group.

Anyway long before that I had made myself unpopular with the two leaders, after complaining that they were putting my personal safety at risk. It all started for me when we passed a sign warning of ‘falling branches’, only to shortly afterwards pass another sign warning of an ‘electric fence’. Well if that wasn’t bad enough we then had to cross a field used by an organisation called ‘Battlefield East Anglia’, who used that space for paintballing contests (alright there wasn’t any taking place on this occasion, but that’s not the point). Needless to say both leaders looked at me as if I had a hole in my head (perhaps I did from an unexploded paintball). Thus when I later passed another sign saying ‘danger of death’ next to an electricity sub-station, I decided I would take all future complaints direct to our president. I also made a mental note that on all future walks I lead, participants will have to wear hi visibility jackets.

Presently we arrived in the small village of Newport where the male part of our leadership team pointed out the various olde coaching inns, jail and toll bridge, while his better half went off to put the kettle on. Thus our walk ended back at our leaders house where we able to partake of: tea, coffee, scones with jam, scones with cheese, fruit cake, coffee and walnut cake, or any combination of that little lot (nobody better expect similar treatment on any walk I lead). Anyway that was all very pleasant, although some of us were left with a social etiqutte dilemma of scooting off for the 1713 train (and thus leaving a little too quickly) or staying on for the 1813 train (and thus outstaying ones welcome). As such four of us scoffed what we could and legged it, whilst the other five stayed on for second and third helpings.

Anyway my GPS just about crept up to the nine mile mark, on a walk that really needed better weather to make the most of the mainly flat course. So that’s it for this edition of my food and beverage blog, with more to come next time.

Walks since last blog entry:

1 x 5.75 mile – Osterley Park – Helen
1 x 7 mile – Osterley Park/Grand Union.
1 x 5.5 mile – Osterley Park.

Dudswell (Circular) – (Hertfordshire) – 26/01/11 – 9.25 Miles – Myself

2011-01-26T12:56:00.000-08:00

Today’s mission was to come up with a new walk to lead IVC on in March, as my other options have been screwed by rail engineering works, or by stations that are not open on a Sunday. So lets hope cometh the hour London Midland don’t let me down for this one. Anyway ever inventive as I am, this route came straight from the September 2009 pages of Country Walking magazine. So as is the norm by now I was armed with a little ‘cut out’ of written instructions/map (remembering this time to write the OS grid references on it) and of course my GPS.

Once off the train at Tring, I was met with a sheet of drizzle, necessitating me putting my waterproof overtrousers on. Just as well in this case, as I noticed when I got up this morning that my favourite pair of walking trousers, have now split in an area where things can definitely spill out (hopefully someone in one of the Derbyshire sewing circles can help me out with this).

Anyway having turned left out of the station, I was able to pick up the Grand Union Canal. Not for long however as I was soon leaving that, in the process of which I passed a group of ramblers hanging around there, whilst I made my way over a railway bridge and through two farms. Once across the road I joined a muddy bridleway quagmire and squelched my way along that. Eventually I made a hard left with a golf course on my left. However given the misty mizzle around I could not see the Bridgewater Monument ahead that the instructions said I should have been able to (no problem as I got to see it later).

Following the muddy way to its logical conclusion I eventually reached a lane, where I turned right (against the continuation of the route) to find the Greyhound Inn in Aldbury for lunch. Given the state of my boots, I didn’t wait to be asked, and left them in the entrance (the mud splattered waterproofs were also discreetly filed in my rucksack). Now the gammon steak, eggs, chips, peas and cider, were just what one would want on a day like this, and they also had a nice fire going. However its suitability for a Sunday walking lunch spot, was somewhat tempered when the landlady told me that they liked to do two sittings on a Sunday (12.30 and 14.30), and that we would have to book a table before the day, and phone to confirm actual numbers on the day. Well excuse me but that all sounded a little bit involved, so once I had finished up there I tried to find the other pub in the village to see what they do on a Sunday, but unfortunately couldn’t.

Back on the route and skirting diagonally across a field with some ponies, I was then faced with a monstrous and muddy climb. Thus I was hanging onto bits of branchs and the like to stop me slipping and then rolling all the way back down it again. However once that was conquered I was able to roll on through the wood before taking the suggested diversion off to see the Bridgewater Monument (erected in 1832 to the Duke of Bridgewater). This area all being part of the National Trust’s Ashridge estate. What really caught my eye however was the National Trust café opposite, who confirmed to me that they were open Sundays, and thus could provide our group with an excellent alternative lunch stop ? So pleased was I with myself at this point, that I stupidly forgot to check to see whether there were actually toilet facilities there, which are of course a lunch stop essential.

I continued on the main track downhill, taking the relevant turns suggested on the marker posts, passing through Aldbury Common, and across the Chiltern Way. Eventually I came to grief at the entrance to Norcott Hall farm. Here the instructions stopped making sense, and I didn’t fancy doing a recce in a field with two very skittish ponies. However because I was so near to where I was meant to be, the GPS wasn’t any help for me either. After wasting a fair amount of time cursing these route cut outs, I retraced my steps to one of the earlier marker posts (oh they meant follow the other blue arrow on it then), and correctly came out of the wood with Northchurch Common on my left.

I made a quick skirt back into the wood again before coming out onto a lane that I followed all the way down past Norcott Hall, over the main railway line, before eventually picking up the Grand Union Canal again. Now I certainly knew I was a long way from my bit in Osterley when the sign said ‘Braunston 58 miles’. Anyway I continued along this for about two miles, briefly intoxicated by the smell of real coal smoke from one of the barges, and briefly made nervous by one of the owners walking his status dog in the path ahead of me. Other than that however the canal was deserted. Eventually I reached road bridge 135, which was my point to come off the canal, and head for Tring station. Just as well as by this time it was getting seriously gloomy for 1540 in the afternoon.

So overall a good day, if just a tad wet, muddy, dark and miserable. The cut out said the walk was supposed to be 7.75 miles, however the GPS came in at 9.25. That sounded more like it, given the amount of times I had to retrace my steps when I took the wrong path, plus the diversions into Albury and up to the Bridgewater Monument. Anyway a good days work, with this walk in the bank to be withdrawn at a future date.

Walks since last blog entry:

1 x 4 mile – Osterley Park.

Oxted (Loop) – (Surrey) – 16/01/11 – 9 Miles – IVC

2011-01-16T11:38:00.000-08:00

What with one thing and another, it has been some three months since I have had the opportunity of walking with IVC. Well actually that’s not strictly true as there were a couple of opportunities in December, but they were put paid to by the snow and ice.

Anyway things got off to a flyer at Victoria station, when (unlike last time I did this walk) the clerk had actually heard of Oxted, and didn’t try to insist that I buy a ticket for Oxford instead. So with the time I saved not arguing there I was able to get stuck into some pre-walk refreshments. I am eager this year to try and break out of this habit/rut of always having a cappacino and chocolate twist before boarding trains in London, so this morning I opted for a hot chocolate and jam doughnut instead. Very nice too although given the fact that the doughnut cost £1.15 (which is about how much four cost from Greggs) it placed just a slight cloud over my munchings.

So with about ten of the usual suspects assembling at Oxted station we set off on what was in the main the Greensand way. At times there was a little too much skirting past civilisation for my liking, although away from that there was also opportunities to see if the gloopy mud sections could actually suck ones boots straight off ones feet. Stupidly I had actually believed the weathermen when they said it would be about 12 degrees, however the wind chill eventually forced me to put another layer on.

So finally some five and a bit miles in, we arrived at the Hare and Hounds in Godstone for lunch. Unfortunately given the state of our boots, there was no way we could bluff our way in without taking them off first and leaving them outside. In the course of which a bottle of coke that was in a side pocket of my bag, fell out and rolled under some guys Saab (and sadly that was the last I saw of that). Undeterred I ordered a pint of Strongbow and the Gammon, Egg and chips. The price was on the inside mark of a tenner, so was reasonable enough in that respect, although (chips aside) I have tasted better.

Having left the pub I suddenly found myself being asphyxiated by someones car exhaust, putting me in a brief coughing fit. Being ever helpful our leader of all leaders offered me a cough sweet, which turned out to be an appalling sticky thing that was near impossible to get out of its wrapper. With my hands now having the adhesive properties of some type of stick insect, I put it on my mouth only for the leader of all leaders to then tell me he had had the sweet for some time. Well thanks awfully.

Anyway the second half continued pretty much in the same way as the first, glooping along the Greensand Way, until the loop ended and we then retraced our steps back to Oxted station, with my GPS confirming we had convered 9.03 miles. Unusually for us we only had something like a five minute wait for the hourly train back to Victoria, where I was able to round the day off with a family pack of Revels from WH Smith. (incidentally sorry about the lack of decent photos, as most of the time I forgot I was carrying the camera, although in fairness to me, there was a distinct lack of big country panoramas to snap away at)

Walks since last blog entry:

1 x 2 mile – Linacre Reservoir – Helen (Luther & Molly)
1 x 7 mile – Osterley Park/Grand Union.
1 x 6.5 mile – Osterley Park.

Birchen Edge (Circular) – (White Peak District) – (Derbyshire) – 08/01/11 – 6.3 Miles – Helen (Luther & Molly)

2011-01-11T08:05:00.001-08:00

With the previous day's snow having melted things were guaranteed to be muddy and wet underfoot, for this proposed 4.5 miles walk from May 2009 Country Walking magazine. It was also biting cold, although it did warm up slightly as the day went on. So parking at the Robin Hood Inn, we climbed up on a stepped path, only for me to notice that I hadn't written the OS grid numbers on my cut out map/instructions. At the time I hoped that it wouldn't matter, in the event however it did as without them I couldn't get much sense out of my GPS when we eventually needed it.

Anyway we continued on and soon found ourselves up on Birchen Edge facing Nelson's monument and three ships (pictured). After the usual round of posing for the camera and passing the trig point, we then continued on a very boggy descent which proved that my (back up) conservation boots (that have done many a good walk) are no longer waterproof. Luther and Molly didn't seem to be having any problems with their footwear, although like me Helen was having water seep into her boots as well. Finally we reached a road junction, where we made a brief climb alongside the traffic before picking up some open moorland. There we had the shortest of tea stops, following which we headed towards Wellingtons Monument, which I recognised from a previous walk we had done, all the while keeping out of the way of the nearby highland cattle and their long horns.

After this unfortunately we started to go wrong with the ambigous instructions. We were instructed to turn left to pick up a path between a wall and trees, by an old sign. Well there was a sign of sorts and certainly trees and a wall, but some OS reference points on my map may have been useful here. Thus if we were still on the right path, we were far to distracted by some curious pigs to stay on it. So a long descent later we eventually sussed we had gone wrong. Helen eventually got our bearings using her OS map, and after a short walk up the A621, we were able to pick up the route again by some cottages.

Here however things went more astray with the instructions, with fences on the other side than stated, far more than two gaps in the wall which we were supposed to head through, and no gate to aim for. However skirting past the end of Gardoms Edge we tried to make a descent (which we assumed was the correct one) to get us onto the A619. However once at the bottom we couldn't find any unlocked gate or stile to get us (and more importantly the dogs) back onto the road. This meant a very steep and boggy ascent all the way back up to the top of Gardoms edge, to find the correct path back to the car.

So overall a nice walk, if we knew where we were going. However the instructions were at times ambigous and at other times plain incorrect, which spoiled it somewhat for me. Grid references on the cut out (my mistake) should have kept us out of difficulties with my GPS, but lacking these we ended up walking 6.3 miles instead of the stated 4.5.

The Best Walk Awards - 2010

2010-12-28T08:04:00.000-08:00

For the second year running I hand out awards (of the purely ceremonial kind) to my favourite walks of the year, in three categories.

BEST WALK WITH IVC

Although there wasn’t any real stand out candidates in this category, my choice is one from back in sunny August (remember the Sun), which was: Chesham to Wendover – (Buckinghamshire) – 22/08/10 – 10.2 Miles – IVC
This was a scenic walk done at a good pace, with a very challenging descent to finish.

BEST WALK ON MY OWN

Staying in August again, there is a clear winner here with Chequers / Coombe Hill (Circulars) – (Buckinghamshire) – 05/08/10 – 10 Miles – Myself
This being a walk where I felt a real sense of achievement, having completed the set walk which me and Helen had initially failed to do back in June. Mind you my newly purchased GPS had rather a lot to do with that.

BEST WALK WITH HELEN

So many honourable mentions here including: My Leith Hill walk in February, our Parwich Circular adventure back in March, and our walk over The Roaches in July. In fact the more I look, pretty much every walk I have done with Helen has been memorable for one reason or another. Therefore I better not turn this into a long list of runners up, but instead I will go straight to the winner which is: Lulworth Cove (Circular) – (Dorset) – 12/07/10 – 10 Miles – Helen (Luther and Molly)
A perfect walk on our holiday’s and you should all know by now, how much I love coastal walks.

Other Highlights: Purchasing my GPS (and learning to use it of course), the potential of which I have only just scratched the surface of.

Other Lowlights: The Snow, and particularly the Ice, that has bookended 2010 and which has forced me to miss out on many walking opportunities.

Walks since last blog entry:

1 x 7 mile – Osterley Park/Grand Union.
1 x 7 mile – Grand Union/Osterley Park.

2 x 6.5 mile (run)/walks – Grand Union/Osterley Park.

1 x 7.75 mile walk – Osterley Park/Grand Union (Helen).
1 x 2 mile – Osterley Park (Frozen ice)

Monsal Head to Litton Mill (out and back) – (White Peak District) –(Derbyshire) – 12/11/10 – 5 Miles – Helen (Luther & Molly)

2010-11-15T12:51:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, Lab dogs Luther & Molly have not made any appearance on this blog (save for an inconsequential footnote) since late July. In that time however they appear to have picked up a little bit of a following, so if any of their fans are wondering whether it is worth reading on, I won’t spoil the plot too much, other than to say that on this occasion both of them nearly got drowned.

Anyway having decided it was potentially too windy to do the edge walk she was planning, Helen decided we would do something from Monsal Head. However given that Luther does not seem quite as agile these days, we decided to restrict it to around the 5 mile mark. So being ever helpful I managed to come up with one of my ‘Country Walking cut out routes’ for said vicinity, and thus we decided to go with that set one, rather than make up our own route (in the event the exact opposite, was how it actually turned out).

So starting at Monsal Head itself, and overlooking the viaduct, we descended down the stone steps until we had picked up the Monsal Trail. As we ambled along we passed on our left the former platform of the disused Monsal Railway Station. A little further on and we found ourselves looking down on our right at Cressbrook Mill, which according to Helen is being converted into luxury flats.

As there was no visible livestock around or large groups of walkers (in fact we were the only ones) both dogs were happily running around off the lead. So as we descended some stone steps our route continued by crossing a bridge over a very fast running weir cum waterfall. Thus before we knew it, bonkers Molly had already lept into the water, and was basically about 6ft away from the edge of the waterfall. Well lets put it like this, if she had gone over it, she would probably have been injured against the rocks, drowned and swept away, and neither of us could have saved her (I guess those ‘keep dogs on a lead’ signs weren’t just for the livestock’s benefit then). Anyway she was smart enough to immediately sense the danger and leapt straight back out of the water before anything happened.

So having got ourselves over that one, and crossed the weir bridge, we couldn’t help noticing that our supposed (Concession) path along the limestone walls of Millers Dale, was basically flooded (see picture). So not being all that keen on a spot of indeterminate wading in terms of both length and depth, we stood about for a bit looking at maps and scratching our heads. Meanwhile Luther, no doubt bored with this, decided to leap down onto what he thought was a pile of leaves, but was in fact an old culvert. Helen who saw this said his head disappeared under the smelly water. Now Luther is a bit of a one to panic (bit like me really) so when he found he couldn’t get out, he was both paddling and whimpering about in the water. Having ignored Helen, he just about got close enough for me to grab his collar and thus yank him out. However like most dogs, a couple of minutes later he had forgotten it had even happened.

So giving up on the suggested path for now, we ascended up the steps again, and followed the course of the river, with the intention of picking up the the route again at Litton Mill. No bad thing either, as the views were far more spectacular than anything we would have got at river level. We found a nice stony spot to have our packed lunch, all the while wondering what was going on with the vehicle in the disused/closed tunnel of the Monsal trail below.

Eventually we picked up our route again at Litton Mill approximately two and a half miles in, only to discover that Helen had left her woolly hat (whoops Fleece hat – get it right), back where we had lunch (she had been using it as a cushion). So rather than abandon it, we decided to leave the official route, which we had been diverted off anyway, for another day. This was now going to be a straight out and back mission to retrieve said hat. Again no bad thing in my book, as all routes look different to me in the opposite direction, and the scenery was no less spectacular coming the other way. Fortunately the one couple we met coming towards us, having had the same problem with the river, had left said hat alone and we were soon able to retrieve it.

Picking up the Monsal Trail again, Helen decided to slightly change the finish, as she doesn’t like straight out and backs, and thus we finished by crossing over Monsal Viaduct itself. A good time to finish too, as the rain was starting to come down, with the light getting ever more gloomy. However with GPS in hand, I did have to reach the car by a circular route of the expensive car park, in order to get the distance up to an official 5 miles.

Walks since last blog entry:

1 x 9.25 mile (9 kg ruckack walk) – Putney to Osterley.
1 x 15.5 mile (9 kg ruckack walk) – Richmond Stn/Park (outer/inner loops).

1 x 6.5 mile (run)/walk – Grand Union/Osterley Park.

1 x 6.5 mile walk –Osterley Park/Grand Union.

Putney to Syon Lane – (Surrey/Middlesex) – 17/10/10 – 9.25 Miles – IVC + Helen

2010-10-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

Well not to put too fine a point on it, but this has been one of the toughest months I have ever had to live through. The stressful upshot of which being, that my health and energy levels have been completely on the floor for about three weeks now. So if ever I could have done without having to lead a walk for IVC this was it. Or to put it another way I didn’t want to be out on anyone elses walk let alone leading one of my own. However a commitment is a commitment, and so I was of course prepared to lead my walk in the Vale of Aylesbury around Coombe Hill and Chequers.

Yet if my stress levels weren’t high enough as it was, I got a call from a senior IVC member on Thursday afternoon, pointing out that there was a replacement bus service running on both the Chiltern and Metropolitan lines over the weekend. Thus my intended walk was immediately going to be a travel logistical nightmare, and so I had to make a quick decision to dump it, and improvise a new one. Thus I am grateful to two IVC members, one for pointing out the travel minefield I was about to step into, and the other for getting the new updated walk published over the old one at such short notice. That said there was always the constant worry that someone would still turn up on the old walk and I would be getting a very angry phone call. Thankfully that didn’t happen, however maybe even now there is still someone waiting at Wendover Station ………….. ?

Anyway this walk is my bog standard Putney to Syon Lane one which in normal circumstances now only merits a footnote on this blog. To my surprise however it was more of a novelty to other people and thus we had some 15 people including myself turn up for it. I was also grateful for Helen’s presence lest I take some sort of health dip on the walk itself, whereby she could take over (being that she has done this one before). So after a little confusion where we all waited outside Putney Exchange shopping centre for some imaginary person to visit the toilet, we were able to pick up the towpath and be on our way.

The Thames towpath at the Putney to Barnes end of things is fairly congested (especially for a sunny Autumn Sunday like this) with joggers, cyclists, dog walkers, and the rowing fraternity manouvering their craft. Anyway we plodded on through them all passing the usual landmarks like Fulham football club, Harrods furniture depository, Hammersmith Bridge and eventually Barnes Bridge.

With no set pub decided for lunch, once we reached Barnes I decided to pick the first one we came to, which was the Bulls Head. This turned out to be a Jazz themed pub, with an actual gig in progress in the music room. Food wise it was a tad disappointing that the roast chicken, and bangers and mash, that were both chalked up on the board were not available. Nevertheless most people had a roast of some sort, and I had bangers and bread plus the obligatory pint of cider. As we regrouped outside, two of our walkers decided that was as far as they wanted to go on this occasion, and dropped out there.

Onwards we went, with me pointing out where the Boat Race finishes at Chiswick Bridge, and having eventually reached Kew Bridge we crossed over there to the Middlesex side of the river. Now I had a constant nag all day, namely that there was only one train per hour from Syon Lane back to Waterloo. Thus I didn’t want to lead the group into the station with them having something like a 45 minute wait for a train. So with other people keen for a tea stop anyway, this seemed a good way to make the timings work. Thus on our way in and out of the Towpath, we spotted a Premier Inn in Brentford which turned out to be a perfect spot for some afternoon tea in their garden.

Unfortunately with the guy serving having to go and find more milk for the very popular hot chocolate, the time it takes people to drink these things, and then the inevitable last minute visit to the toilets by the male members of the group, we ended up spending 40 minutes there. That was 10 minutes more than I bargained for and which put us under some serious time pressure. Well I think you know where this is going. Thus back out on the Thames Lock / Grand Union Canal section no one seemed to be showing the slightest urgency to speed things up, despite my best efforts to get everyone moving along. Thus by the time the quickest of the group, reached the entrance to Syon Lane station, they were just in time to see the hourly train pull out. Needless to say everyone then looked at me with a ‘now what are we going to do’ look on their faces. Fortunately I was quickly able to get them on a bus round the corner, to Osterley underground station, whilst hoping no one would make a point of saying, “but you told us to buy an overground return to Syon Lane”.

Anyway whatever, considering the bigger picture things didn’t turn out too bad overall. In retrospect if I had time to think the walk through on Thursday evening, I would have said for people to buy a single to Putney, with us continuing on the Grand Union Canal all the way to Boston Manor underground. Anyway if there is a next time……… (incidentally I forgot my camera, so the picture here as taken on a previous walk, is a representation of what we saw on todays walk).

Walks since last blog entry:

1 x 6.5 mile (run)/walk – Grand Union/Osterley Park
2 x 6.5 mile walk – Grand Union/Osterley Park

1 x 3.75 mile Hellbank (circular) – via Beeley Village – Helen (Luther & Molly)

Crowhurst to Battle – (East Sussex) – 19/09/10 – 11.7 Miles – IVC

2010-09-20T04:40:00.000-07:00

This walk was a little bit further out than I was anticipating or particularly wanted to travel on this occasion. So perhaps if I had read the details a little more closely I would have noticed it was an hour and a half out from Charing Cross. Anyway whatever, nine of us including our fusspot leader assembled at Crowhurst station, for a fine day that had just a slight Autumn chill.

Our first point of interest was a disused railway bridge, where we made our way under it through an aluminium tunnel sitting on top of the sleepers. Having negotiated that our fusspot leader was keen to point out that the silvery/white bit at the bottom of the horizon was in fact the Sea. A bit further on and we were made to turn round again to check out the faint outline in the far far distance that apparently was Beachy Head.

Having crossed a main road we found ourselves walking through a heavily wooded area under a lot of canopy. We made way for two little girls riding junior size ponies, and then soon after found ourselves being followed by a black bull terrier of sorts. This dog was a bit of pest partly because he was constantly under our feet, and partly because he thought it was a great laugh to run slightly in front of our group, and then squat down and defacate in our path. Having done this on three occasions, he then returned to his teenage girl owner (who had no doubt put him up to it).

Our fusspot leader had been chuntering on about the upcoming golf course, and once we got there kept going on about the muddly path through and around it, whilst the rest of us were debating did he mean muddy or muddly ? Whatever he meant, he was basically taking this walk out of ‘Time Out Country Walk’s book one’, whilst our leader of all leaders was giving his version of where we should going instead using his OS map. Anyway having negotiated that, our fusspot leader started a new panic saying we had to get to the pub by two thirty, otherwise there would be no lunch (something that had apparently happened on the previous week’s walk). When we did finally get there at two twenty five, the pub turned out to have a new name and owners, and was serving food all the way up till nine o clock.

Anyway this was a great little pub (sorry I forgot the name, but it is in Crowhurst for those who need an exact reference) run by a cheery landlady and her husband. I had a burger, two eggs and chips, plus a pint of cider, all for eight quid (rare value in a pub these days). Yet once on our way again, another member of our group proceeded to lecture me to tears about why I should do more cooking for myself, until I had to pretend to faint in order to get him to stop.

Having seen the 1066 footpath signs I did wonder whether we would be seeing something a little historic, but apparently not as we were going to be approaching Battle from the wrong side. Oh and apologies for the lack of decent pictures by the way, but having assured me the night before that he was fully charged up, my camera decided at around this time to conk out.

As we passed through another pine mono culture, there was more debate between fusspot leader, and leader of all leaders over which way we should be going. This got a little more regular after fusspot leader, who had been threatening us all day with this gauntlet of nettles we were all going to have to negotiate later on, was overruled by the leader of all leaders who found us a sting free passage instead (much to my disconsolation actually, having found a large catapault type stick to swat them aside).

Having negotiated a different gauntlet of sorts, namely a sewage works, things inevitably came to a climax when the group split in two. Fusspot leader wanted to stay to his exact route, which would include taking in Battle Abbey. However the leader of all leaders, rightly in my view giving the gloom of the day and how time was moving on, wanted to get to the station in order to get the 1820 train. Thus five of us went with him, whilst fusspot leader found himself now leading a group of two who certainly missed that train, with the next one going at 1843. Obviously one felt a tad ungrateful to our fusspot leader here (although end of walk breakaways are the norm for this group) however I didn’t get home till 2100 hours, and that was really enough for one day.

Walks since last blog entry:

1 x 6.5 mile (run)/walk – Grand Union/Osterley Park
1 x 14 mile (9 kg ruckack walk) – Richmond Stn/Park (inner & outer loops).

Farningham Road to Otford – (Kent) – 30/08/10 – 9.75 Miles – IVC

2010-08-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

I really must get out of the habit of frequenting these chain cafes in mainline stations (albeit one usually does so in order to kill a bit of time). Anyway the small cup of hot chocolate and chocolate twist I had at Victoria Station was equivalent to ‘death by sugar’ as well as costing me nearly a fiver.

Anyway starting at Farningham Road station our nine man group, set off on this bank holiday Monday along the scenic Darenth Valley Path, following it upstream pretty much for the majority of the morning and afternoon. The day started a little bit chilly but the Sun eventually put in an appearance which meant I was soon able to take my rainjacket off. Initially we were just folllowing the river, but this soon expanded out into the valley itself.

Lunch was Eynsford where we had to cross over the footpath free bridge by the fjord, along with a large queue of motor cars, in order to reach the pub. Thus expanding my culinary repertoire I decided to try the fish and chips, and also had a Magners cider (much better than the gassy Strongbow). Anyway none of us had a pudding and we were soon back on the Darenth Valey Path again.

Now there was a Roman Villa in these parts that was being vaguely promised to me, as a stop off point. However that was in the grounds of the uninspiring Lullingstone Castle (hence no picture) so we didn’t get to see that. Instead after following the Darenth river we ended up, in a local tearoom where we were faced with an enormous queue, and a garden full of uncleared tables. I decided to have a Magnum Ice Cream (probably because I thought there was some sort of link with my earlier cider), and cleverly passed it back down the queue when I got near the till, for it to be replaced with another less melted one.

As we approached Shoreham station the group split into those who wanted to end there (which three of the group did), and those of us who were carrying on to Otford. In the course of which we passed by a golf course and cricket ground that we all had been past before on another walk. Anyway we eventually got to Otford station in time to watch the half hourly train pull out. Thus the next half hour was spent in a shelter debating the fate of a bee on the ground that had two cigarette butts beside it.

So overall a very scenic walk, in a nice Autumn temperature (I was comfortable in a t-shirt). In normal circumstances I might have grumbled that the pace was a tad too leisurely, however due to the severity of the run/walk I had done the previous day, that was probably all my legs could cope with.

Walks since last blog entry:
1 x 6.5 mile (run)/walk – Grand Union/Osterley Park

Chesham to Wendover – (Buckinghamshire) – 22/08/10 – 10.2 Miles – IVC

2010-08-22T13:17:00.000-07:00

After the previous day’s National Trust gentle jaunt, it was back to some serious walking for this wander through the North of the Chilterns. Now most of us were confused in some way or other by the travel instructions, from Marylebone to Chesham. Not least me who for the third time now have paid the return train fare on this line, when my Oyster would have taken me all the way to Chesham. Thus I only really needed a single ticket back from Wendover to Amersham. Hopefully by the time I get to lead my Chequers walk, I will get it right and save some money. Another member getting it wrong was the guy who pulled his car up outside Chalfont & Latimer for the irregular branch line to Chesham, only to see us pull out and thus requiring him to come and chase us in his car.

All this served to wind up our leader who was fretting about missing the hourly train home, before the walk had even started, and which was to become a theme throughout. Thus given that he is one of the fastest walkers in IVC, this served only to encourage him to really push the pace, and for quite a few stretches I was the only one (when I had a mind to) who could catch him up and stay with him. That said I found it refreshing to be walking at a decent pace, and according to my (pinch of salt) GPS, when we were moving (as opposed to waiting for everyone to catch up) we averaged 3.5mph throughout the walk.

At one point whilst comparing general GPS readings with our (much slower) leader of all leaders, I popped mine back in my rucksack side pocket and walked on. By some miracle I decided I would get it out again to give it a second check, only to discover I had missed the pocket and thrown it some way back on the ground (thankfully its bright yellow casing called out to me to in the Sun to come and rescue it). Thus by this time the Sun had come out to give a much brighter day than Saturday, and one that was slightly less humid as well. Our nine strong group also found itself being joined at different points by two small dogs and further on by two larger ponies.

Lunch was at the Cock and Rabbit which seemed part pub and part Italian bistro. Thus the Don Corleone figure who took our orders at the bar left one in no doubt about the authenticity of the establishment, or the potential consequences if you didn’t pay your bill. The rather impressive young waitress also had an Italian name, so we are definately talking family here (if you know what I mean). Anyway given that my flat is full of ready meals coming near their sell by date (plus the fact that I had fish & chips in the pub yesterday, thus limiting my choices) I chose to slurp away on the vegetable soup and garlic bread (+ pint of Strongbow).

Post lunch and our leader went straight back into his fretting about the train mode. All of this was quite amusing given that on the one hand he felt we had to be at Wendover station for five o clock, but on the other hand didn’t actually know when the train actually left. Even more amusing was that soon afterwards he had taken us all on a wrong turn, confirmed by yours truly’s GPS (not that I was given any thanks for this assistance). Thus our leader then officially announced with some exasperation that we now had no chance of making the five o clock (?) train, an opinion he was continually to revise throughout the rest of the afternoon.

After walking through a number of beautiful sunbaked Weetabox fields, we eventually picked up the Ridgeway (parts of which I covered on the Coombe Hill/Chequers excursion). Running alongside it was basically a sheer drop into a valley below. The only problem being that our leader required us all to descend straight down it (paths not included). This however was too much for four of our group, who led by the slower leader of all leaders, decided they were taking a different route at this point. Wisely, given age and ability considerations, they decided risking missing the train, was better than risking breaking their necks. Anyway five of us did it, although it was certainly precarious not least for the bracken and wood one had to trip ones way through (believe me the picture does not do this descent justice). No sooner had we reached the bottom of this valley however, we were then required to make an immediate ascent back up the lions share of Boddington Hill. Yet even then the endurance test wasn’t over, as yet again we were required to make the steepest of descents again. This time yes, it was on a smooth wide path, however such was the drop you could barely stop yourself from breaking into a run down it.

Once all that aerobic activity had come to a finish we walked through the virtually closed town of Wendover, arriving at the station at 1645, leaving us plenty of time for the 1713 train to Marylebone. Thus according to my (pinch of salt) GPS, we had covered 10.2 miles which our leader seemed in broad agreement with. There was some worry whether the other four who had taken a different route would make the train, but despite adding another mile, they were all present and correct on the platform by 1705.

Knole House (out and back) – (Kent) – 21/08/10 – 4.5 Miles – IVC

2010-08-21T12:37:00.000-07:00

A recent IVC Summer walking innovation, is to have an additional shorter walk on a Saturday, combined with a visit to a National Trust property. As this was the first Saturday I have had free since …….. (oh I dunno, the Normal invasion probably) then here was an opportunity to support this new idea. Thus today’s event was slated to be a six mile walk combined with a visit to Knole House in Kent.

Starting at Sevenoaks station our twelve strong group soon found its way into the property’s Deer Park, which apparently in its entirety is 1000 acres (although the Trust only owns 43 acres worth). After a mile and a half we reached the driveway to the house where a small breakaway group went straight in, with the rest of us continuing our walk in the grounds of Knole Park estate. All around us there were plenty of young deer to be seen, as well as a number of golfers. So much so in fact that there were warning signs regarding the golfers. Thus in a brilliant flash of wit, I pointed out to everyone that the signs were there as it obviously must be the putting season.

As we headed off in the direction of the pub, the sky looked very overcast and threatening, yet this was one of the most humid days I can ever remember (or either I have some sort of fever) as I was sweating buckets. Lunch was at the Bucks Head where three of us had the last of the fish and chips, plus I had a pint of strongbow. After retracing our steps back to the house, those of us with National Trust membership or visitor cards got in for nothing, whilst the rest of the party had to pay £10.50 each.

Knole House has been in the residence of the Sackville family since 1566, although the heart of the building was built substantially earlier between 1456 and 1486. Now a lot of what one sees here, tends to be familiar to a lot of National Trust properties. Although I did particularly enjoy the erotic carving at the foot of the stairs of a lady reclining on a couch, the portrait of James 1st (when a steward pointed out to me how his eyes and left foot follow you around), and also had my interest piqued by the fact that this was where The Beatles made the videos (or whatever they were called then) for both Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane. Also I have just now looked on Wikipedia where the it says the property is known as a calendar house because it is reputed to have 365 rooms, 52 staircases, 12 entrances and 7 courtyards. Needless to say nothing like that is on view to the public, as the Sackville-Wests still own half the house, all of the gardens, and the majority of the estate.

So after buying an eco stapler in the gift shop I reassembled with everyone else in the tea rooms, where I had a mug of coffee and a slice of coffee cake (well I like coffee !). The plan at this stage was to follow the same route home, however a shorter more direct route was devised of about a mile and a half, through the main entrance and back into Sevenoaks. So overall an interesting and relaxing day.

Walks since last blog entry: 1 x 9.25 mile (9 kg ruckack walk) – Putney to Osterley.

Chequers / Coombe Hill (Circulars) – (Buckinghamshire) – 05/08/10 – 10 Miles – Myself

2010-08-05T12:39:00.000-07:00

An unexpected day off from work gave me a chance to make another attempt at the Chequers walk, which me and Helen ultimately gave up on back in June. My reasoning being that one head + GPS, is better than two heads and no GPS. Also I had vaguely promised on Sunday that I would lead a walk for IVC in September, with this looking the most likely candidate. So talking of the GPS, it was a pleasant surprise to see that the grid reference on the ‘route cut out from Country Walking (May 2010 issue) exactly corresponded with what the GPS was telling me (not sure why I expected it to be different – but anyway).

Obviously the first four and a bit miles of this one was not expected to present me with any problems, being that we had done it both ways last time out. The only difference this time was that I had spotted a potential early lunch stop for IVC the previous evening whilst studying the small map. Thus in no time I had reached the Boer War Monument on the top of Coombe Hill, which admittedly is only at the 1.5 mile point (or is it, as the GPS only showed 1.38 miles – more on that later). Also and thankfully the wild ponies were nowhere to be seen.

Now the pub lunch stop, involves leaving Coombe Hill (Monument), in the complete opposite direction to the route, and thus descend down to Butlers Cross. Oh my my though, what a steep and precarious descent. Yet when I finally got down to the road, the golfers crossing there pointed out that there wasn’t any footpath, and that I would have to walk on the road itself. However after about half a mile, I arrived at The Russell Arms, where I had a pint of cider, and two eggs, ham and chips. Everything was as it should be there, which was just as well considering at 12.30 I was their only customer. What goes down must come up though (relax I am not talking about lunch), and the ascent back up Coombe Hill (now the second ascent of this) was in a league of its own, and bore no relation to the gentle climb from the station. I like to attack a climb but this one had me stopping and panting hard every 20 yards. Eventually I made it back to the Monument where I temporarily collapsed in a heap to get my breath back. Methinks I better make this clear with IVC, and suggest the majority bring sandwiches.

Continuing on from the Monument this time I took the correct path (to last time out) all the while admiring the stunning views over the Vale of Aylesbury, then continued through the beech wood, before eventually and correctly doing a right turn (again unlike last time) out onto the road. There I picked up the Ridgeway/South Bucks Way through the wood before eventually leaving there and crossing the road that takes you into the grounds of Chequers estate. No idea whether Cameron was in residence, but there was a small number of workers with strimmers cutting green stuff (although in all likelihood they were probably Mi5 operatives carrying disguised machine guns). Not wishing to risk the wrath of anyone, I stayed on the correct path, eventually walking past the wood on my left, and railway sleepers to my immediate, and chequers to my far, right (if you check out the photo you can spot Coombe Monument in the distance).

So finally I had arrived at the bit that had caused us so much grief last time out. Having taken an immediate grid reference reading, it was apparent that not only was I not as far along as we thought we were at that time, but I still wasn’t as far along as we thought, when we assumed we had sussed it all out in the aftermath. Nevertheless this is still a confusing section, and I did resort to the inbuilt compass in the GPS here, to make sure I was heading in a general Northerly direction. The other big mistake we made back then was thinking that Great Kimble on our left was actually Beacon Hill. In fact we never got as far along on the last trip to see Beacon Hill, which was ultimately further along and on our right. The correct thing to do was to cross the road that I had traversed down to Chequers before (along with any number of other dead ends we had taken). Helen did suggest this, along with other suggestions as well, but at that time I was becoming overstressed and cooked by the heat and it was just one suggestion to many. So near and yet so far.

Today of course is a different day, and with the GPS to keep me on track I sailed past Beacon Hill on my right, with more stunning views over on my left. Eventually I reached the road, and took an immediate right down the lane opposite the church at Ellesborough. Cutting across a vast field of straw I could once again spotted the Coombe Monument way up in the distance. Once out onto the road it was past the golf club and left onto the bridleway to make ascent number three of Coombe Hill. Well this one was every bit as bad as the the second one from the pub at Butlers Cross (I can’t wait to see this string out a walking group), but eventually it levelled out and dissected the path from the Monument at the kissing gate, that I had come through earlier.

Carrying straight on I crossed a car park into Low Scrubs, with the ‘route cut out’ stating that the path is hard to follow. Well that would be because there are three paths, and naturally I took the wrong one. After 5 minutes I began to suspect this, and one grid reading soon confirmed it. It was then a case of retracing my steps and correctly picking the right path from the two remaining. Eventually I picked up a bridleway that went on for a good mile, firstly on a long descent and then taking a sharp left where I had to make way for both a mountain biker and then a girl on a horse. After crossing another green and glorious field, I found myself coming out onto the road bridge just outside Wendover station and thus ending the walk. So overall I was mighty pleased with my efforts as well as the walk which in its entirety is definitely one to do over and over again (what a shame me and Helen didn’t get to complete it back in June). That said the GPS was a vital tool today without which I would have still struggled at the point we did last time, and would most definitely have had problems at Low Scrubs.

However speaking of which, I was most perturbed when I got to the station to see the read out saying that I had only walked 8.89 miles. Well that can’t be right methinks, as it says 9 miles on the ‘route cut out’ and I had to have added at least a mile to that on the diversion and back to Butlers Cross for lunch. My guess therefore is that the GPS satellites measure distance in straight flat lines, and thus make no allowance for ascents (for instance a mile ascent up, may only be 400 metres covered in a straight line). Thus given that there were three ascents here, two of which being exceptionally severe, then that must be where my missing mile went. Anyway I will ask around on that one.
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Walks since last blog entry:
1 x 6.5 mile (run)/walk – Grand Union/Osterley Park

Riddlesdown to Coulsdon South – (Croydon) – 01/08/10 – 8 Miles – IVC

2010-08-01T11:32:00.000-07:00

My first walk with IVC for a couple of months and (even more important) my first chance to test out my new GPS (The Garmin E Trex H, for those of you who need a product reference). Therefore I think it is only fitting that I deal with that first. Thus the day started well as I was able to see the average speed of the train I was travelling on, how long it was waiting at the station, and how far it travelled between stops. Then once on the walk itself I was able to compare/check the map grid location with our walk leader’s OS map (everything working as it should there then), as well as compare general GPS owners chit chat with our leader of all leaders, who happens to have the exact same model. There was one annoying member of our group who felt he should be the centre of attention, merely because he had just completed a 100km walk along the South Downs in under 30 hours, however I did my best to drown him out with regular updates to everyone over how far we had just come. In fact everything was going swimmingly up until lunch, and then the batteries ran out …………. Oh dear, it looks like my old rechargeables that have hung about the flat for ever, may not be up to the job, and that I might have to invest in some real ones. So swiftly moving on…….

This walk was loosely based on a couple of stages of the London Loop, despite our leader’s reluctance to admit that (the signs however were a bit of a give away). Thus our first point of interest was RAF Kenley (circa 1940’s) situated on Kenley Common. Well actually I am inaccurately stating that, as these days it is used merely as an aerodrome for gliders (but watch the film The Battle of Britain, for a true reference point). Thus having left there in the course of which we were overtaken by a lady on her mobility scooter (+dog), we eventually made our way into Coulsdon Common, before ultimately arriving at our lunch stop at The Fox pub in Old Coulsdon.

Having arrived at the pub we were surprised to see one of the regular members already there tucking into his main course. It turned out he had missed the train, but by a combination of buses and cycle routes had made his way there via a different route to us. Now this was a really nice pub where the food was reasonably priced (for example £7.95 for a roast dinner), the service was quick and friendly, with the pretty young waitresse’s circling round us diners with an elaborate tray of sauces and mustards . For my purposes I had the open Chicken and Ham pie, with Fries and Peas, as well as the compulsory pint of Fosters. All very nice too, in fact so much so that I decided it was urgent that I had a desert to go with it. Now unlike the usual six quid a throw which seems to be most pub deserts these days, the Profiteroles (with fresh cream and chocolate fudge sauce) were a far more reasonably priced £3.95. Oh my god though you had to see the size of them to believe it, as in effect what I was served was to all extents and purpose two helpings. So as yummy as they both were, they actually beat me, and I was reduced to hiding the last couple of mouthfuls under my spoon.

The second half of the walk took us through the chalk ridges and dry valleys which form the dip slope to the North Downs. Undeterred with the fact that my GPS was now only able to stay on for a couple of seconds at a time, I tried to convince anyone who would listen (and there weren’t many takers at this point) that we had really only travelled 4.82 miles by the time we reached Coulsdon South station. Fortunately (lest anyone might have felt short changed) our leader of all leaders was able to pull out his fully powered one, and confirm that we had actually travelled 8.1 miles. Anyway the battery issue is merely a teething problem, with my new GPS looking as if it does everything I want it to do, and it will prove a good investment.

NOTE: The new photo size is an experiment for this post, based on the fact that most people probably don't click on the pictures themselves for a larger version. Anyway if it doesn't look right on this post I will return to the old format.

The Roaches – (Staffordshire) – 24/07/10 – 8.5 Miles – Helen (Luther and Molly)

2010-07-27T02:36:00.000-07:00

This walk was a little bit further out then we normally venture, but given how Helen had never been to the Roaches (me neither), it was well worth the hour’s drive. Our template for this one being ‘route cut out No 12’ from the Spring 2008 issue of Country Walking.

Naturally enough for us we started off on the wrong path, heading up towards the very exclusive looking Roaches Hotel. We weren’t unduly concerned however as we knew we were coming round the back of Hen Cloud. In fact we were even able to pick out Jodrell Bank (or someones overachieving Sky dish) in the distance. However by the time we came round the side of Hen Cloud, facing towards the Roaches, we went into usual confusion mode, deciding not to visit the top but instead make a straight line for the Roaches themselves. This involved smashing and stumbling our way through a field of heather, all the whilst disturbing the feathered wildlife in the process. Not our finest moment, especially after later reading a notice on the gate requesting that you don’t do things like that. Anyway as if to have its revenge, a tangle of bramble wrapped itself around my leg and ripped it up as best it could.

So finally we began our climb onto the roaches, with a large group of lunching walkers who were sitting on the first part of the rocks staring down at us, and suggesting that we weren’t going to have the place to ourselves. However the Roaches is really a haven for the rock climbing fraternity, and there were plenty of them up there, clanking away with all their metal hooks attached. We decided we were going to have lunch as soon as we were near the summit (giving us an excellent view), whilst Molly and a dog belonging to some nearby climbers (also eating) tried to work out their differences as only dogs can. Luther for his part seemed fairly non-plussed.

Moving off again we made our way to the top and followed the path along, being passed by one guy who Helen described as being ‘dressed like he was on the way to the office’. The weather was closing in a bit at this point which meant for the second time in two days, Helen hogging my £8 National Trust umbrella. Not that I minded as having made our way past the trig point and then down from the Roaches on a perfectly laid out path, she bought me an ice cream (which in truth had been promised 24 hours back), from the cleverly parked van at the bottom.

We then crossed through the stile and headed off, initially taking the path to Danesbridge, before taking a right turn at a fingerpost pointing to Gradbach. In the process of which Luther managed to spook a Japanese girl sitting on the edge of a precipice having her photo taken, and in conjunction with Molly charm another little girl who was leading a party of adults coming in the opposite direction. What was slightly disturbing was in the process of this section of the walk, we came across two dead sheep, as well as assorted lumps of wool scattered about. We didn’t dwell on that too long however, and instead found our way to the entrance of Luds Church. Now ‘Lud's Church (sometimes written as Ludchurch) is a deep chasm penetrating the Millstone Grit bedrock created by a massive landslip on the hillside above Gradbach’ (well rather I meant to say all that, but instead just copied and pasted it from Wikipedia). Anyway the four of us ventured down and along it, wondering why we couldn’t find any altars or crosses. There was also a slight sea air smell within the chasm.

Retracing our steps out of it, we began a long and gradual climb, all the while looking out for a stream that we needed to cross. When we eventually saw the stile and ice cream van we came through earlier, we decided to stop and finish off what was left of our sandwiches (well in my case a sausage roll). There Luther and Molly proceeded to show us up, by a disgraceful piece of bullying of a smaller dog coming the other way. However in best Helen tradition, she pointed out to its owners that it was really their fault, because their dog was on a lead.

So after resisting the request to buy me another ice cream from the van, Helen, myself, and dogs in disgrace, climbed back up to the top of the Roaches. In this case it literally was the top, as we discovered we had passed the path we had taken up from the lower level earlier, and had to retrace our steps to find it. All the while along here I found myself being victimised by some sort of wasp making circles around me, which Helen incorrectly pointed out was all in my imagination. This return part of the walk along the Roaches went very quickly and we soon found ourselves heading down from there and facing Hen Cloud. The route cut out suggests you extend the walk by heading up to the top of it, but having been round the side of it already, we passed on that one. However having come to the bottom, we couldn’t decide should we do a right at the gate, or go through that and take a right at the next gate. I was overruled on this one, but although we found a path down to the layby, the gate there to get out onto the road was locked (guess my choice was the right one after all). Anyway I somersalted over the gate, whilst Helen and dogs took a diversion through some nettles to come out further along. Thus having made our way back to the car, Luther for his part was near out on his feet and had to be assisted with his leap into the back. Poor old boy, no such tiredness however, with me, Helen and Molly (right !).

Matlock (Circular) – (Derbyshire) – 23/07/10 – 5.5 Miles – Helen (Luther and Molly)

2010-07-26T15:39:00.000-07:00

Having parked at Matlock Bridge and started climbing up a steep gradient to pick up the Limestone Way, we were met by a bare chested man (+ partner) coming towards us, who claimed to be carrying his red shirt so as not to provoke a nearbye bull. In the event the bull had clearly come from his own mouth, as the livestock in the nearby vicinity were of the docile cow variety. That said with young calves around, I for one was prepared to disown Luther and Molly if there were any problems.

Anyway onwards and upwards we went, and what do you know it started to ever so slightly drizzle. Being the gallant chap I am however I did not hesitate to lend Helen my £8 National Trust umbrella, but only because (unlike Dorset) I happened to have my waterproofs with me.

In due course we found our way into the village of Bonsall, where we enjoyed looking at a replica carving of “T” Owd Man, as well as letting the dogs drink from one of wells being prepared for the following week’s Well Dressing (all the while supervised by a young boy and his Mother). However having gone through the village Helen’s route planning went a little askew as we first climbed up and then climbed down, as well as going to the gates of a churchyard and turning back from it again. The running order was soon restored however as we skirted round a quarry, as well as skirted round some more cows just prior, before eventually making our way up to the Heights of Abraham. There we partially saw the cable cars that serve Matlock Bath as well as Riber Castle in the distance. None of this information being brought to us by an idiotic talking telescope that shut up after a couple of minutes, and which neither of us could properly see through (there are better ways to spend 50p). From there we made our way through Masson Leas Farm, picking up the Limestone way again before eventually retracing our steps back to Matlock

What I found strange about this walk (which was a Helen creation) was that from the off we seemed constantly to be going upwards, but it seemed to end with the shortest of descents back to the car. Anyway Helen later used the scientific OS map and a bit of string method, to determine that we had done 5 ½ miles, and you can’t get more precise than that.

Langton Matravers (Circular) – (Dorset) – 16/07/10 – 5.75 Miles – Helen (Luther and Molly)

2010-07-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

The last day of our week long Dorset caper and we decided it was time for a bit more of the coast. Again we took our guidance from one of the Country Walking ‘route cut outs’ (December 2008), which again was backed up with OL15.

Well this was a windy day to start with (check out Helen’s new hairstyle). In fact sitting in the car at the start I was more than a little concerned to see other couples setting off in full rainjacket/fleece mode, whilst I was protected by no more than two t-shirts. Nevertheless despite the gales, they proved more than
adequate once one got going.

So after a tractor driver had taken mercy on us by deciding not to mow us and the dogs down on a narrow lane, a few twists and turns later we were heading down to the edge of the cliff to look over at Dancing Ledge. The wind was still giving it some at this point, but fortunately blowing us away from the edge and a watery oblivion. We thus continued on the coastal path, stopping briefly for Helen to have one of her cliff top snoozes. Once again the doggies were in their element going back and forth, with Molly covering three times the distance we were doing, and Luther covering double.

Eventually we turned inland by the disused quarries at Winspit (which lies between the hills of East Man and West Man) and which Wikipedia reveals was used in WWII for both naval and air defences, as well as being used more recently as a TV film set for Blakes Seven and Doctor Who. One flight of stairs, and a couple of fields later, we found ourselves on a long driveway heading up to the small village of Worth Matravers (not before the canine drinking facilities left outside by one thoughtful householder was taken advantage of). Oh and by this time the wind had now become the faintest of memories.

Once in the village however, Helen tried to start her now usual game of “we didn’t come along the right path” confusion (which to be fair is often correct), but got short shrift from me this time, especially when the duck pond landmark was exactly where it was meant to be. So having stopped there for a few minutes we did as recommended and made our way to the Square and Compass (passing the stone egg – as pictured), where we enjoyed half a cider each, and half a pasty each. Helen in this instance did the honours reporting back that there was a mind boggling choice of ciders drink wise, and exactly one type of pasty food wise, to choose from. In the event both were scrumptious, but the real reason to visit this pub is the beer garden, which has to be seen to be believed. My best attempt at a description being that it is furnished in wood and stone in the best traditions of the ‘Mad Hatters Tea Party’.

Moving on and avoiding getting drawn onto one of Helen’s short cuts, we descended twice into two valleys with both the Sea and the Strip Lynchets on our right in the distance, before going almost back on ourselves with a steady climb (albeit with the beginning of it guarded by some black cows – doncha luv em). Once at the top we turned right onto Priests Way and carried on for half a mile, before crossing into ‘Toms Field’ (sign set in stone, not a mate of mine) and headed back to the car. Now normally I tend to take the view that a walk is not of great significance unless it is of the ten mile + variety, however as short walks go this was definitely one of the most enjoyable I have ever done.

Shitterton (Bere Regis) – (Circular) – (Dorset) – 14/07/10 – 4.5 Miles – Helen (Luther and Molly)

2010-07-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

A brief mention for a brief afternoon walk, following our early morning excursion to the Tank Museum at Bovington.

So starting at Shitterton, we walked up Black Hill, before picking up the Jubilee Way all the way to Turners Puddle. We then continued along by Kite Hill Plantation, carrying on through Piddle Wood, and finally back along the Jubilee Trail to Shitterton.

This is worth mentioning also for the fact that in various smaller forms, elements of this walk (especially the boardwalk start) constituted the daily doggie exercise constitutional for our week in Dorset.

Lulworth Cove (Circular) – (Dorset) – 12/07/10 – 10 Miles – Helen (Luther and Molly)

2010-07-18T07:59:00.000-07:00

Having parked at Ringstead Bay, we set off on what turned out to be a glorious Summers day. Once again this was a suggested walk from Country Walking magazine (June 2008), however unlike the recent Chequers fiasco, this time we were armed with the relevant OS map (Explorer OL15). However seeing as both of us are currently having problems with our glasses, we were soon getting into difficulties. Basically the instructions told us to follow a broad ridgetop track. However as it didn’t say anything about doing a hard left, I insisited we needed to keep going straight, despite the ‘private driveway’(or something like that) sign. Yet having got to a dead end, blocked by a badly parked cottage, we were then forced to retrace our steps, and try out Helens interpretation instead. This naturally was the correct one, and we were soon walking along the ridgetop with the Sea in the distance on our right, and a pair of obelisk’s either side of us.

Having reached the sign to Newlands Farm, we were once again going partially wrong trying to negotiate/find a path along Scratchy Bottom. One way or another we got through after first ascending where I assumed we were supposed to be descending, and ended up at the foot of Durdle Door caravan site, where we were meant to meet that on the linking road. Anyway at this point Lab dogs Luther and Molly both seemed set to give up the ghost for a few minutes. Helen had delegated me the task of carrying two litres of water for them in my rucksack, and they virtually drank the whole lot there and then. Suitably refreshed (oh and I had a sip of Lemon Barley water) they were off again, but not before we had to hunt round the caravan site for a tap to refill the bottle for them.

Once past the caravan site we found a place to sit facing the wrong side of Durdle Door (correct pronunciation - Doodle Duh), and had our sandwiches (or Scotch eggs/sausage rolls). Helen for reasons best known to herself wanted to start the return journey here, rather than continue the mile and a bit on to Lulworth Cove. However after some frantic waving of my Country Walking Cut Out in her face, she was eventually persuaded to stick with the program. Having arrived at Lulworth Cove after a ‘long downhill stretch’, we stopped being walkers for a bit and became your bog standard day trippers instead. This involved some shopping in the gift shop, an ice cream each, and finally a trip down to the beach on the cove itself, for a bit of paddling by Helen and the dogs.

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Once back in walking mode however we decided we didn’t like the look of what I previously described as a ‘long downhill stretch’, when it now meant doing it the other way. So smart people as we are, we decided we could outflank it instead. The result being that we ended up having to do an even steeper climb up a never ending set of rickety wooden steps, with the dogs now having a “you must be joking” look on their faces. Having reached the top, low on Oxygen but high on Lactic Acid, we found ourselves on the wrong side of the fence, all the while wondering why no one else had taken the smart route like us. Undeterred we continued on our way, and soon found ourselves looking down on the correct side of Durdle Door (big rock in the Sea with a hole in it), using the moment to water the dogs again, and waste tens of thousands of pixels trying to capture ourselves and the hole for posteriety.

However given the danger that Cliff Richard might turn up at any moment singing ‘Saviours Day’ it was soon time to move on. We thus found ourselves on some spectacular ascents and descents along the coastal path, which are more challenging than anything the Seven Sisters has to offer. Luther and Molly were both back in full flow now, but had to be watched lest one or both of them disappeared over the edge of the cliff. These steep ascents/descents looked however as if it was taking its toll on Helen, not least as it was a seriously warm day. So having reached the lower obelisk after a particularly long ascent, she decided to sleep it off. Luther for his part was doing more panting than you get in your average porn movie, and thus took the opportunity to have a bit of a kip himself.

Once off again on the coastal path we soon ended up at the badly parked cottage. Now I wanted us to take the unofficial route, even if it did mean ploughing through some nettles, in order to take the straightest route back to the car. However Helen insisted that this time it was me who should stick to the program (namely the official route), and we stayed on the coastal path. By this time the day was starting to take its toll, with Helen getting tired and me getting grumpy. Thus after a moments uncertainty from Helen over whether the building below us was Holworth House or not, I insisited we retrace our steps all the way back to the badly parked cottage, and go that way instead. That of course got us back to the car, but served to make the walk that bit longer than if we had continued on for a bit more on the coastal path itself (which of course intercepted our path). Anyway we got there and back, wherever there and back is, and that is the main thing.

Richmond Park Outer and Inner Loops – (via Richmond Station) – (Surrey) – 03/07/10 – 12.5 Miles – Myself

2010-07-03T11:36:00.001-07:00

Lake District ? I spit on the Lake District. Peak District ? Oh pleeze !

No if you are a real walker the only place to be is Richmond Park, and on a baking hot July Saturday afternoon, that’s where many walkers come. For that matter so do many: joggers, cyclists, dog walkers, courting couples, skateboarders, parents pushing buggies, small children etc. I would mention the Deer as well, but in their case they actually live there.

Anyway talking of baking hot, the cumulative effect of the two weeks of sweltering summer we are currently enjoying (depending on your point of view of course), was starting to take its toll on me. Thus not only was I breathing quite hard on certain sections, but on a few occasions I started to wonder could I do the distance. Of course being the hero that I am, I made sure I did the full mileage, but once or twice I did actually sit down for a bit.

Lunch was at the usual café whose pricing policy seems to be to charge whatever it is they think you will stand for. In this case a sausage baqueete, a bottle of orange juice, and a caramel shortcake, came to £6.50. No doubt the cycling fraternity who were packing out the place, got their grub much cheaper. If that wasn’t bad enough later on in the afternoon the kiosk near Pembroke Lodge only had bourbons to go with my coffee. In that instance I definitely needed something more chocolatee, to mask the taste of the cardboard cup the drink was served in.

Interesting moment of the day was hearing the ground alive with insect life. Annoying moment of the day was some woman who was about 100 yards in front of me, dressed in a denim dress carrying some type of shoulder bag (i.e. she didn’t even look like a proper walker). Needless to say for the best part of two miles I couldn’t catch her up, let alone get past her (something I am used to doing to everyone else out walking there). I only managed to catch her when she had to wait to cross the road at Kingston Gate, and I then took an inside path to outflank her.

I also managed to buy a useful map of the park for 20p (suggested donation) at the Royal Parks shop. Thus seeing how Helen thinks my Outer and Inner loop route is the most boring walk in the world, perhaps I can come up with some new trails to tempt her back to Richmond Park. After all I love it there.

Chequers (out and back) – (Buckinghamshire) – 26/06/10 – 9 Miles – Helen

2010-06-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

Certainly this was the hottest day of the year so far, with the temperature touching 28c. So for our sins me and Helen decided to do a walk that was both a feature article and route from the May edition of Country Walking magazine, namely a ramble round the Prime Ministers weekend getaway. This would involve climbing up onto the heights of the Chilterns, and taking in some beautiful views over the Vale of Aylesbury. So while it was certainly a splendid day with splendid scenery, it did prove that we, and these cut out walks (which we have had nothing but success with thus far), are far from infallible.

Coming out of the station and picking up the Ridgeway, we passed two girls on the long ascent up to Coombe Monument. We were to see a lot more of them during the day, and from here on in are to be referred to as ‘the girls with the OS map’. Not long afterwards we came to our first route navigation dilemma of the day when we had to decide whether the kissing gate we were to go through was the one on the path we were on, or the one on the path slightly above us. In the event not an issue as they both came out at the same place, but certainly the first portent of things to come. For my part I was more concerned about the flying insect thingy who having bit my knee, decided to come back for a second go at my calf muscle. Suffice to say he met a squishy end.

Anyway after a mile and a half of gentle climbing we reached the Coombe Monument. This being both a memorial for the men of Buckinhamshire who lost their lives in the Boer War, and also a suitable place for us to have our sandwiches. The views here looking over the Vale of Aylesbury were gorgeous if a tad hazy with the sunlight. Also up at the monument enjoying the view were ‘the girls with the OS map’. Anyway we set off again and as the cut out route instructed took the right hand path towards the kissing gate. Now the higher left hand path (which was still the Ridgeway) looked the more obvious, and was the one Helen wanted to follow, but I decided we had to follow the instructions exactly and lo and behold we did come to a kissing gate, although we could hear one slightly above us. From here we were to follow a unclear path through a beech wood, and when we eventually came to the road (as promised) I felt fully vindicated.

Unfortunately having turned right as instructed we could not find the sign for ‘The Ridgeway/South Bucks Way’ on our left but instead came to a road junction. Realising straight away that we had taken the wrong path from the monument, we then went back up the hilly road and thus met ‘the girls with the OS map’ coming down towards us. We let them get ahead of us, whilst we faffed about a bit. Eventually overtaking them in the woods, after avoiding another bum steer from our instructions to take the right hand downward path.

Finally we came into the public right of way access through Chequers dissecting the (private no admittance) sign that leads up to Chequers. The grounds were beautiful, although the helicopter buzzing over head and the various signs left one in no doubt that a swift response would follow if one happened to take one step off the path. The best view of Chequers, which was always at a long distance came when we had the wooded area of Great Kimble to our left and a fence of railway sleepers marshalling the path on our right. Here we messed about taking more photos while ‘the girls with the OS map’ caught us up and did likewise. Eventually we left them and all that behind, passing through a field with some cows on open access land, and did as instructed by the cut out to ‘climb to the top for glorious views’.

Unfortunately the planned route completely fell apart at this point, as unbeknownst to us the ‘climb to the top for glorious views’ instruction wasn’t an instruction at all but merely an optional extra. Thus having reached two stiles at the mini summit we wrongly (the cut outs fault not ours) believed the route continued from this point. Whilst we faffed about trying to find the so called field to cross, matters were further confused by ‘the girls with the OS map’ who gave us the benefit of their wisdom for the walk they were doing, which of course was not the same as ours. Now this was a case where two heads (and bodies) were not better than one, as both me and Helen served merely to confuse each other. If we had been on our own then I am sure either of us would have eventually figured it out. However after three attempts in different directions all drawing a blank, the stress of the heat of the day was finally starting to tell on me at least. Thus rather than spend more time on this when we had wasted around an hour and a half to keep ending up in the same spot, I decided that the only option was to turn this into a straight out and back walk and return the way we came.

Now I have to admit that unlike Helen, and many other walkers, I do not like wasting inordinate amounts of time working out where to go next, let alone spending time heading up blind alleys. I like to walk walk so to speak, only stopping for refreshments and photos. So once we hit back on the return trail, I was able to settle down and enjoy matters again. Helen did want us to pick up the route again where it dissected as a figure of eight, but I decided that the cut out’s instructions had just too many holes in it thus far, and I could certainly live without some more in the heat of this day. So although we were now at peak humidity for the day, the return journey of about 4.5 miles was a lot quicker back than how we had got out to that point. Thus we eventually stopped again at the Coombe monument for some more refreshments, which was by this time being occupied by some wild ponies sheltering from the sun. Initially they did keep out of our faces, but once I tried to eat my apple we found ourselves surrounded, and I decided to surrender it before it was taken off me. They were a cross between sweet and pushy (classic mugging tactics really) with one stamping on Helens foot, and others trying to chew her trousers and my rucksack. Thus fed up of their attention we left them to it and continued on the ascent to Wendover station. Once on the platform, we were soon joined by ‘the girls with the OS map’, who once again were able to put us straight ! More to the point however was once in the cool calm of the air conditioned railway carriage, we were finally able to agree where we went wrong (and where the cut out had clearly misled us).

So not a disaster by any means as it was 4.5 miles out and then the same back, of walking in attractive countryside. However a few issues that have come out of this are:
1) These cut outs are a useful guide/suggestion for walks, but are not definitive and are clearly open to interpretation. Therefore they should not be attempted without the relevant OS or Landranger map, which should be studied beforehand.
2) A compass is an essential as that alone could have got us out of jail here.
3) If the option exists to go to the walk by car, take it. As having been baked on the walk all day, once off the nice air conditioned train, we found ourselves being microwaved this time on the London Underground.

Walks since last blog entry:

1 x 7.5 mile Grand Union/Osterley Park.

Balcombe to East Grinstead – (Sussex) – 06/06/10 – 11Miles – IVC

2010-06-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

Summer must be here then, as this was the first walk this year where I decided I could crack out the shorts again. Unfortunately my first choice pair from the wardrobe seem to have been shrunk by the washing machine, and so I had to go with the faded black ones. Anyway the forecast thunderstorms stayed away for the first half of this walk which found us walking through the rolling countryside of the Weald. Topics of conversation ranged from one member’s recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land, through to my forthcoming exam, with the link between the two being of course the Romans. One interesting moment found us walking along a path with a wire fence on either side of us, with the adjoining fields full of young deer. Continuing on from that we then came through the Royal Botanical Gardens at Wakehurst Place, which by the signage are some type of offshoot of Kew.

Thus the first half of the walk did drag on to the extent that we didn’t make our lunch stop, The Black Cat in West Hoathly, until 1345 (we started at 1115). Anyway I thought I would try the fish and chips, which were fine as lunch goes, but the small portions and £12 price tag were not so acceptable. Thus with the puddings all at a £5.50 minimum, even the regular pudding scoffers (and I don’t just mean myself) decided to give them a miss. Thus having finished dinner and with us all sat in the garden, the sky started to darken followed by a sudden downpour. Now I am not sure what I was thinking at this point, but whilst everyone in the garden rushed inside I decided to first put on my full waterproofs and then come in.

With the rain having eased off, we set off again. However I was determined to prove I hadn’t been too hasty in putting the waterproofs on, and continued on in something of a sweat. Although there was the odd rumble of thunder about there was no more rain, save for the water dripping on us from the trees. Thus by the time I eventually decided I wanted to take them off again we were negotiating a particularly long and muddy downward trail, and there was no mud free place in which to do this. By this time the temperature had gone up, and with the evaporation of the downpour, one felt as if one was going through a rainforest.

Thus for much of the second half of the walk, we alternated between dense forest trails and open fields, which thankfully had no cattle after last weeks run ins with them (but do watch out for the sheep). We also crossed over the Bluebell railway line, but somehow conspired to miss two train photo opportunities there in quick succession. We also skirted along the Wier Wood Reservoir, before taking a trail to bypass the bulk of the town in East Grinstead, before finally arriving at the station. So overall a good but scenically unspectacular day’s walking.

Chatsworth (Circular) – (Derbyshire) – 30/05/10 – 6 Miles – Helen (Luther & Molly)

2010-05-31T14:10:00.000-07:00

Those of you looking for glorious pictures of Chatsworth House can forget it; I didn’t get to see it on this walk so neither do you. Which basically means this walk was in the grounds of Chatsworth and beyond, but with the house just that tantalising way out of sight (ask Helen she planned it). What wasn’t out of sight of the car park however was a group of some 40 to 50 Muslim youngsters (many in traditional dress + flags and banners) doing some sort of aerobic warm up. We thus speculated on whether they were a walking group or not, before they eventually disappeared in the direction of some sort of flower show at the house. Whilst one isn’t always pleased to encounter large groups of walkers or anyone for that matter, there is a school of thought that says ethnic minorities are under-represented in the countryside, and that it shouldn’t be just the preserve of the white middle class. However this tiny and humble blog is not the place for such a debate (just highlighting the issue doncha know).

Anyway our walk began with a long and steady climb, with the signs on gateposts telling us (for that part anyway) to keep Molly and Luther on a lead. The weather was bright and sunny, however there was a chilly and gusty breeze which at one point blew my hat off. When we finally reached the summit we found ourselves crossing the must luscious field of new grass (not readily apparent until one looked backwards). Thus the silver tips of each blade appeared to both flow and ripple down the gradient, as lab dogs Luther and Molly frequently disappeared in it. It is views like this that really makes Country Walking such a special activity. The picture of me above is at that exact spot (but without the movement of the grass, it loses much of its effect).

Having made a circular pass round some water we then came into a wood, where we stopped for some brief provisions among the bluebells. There was then a long descent through the wood, within earshot of some sort of dog show (didn’t have the time to enter Luther and Molly), before we picked up the Monsail Trail. Unfortunately you can’t completely follow the disused railway track, as most of the tunnels are sealed up, although the way to circumnavigate them is of course marked.

As we began our descent we spotted a Chicken in the hedgerow wearing a large elastic band round its middle. Meanwhile I managed to get one of the most vicious set of stings on my hand from some nettles, that I have ever had in my life (they really blistered up and fizzed away for the rest of the evening). Yet being the hero that I am I soldered on regardless. Having come onto the road my hero status was soon deflated when we had to come through a gate of a tunnel that was being blocked by three enormous cows. Now me and Helen will have to agree to differ on how much room and respect to give these creatures (the dogs don’t appear to like them much either). So lets just say I wisely hung onto Molly, not so much for protection, but rather to prevent Helen from buggering off and leaving me whilst I worked out a safe passage. To be fair she did come back to retrieve me (at least I hope it was for me).

From there it was back alongside the river and eventually the green wide open spaces of the grounds of Chatsworth, before finally relocating the car. So the cow issue aside this was a rather splendid little walk on yet another excellent Spring day.

Lathkill Dale (Circular) – (Derbyshire) – 28/05/10 – 6 Miles – Helen (Luther & Molly)

2010-05-31T12:44:00.000-07:00

Firstly this little walk is straight out of Country Walking Magazine’s Spring 2009 edition (for those of you who fancy trying it for yourselves). So as luck would have it we had a perfect and sunny spring day that wasn’t too hot, given what the weather had been a few days prior. Anyway having parked at Over Haddon, and enjoyed watching (?) some grotesque guy make a near full change of clothes in the car park (after his walk), we picked up the river Lathkill and made our way past a variety of weirs and caves before reaching our first landmark: Batemans House. This being part ruin and part disused mineshaft. So having taken turns to make our way down the steps, read the signs and turn the mineshaft lighting handle we were off again.

Our next landmark was apparently Carters Mill (as it sounds). However even with the help of a pair of portly walkers (who probably said the same about me) we somehow missed the fact that it was actually a line of bricks in the riverbed. Helen by now was keen to try out her new camera, so a fair amount of time was spent faffing about on that, whilst throwing assorted dogs into the river (my photography as always, was of course sharp, concise and to the point). Thus when we finally reached the 2.25 mile point where the wooden bridge crosses the river, we seemed to have been going for an awfully long time. By this time however more photography and faffing about was in order, which I seemed to suspect was the reason why the two couples sitting there thinking they had a quiet spot, choose to move off.

Our next task was to climb a very long flight of stone steps (as if the mineshaft wasn’t enough) before passing through a couple of fields in the direction of some farm buildings. From there we continued into Low Moor Wood before emerging into another large and clear field. There we encountered a group of young community walkers who made a fuss of Luther and Molly. Yet although we started to leave them behind, they soon caught us up again when Luther started panicking about the best way to get over a stile. However with their encouragement he finally did it.

We then continued down a road before picking up a signpost on our left to head us back towards Over Haddon via a local farm. Unfortunately we had to pass through a field of cows who seem to be becoming a real nuisance presence in the countryside these days (or is just me?). Anyway we passed them without incident, went through a field, and then headed downwards via a twisty wooded path. There we encountered the river again, and some curious dogs peering out of a car window, before we embarked on the final short but steep road climb back to the car.

Walks since last blog entry:

1 x 7 mile Osterley Park loops.

Richmond Park Outer and Inner Loops – (via Richmond Station) – (Surrey) – 10/05/10 – 12.5 Miles – Myself

2010-05-10T10:35:00.000-07:00

Is there anywhere more glorious to walk than Richmond Park on a sunny Spring day? Well of course there isn’t, I know that, you know that, stupid question really. Anyway there was a slight change to how I normally do this one, in so much as I started the walk from Richmond Station, and reached the Park via: Richmond Green, The Thames Towpath, Petersham Meadows, and finally entering the park via the gate by the Dysart Arms.

So nothing new to add here from my previous write ups around these parts. Lot’s of trees, lots of grass, lots of deer, and lots of other people out walking, cycling, pushing prams, and walking dogs. One of the things about this walk is that despite the popularity of the park, there are plenty of areas where you find yourself completely on your own (well certainly on a weekday). Lunch was again at the café next to the golf club, consisting of a sausage baquette and a bottle of orange juice (and yes that’s right there was no cake involved – are you listening Chesterfield ?).

Now there is a world of difference between walking at full throttle (as I was doing here), and the pace I am normally forced to go at with my walking group (bless em). In fact for a short period there was a (albeit elderly) jogger in front of me, who was unable to open up any sort of gap. This of course made me start to walk even faster, as I started to have visions of overtaking him, and then giving him a mouthful of verbal abuse just because I was faster (ha – only joking on that one). Anyway he turned off, so I was denied that small victory. However by the time I was back at Richmond Station, every muscle ached from the waist down, and I felt slightly ill, and borderline depressed (the way I used to feel in the good old days after a Half Marathon). Plus I had three small blisters to pop when I got home.

Anyway a great days walking, with the Sun out and the weather not resembling anything near chilly, that the weather-morons said it would be on the telly. By late afternoon it did eventually become overcast, but I still remained fully committed to my floppy hat.

Dorking (Circular) – (Surrey) – 03/05/10 – 11 Miles – IVC + Helen

2010-05-03T13:02:00.000-07:00

There was a fairly impressive turn out for this Bank Holiday Monday walk, with around 17 (or 18) people including Helen. The weather for its part served up some bright sunshine, but there was a fairly chilly and random breeze, which was interspersed with the occasional quick shower.

After some brief road walking from Dorking station we found ourselves walking through some beautiful rolling vineyards, which as you looked at them in the distance, betrayed a purple tint. Having eventually left those we made our way up onto the North Downs, and I was fairly certain I recognised the view below, which I would have seen from Gatton Park in Reigate where my last National Trust holiday was. That said we were walking in the opposite direction. However one of our party produced a pair of binoculars and we were able to spot Leith Hill tower far away in the distance. There was also an abundance of bluebells around, virtually everywhere we went. Eventually we began the descent from the Downs with more impressive scenery including spotting a World War 2 pillar box (currently unmanned), and some white belted cows in a valley below a chuch.

Time was moving on however and we were all getting hungry, so it was with some relief when we arrived at our projected lunch stop, The Wotton Hatch, at about 1325pm. Unfortunately this hadn’t been checked out beforehand and was completely unsuitable for a walking group, as it turned out to be a very upmarket gastropub. Basically they pounced on us as soon as we tried to sit down telling us we needed to have booked a table, and there wouldn’t be any food for at least an hour. The fact that it was now raining and there didn’t appear to be any better options meant we had to try and make the best of it with a pint and some poncey type crisps. Actually this is only the second time in three years walking with IVC where we have failed to buy any lunch. Unfortunately for Helen, a lady who likes her lunch, they happen to be the last two times she has been walking with us. Anyway there was some type of sustenance offered by some ladies fate taking place next door, who sold me three highly impressive cakes for £2.40. Thus with a pint, a bag of crisps, and thanks to those nice ladies, a slice of coffee walnut cake, suddenly I had something resembling a proper meal.

Much of the second half of the walk involved walking along the Greensand Way, and included more bluebells, as well as passing the a field full of the distinctince yellow of oil seed rape. Unfortunately however, as can often happen on a lot of these type of walks, the post lunch second half of the walk was nowhere near as good as the first. A lot of the time we did seem to be walking along lanes and roads, with civilisation a little too close to think of matters as pure country walking (some of these roads were actually the Greensand Way itself). This ended with a long urban trail through the town of Dorking before we reached the station. So for my money I believe this should have been a straight out and back walk, (with obviously a better lunch stop). However for a club that is run by volunteers, everyone does their best, and one has to be grateful that people are willing to put themselves out and take the responsibility to lead walks in the first place.

Walks since last blog entry:

1 x 7.5 mile Grand Union Canal / Osterley Park.
1 x 6 mile Osterley Park loops.

Leith Hill (Circular) – (Surrey) – 05/04/10 – 9.5 Miles – IVC

2010-04-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

My heart nearly stopped at Clapham Junction station, when it showed on the board three trains departing at 1038, with not one of them stopping at Holmwood. ‘Oh my God’ I thought, ‘the bank holiday is a Sunday service after all’ (as trains don’t stop at Holmwood on a Sunday). After standing there for something near ten minutes contemplating should I resign or just wait to be expelled from IVC, thankfully the board moved up a line and the 1038 to Horsham appeared (stopping at Holmwood). Just as well then as including myself we had 14 people along for this walk (sadly not 15), which I was pleased to see included an old friend from The Arts Group.

Now the logical lunch stop on this walk (as you know from my two previous blog entries on it) is the Plough in Coldharbour, and after three quarters of an hour of walking: down a lane, across fields, and through a farm, we were there. Sadly the food didn’t seem quite as exciting as when I was last there, probably not helped by our decision to sit in the garden whilst the chilly weather constantly threatened to suddenly throw it down. Anyway for the record I had two eggs, ham and chips, and no one had any pudding.

Having regrouped we set off up towards Leith Hill, passing to the left of Coldharbour cricket club. It’s amazing when walking in a group, how quickly everyone becomes strung out when going up any sort of gradient; and this was to become quite a feature of the day. The problem was compounded whenever I stopped to make sure no one took a wrong turn, as everyone else would then come to a halt to have a natter. Once at the National Trust tower on Leith Hill, various members of our group then stopped for refreshments at the Kiosk, which I found perplexing considering they had only left the pub about 50 minutes prior to that. One older member did drop out at this point however (which he had previously warned me that he was likely to do).

So moving on we carried on through Wooton common and Abinger Bottom, finally arriving at the Stephan Langton Inn, where two other members (who had been the slowest ones in the group) decided they were going to make an afternoon of it there. For my part I was busting for a leak, which is a bit difficult to go off and do discreetly behind a tree when you are leading a walk, and everyone is behind you. So it was with some relief (geddit) that I saw a sign pointing to the outside toilets at the pub. At this point a new member said she had blisters and wanted to know was there a way she could drop out early. However as she didn’t want to phone for a taxi at the pub, and didn’t want any plasters from my first aid kit, the answer was basically no, given that Holmwood is the only logical station. In the event however she soldiered on to the end.

More climbing by Broadmoor and subsequently some steady gradients along the Greensand Way, meant the group kept getting strung out again (you should see the dots in the background of the picture) all of which made fast progress difficult. Now I had said that the hourly 1719 train should be the one we caught, and I had also said in the flyer that we might stop for late afternoon tea when we got back to the Plough. By the time we got back there however, it soon became apparent we couldn’t do the latter and still achieve the former, which thankfully didn’t present a problem for anyone.

Thus the muddy descent back to Holmwood station took a complete hour (which I assumed we should have been able to do in 45 minutes) meaning when we arrived at Holmwood station we had made it with 10 minutes to spare. Thus everyone congratulated me on my perfect timing (sheer bloody luck) as well as saying how much they had enjoyed the walk (after moaning most of the time about how uphill it was, and latterly about how it must be more than 9.5 miles). Anyway everyone seemed pleased with their own individual efforts, apart from me after I forgot to put on my gators.

Parwich (Circular) – Peak District – (Derbyshire) – 23/03/10 – 13 Miles – Helen (Luther & Molly)

2010-03-29T15:08:00.000-07:00

Having been awake for 21 hours the previous day, and then been periodically woken during the night, I was somewhat sluggish for the main bulk of this walk. Matters weren’t helped when the Sun tricked me into leaving my body warmer at home, on a day when it had no real intention of putting in a permanent appearance. Anyway having parked in Parwich we set off around midday, crossing both Bletch Brook and the Tissington Trail (avoiding a low flying RAF transporter), before reaching Tissington itself some two miles in. Once there, and having admired Tissington Hall we settled on a bench to have our lunch, before the intermittent rain forced us to seek shelter in the graveyard of a nearby church. I had debated earlier in the day whether I needed a scotch egg to go with my cob and other assorted bits, but by the end of the walk all this extra fuel definitely proved necessary.

Once lunch was finished, we crossed a field before picking up the Tissington Trail for a mile or so, following which we headed for Hampston Hill. Eventually we found ourselves walking through the picturesque (in a mini Lake Distrct sort of way) valleys of Lin Dale. Molly dog obviously thought she was back in the Lake District again as she went on a variety of scouting missions looking for sheep (fortunately none around), before returning each time we gave her a whistle (females are suckers for that sort of thing).

Eventually we arrived at the stepping stones (across the water) in Dovedale where we messed around taking photos, as well as finishing off the last of our lunch packs. Moving on, but not across the water, we walked along the Dale where Helen was able to name several of the rocks and caves on our left. We also found a strange rock, embedded with several hundred two pence pieces. This section is obviously a popular one as we had to negotiate about fifty kids being led by a National Trust grown up, some guys warning us of a pregnant sheep further down the track (huh), and a woman with a black Labrador that we couldn’t seem to shake off, and whom I was never quite sure on whether she was talking to us or herself. By this time the weather had decided to drop the pretence of it being any sort of reasonable day, and instead started to chuck it down.

Now mindful of my yet to fully heal calf, I had previously asked Helen whether we could do a flat walk on this occasion (and to be fair it had in the main been just that). However when we then moved onto a very steep and long climb onto (or on) Alsop Dale, my injured calf started grumbling for the first time in the day, and physically I felt near out on my feet. Oh and did I mention it was raining even harder by now. Thus having reached the summit, I somewhat ungraciously told Helen that she needed to go on a map reading course to understand contour lines (just the sort of thanks you need really after taking the time and trouble to plan a walk for someone, but then that’s the sort of cad I am). So far be it for me to suggest that any of that had put Helen off her stroke, but shortly afterwards the map reading started to go somewhat astray.

From Hanscombe Grange we negotiated our way through a farm, and a pervasive whiff of slurry (which lived long in the nostrils), and then basically went walking down a road in the wrong direction. Now the problem wasn’t so much that we carried on for at least a mile and a half before realising this, but rather that it was getting seriously late in the day (which wasn’t all that bright a day to begin with). However just when we were coming to the conclusion that it was all going very wrong (which strangely coincided with my energy levels lifting back up again), we suddenly came across a sign on our left pointing a trail towards Tissington. Now although it had gone past 5 o clock, we figured as long as we didn’t mess up getting to Tissington, we were home and dry as we could then follow the two mile route we had already been down, in the opposite direction back to Parwich. Wrong on that count however, as although we easily made it back to Tissington (and Tissington Hall), we began to cock up again.

Now rather than quickly pushing on at that point, whilst we just about had enough light to do it, Helen had become seriously disorientated. This was because both the darkness, and the raindrops on her glasses, were preventing her from reading the map. Thus we couldn’t seem to agree on which way to go, with us wasting inordinate amounts of time asking various village idiots for confusing non-directions to Parwich. Now unfortunately I wasn’t really any help whatsoever here, as is my won’t when someone else is leading a walk, I tend to pay no attention to the route of where we’ve been, or where we are heading (something I need to get out of the habit of). Thus finding ourselves in the middle of a field in approaching darkness, and with still no clear sense of direction, we decided we urgently had to return to the road in Tissington again, before a drama became a real dangerous crisis.

Once back in Tissington and still unable to make much sense of the map by the light of a phone box, we decided there was no option other than to walk a four to six mile semi-circular route back to Parwich on a completely unlit road. Oh and before you ask there was no mini-cab numbers in the phone box, or pubs (or anything resembling civilisation) along the way. Were we in any real trouble at this point ? Well no, not unless one of the dogs had twisted its paw in one of the cattle grids we had to cross over, or if my calf muscle had suddenly pulled, or even worse than any of that, Helen had started to get hungry. No what we had to look forward to was the best part of two more hours walking, in pitch darkness, in the cold and rain. The other thing we also had to look out for was the occasional vehicle coming up behind us, and then came ‘The Miracle of Bus 411’. Thus turning round to clear the road of the first vehicle that had come up behind us for about 15 minutes, what came heading in our direction (with no one else on board) was the 411 to Parwich. This was in fact not just the last one of the night, but a service that only diverts off to Parwich once every three hours. Were we grateful or what when he stopped in the road to pick us up ? Once on board Helen was close to laughing hysterics, Luther felt relieved enough to start grooming and cleaning Molly, whilst I racked my brain to find ways to thank the driver enough (obviously the guy wasn’t a London bus driver, because he would have just driven round us as we weren’t at a stop, or alternatively opened the door before proclaiming in the best jobsworth tone: “no dogs”).

So still wide eyed at the miracle that had just happened, we arrived in Parwich where without the aid of a map, we managed to retrieve the car. Now Helen reckoned we did some 12 miles in total, whereas I think it was nearer 14, so splitting the difference I am settling on 13 (which is unlucky for some, but in the final reckoning not us).

Milford (Circular) – (Surrey) – 14/03/10 – 12 Miles – IVC

2010-03-14T16:03:00.000-07:00

Well so much better than last Sunday then. In that event it was a case of getting out of bed at 0730 for the IVC walk, only to fall back under the covers by 0740 feeling completely shagged out. Having recovered later I decided to do a rucksack walk in the afternoon, only to rip my left calf muscle (from a long dormant running injury) some three miles in. The cause of all this grief being the three (Run)/Walks I had done in the prior ten days, which had physically ground me into the dirt, and tightened both calves to the point of no return. So my question to myself therefore is when am I going to learn:
1 – That I am not capable of running anymore, precisely for this sort of reason.
2 – That walking is meant to be a healthy outdoor enjoyable activity, not a slog your guts out exercise through which I try to recapture former glories (ditto cycling: healthy mode of transport not a …………. oh you get the idea).

So anyway despite a week of walking to work and back, and standing up whilst watching TV, all as a desperate form of self rehab., I would be doing this walk with a limp and a certain amount of pain (but then again I am something of a hero).

It was nice to get the feel of Spring in the air as our party set off from Milford station, and for a day when I was mainly bringing up the rear, this was one of the few occasions when the walk’s leader was setting a cracking pace. Thus by the time I had caught the leader and the majority of the group up, they would have swigged from their drinks bottles and be on their way again. Part of this swift pace however was down to her booking a table for six at the pub for 1330, to avoid the Mothers Day trade, and not wanting to miss that particular slot. That said I was doing a fair bit of chin wagging at the back about the OU and other assorted topics and thus finding myself falling off the pace and struggling (with the injury) to catch up.

There was a fair amount of up and downs until we found ourselves walking mainly along pine mono-culture type forest pathways, which turned out to be the Greensand Way, which me and Helen covered part of during the Leith Hill excursions. By this time I had picked up a very large stick and was using it as a walking pole for my left leg. So when we arrived at the White Horse pub in Hascombe, I placed it carefully out of view outside for use again during the second half.

Whilst not outrageously priced, this was not one of your cheaper food pubs either, so the cheeseburger and chips looked the best bet for a tenner, and we were asked how well we wanted the burger (locally sourced organic Aberdeen Angus apparently) done. Certainly you don’t normally get asked that when you order a Big Mac and Fries, but then that’s only a third of the price. So despite all the Mother’s Day kerfuffle the pub was busy but not imposible, although the over abundance of toddlers told one that this wasn’t a normal Sunday. Unfortunately I can’t speak for the puddings as our leader told us quite firmly that none of us had the time to order one. So having barely digested the burger, it was time to reassemble outside and retrieve my stick.

Now I have to say my stick was quite useful in taking the pressure off my left calf, especially in the sense of pushing off with it. The downside however was it was quite heavy, and was also starting to make my left shoulder sore. So eventually I ended up chucking it, round about the time when the small dog appeared (although I am almost certain, the stick itself hadn’t turned into a dog). Anyway this tiny Jack Russell doggie/thing had become very much part of our group, save for the fact that it didn’t like the pace we were walking at, and kept running on ahead of us. Eventually however a lad caught up with us on his mountain bike, although he said that it wasn’t his dog but it actually belonged to his neighbours. Unfortunately the more he tried to run after the dog to retrieve it, the more the dog thought what a brilliant game it was to keep running away, and this was one fast dog. Finally the lad thought sod it and proceeded to walk off, at which point having seen the game was now over, said dog surrendered itself to one of our party. This of course meant that we then had to go chasing after the young lad to get him to come and collect it (well not me of course, as I have a bad leg doncha know).

Our next interesting four legged encounter was with some sort of pot bellied pig/boar thing that kept snorting at us from the other side of a fence. He certainly seemed friendly enough (although those teeth looked sharp) but he obviously had some sort of sinus problem that really needs to be dealt with. His missus meanwhile was happy to stay in the middle of the pen and ignore us. By this time two of our party were getting restless and were wanting to break off and drop out at Godalming (one train stop down the line), and thus save themselves a whole mile’s worth of walking. In the event they missed the hourly train by exactly two minutes, and ended up getting on the one we caught at Milford. For our part we arrived at Milford station by 1715, which meant there was considerable time to kill before the 1752 put in an appearance. At this point serious questions began to be asked as to why we couldn’t stay on for the Banoffee at the pub instead of being rushed out. However our leader placated us all with a shortcake biscuit, and thus we will say no more in these parts about it.

Walks since last blog entry:

(Run) Walks
2 x 6 Miles – Grand Union Canal / Osterley Park
1 x 6 Miles – Osterley Park / Grand Union Canal

(Rucksack 9kg) Walks.1 x 4 miles – Putney to Barnes Bridge (incomplete).

Ashover (Circular) – Peak District (Derbyshire) – 21/02/10 – 5 Miles – Helen (Luther & Molly)

2010-02-22T16:21:00.000-08:00

A short write up for a fairly shortish walk, which nonetheless had some steady old climbs as well as some impressive views. In fact the views were rather Christmassy card in nature, which means of course that the white stuff had made a come back. Anyway we parked and set off at Ashover Village Hall, and after negotiating our way around an assortment of kids, parents and their dog, we made our climb up onto a ridge and began a circular walk round, before descending at something called Devils Bottom, or Behind (or something like that – ask Helen).

Anyway the snow was crunchy as well as being reel pweety (sic). Unfortunately my energy and enthusiasm levels were severly muted due to some virus or other I had been trying to shake off for several days. Thus I was firing on only one of my normal three cylinders. So when after about ninety odd minutes Helen told me we had only done half of it, my heart did begin to sink (although that may also have been because I realised the perfectly round snowball I had been working on for twenty minutes or so, would probably have to be disposed of before I got back to the car). Luther and Molly seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it all though (including trying to catch my flying snowballs). Whilst Helen tried to keep my enthusiasm going with a guided tour of: assorted mines, quarries, and her former property portfolio. As if by some sort of Karma her efforts were eventually rewarded when a passing female walker (+ partner and dog) made all sorts of complimentary remarks about Luther. This of course caused Helen to near burst with pride (as it would with any proud mother).

So overall a good little walk on a really excellent and picturesque day. Unfortunately I wasn’t on sufficient form to appreciate it, although I am sure getting outdoors and making the effort, no doubt did me some good.

Otford (Circular) – (Kent) – 14/02/10 – 8 Miles – IVC

2010-02-14T11:47:00.000-08:00

Mud, mud, glorious mud, nothing quite like it for ……….. (well whatever). So if ever a walk had a theme to it, then that was the story of this one. The Gators that Helen had bought me last week really came into their own today, although the new boots (which were totally caked in the stuff) proved far from grippy, especially when it came to getting over muddy stiles.

Anyway seven of us assembled at the allotted time at Otford station, only to be told by our walk leader that there was another female member still travelling on the train. However after some half an hour of standing about in the drizzle, most of us were getting a teeny bit cheesed off waiting for this person to show up. Therefore our walk leader decided to stay and wait for her to arrive, while the leader of all leaders would instead lead us up to the lunch stop where we would all rendevous.

So straight out of the station then and we were met with an enormous partly stepped climb that had us all slipping left right and centre as we climbed up onto the Downs. However after descending into a valley (pictured) we began to realise what slippy was, as first our leader of all leaders fell face down on the ascent, and as I tried to go to his assistance, I fell and slid face down as well, as if I was caught up in a landslip (amazingly I managed to avoid getting caked in mud).

Needless to say by the time we reached our lunch stop at the Fox and Hounds, my new boots were two muddy stumps. Thoughtfully the pub provides a boot rack outside, but no means for getting from the rack to inside the front door (where I eventually left mine) without getting your feet wet. Anyway with my gators ripped off, at least my trousers were the height of respectability. We had speculated earlier as being Valentines day, maybe we wouldn’t be able to get a table at the pub, but there was certainly enough room at the inn; not just for us either as two other walking groups soon piled in. For my part I had the Sunday roast which was: half a roast chicken, bacon strip, roast potatoes, and green peas (all of which I ate), and yorkshire pudding and cauliflower (which I didn’t). So with lunch consumed, our original leader + straggler then showed up, and we all waited while they ordered and ate.

Once off and out the door again in the mizzle, we couldn’t seem to detach ourselves from Bromley Ramblers, all the way down to the golf course. Only the severest and yet again muddiest of climbs seemed to put pay to them. What goes up however will of course come down, only in this case I decided to tackle the slippy descent with the aid of a large stick, which seemed to work quite well for me (so if anyone is lost for present ideas …… !).

So having passed Shoreham station crossing a road, our leader suggested that this was a potential drop out point for anyone (duh), but everyone was happy to slip and slide on regardless. What we did have to look out for however was flying golf balls, as one way or another we always seemed to be crossing, or walking alongside one course or another. Eventually however we found ourselves navigating along the Darent Valley, (and as we came upon some houses) the Darent River. From there a brief road walk took us back to Otford station, and of course home, tea, and lashings of ginger beer.

Leith Hill (Circular) – (Surrey) – 06/02/10 – 9.5 Miles – Helen

2010-02-07T12:55:00.000-08:00

Now is the Winter of our discontent; or to put it another way, what a shit month January was then. Thus my singular walk of last month was on the 8th which you will have already all read about in this blog (you did all read it didn’t you ?). So what went wrong then Mike, I hear you ask ? Well, the problems started with the snow and ice, which made even the tinest stroll over to Tesco’s a potential limb breaking tumble, and turned the rail network into little more than a mirage. But hey I don’t need to tell any of you that, because you were all there in one way or another with the snow yourselves. So what else happened then ? Well, one of the parents went into hospital, which has taken up substantial amounts of time. Then just to round the month off nicely, I developed a particularly nasty stomach bug, the violent effects of which only lasted a day, but the lethargic (watch it buster I might easily strike you again) after effects went on for well over a week. So as I said, just the one walk (of any sort) for January then.

In other news however, I did finally commit to buying a new pair of walking boots. A fabric (I am so not sure about this) pair of North Face ones, coming in at a outrageous (for me anyway) £110. Although as such price wasn’t really the sticking point here, but rather the time lag necessary into getting my head round the (now) indisputable fact, that I am currently increasing in shoe size every two years. So part of this walk was about trying said fabric boots out, as well as a snazzy pair of gaters that Helen had just bought for me (to solve the usual muddy disgrace that is the bottom of my trousers). Anyway this was a repeat of the Leith Hill circular I did on my own on my working holiday in December, based on the February 2009 cut out from Country Walking magazine. Only in this instance I/we would be starting at the official start at Holmwood station, rather than half way round.

So after having messed about for ten minutes on the station platform adjusting my gators, we were on our way and within a matter of minutes managed to cake my brand new boots in mud along the narrowest of lanes. The day itself had a drop in temperature from the previous one, with a mist on the horizon that would not disappear, but apart from that gave us perfect walking conditions. So after a quick traverse across some fields taking us up to Anstiebury Farm, and a small section on the road, we had reached Coldharbour and our lunch stop at The Plough Inn. Thus it was 12.10 and including gator adjustment time, we had been going all of 40 minutes. Anyway The Plough Inn turned out to be very walker friendly, given the amount of them (+ dogs) that came in after us, with a reasonably priced menu (I had the gammon steak, with egg, veg and chips, and Helen had some sort of fish soup).

So with lunch over it was the start of a long climb, passing Coldharbour cricket pitch and assorted mountain bikers, which eventually led us all the way up to Leith Hill Tower. Unlike the the last time I was here (in midweek) the tower was open to visitors. So after Helen flashed her National trust membership card at the kiosk ladies, we were able to climb the (sometimes dark) winding staircase to the very top, whilst stopping off to see the info boards, and trying to keep away from the brat toddlers that always seem to inhabit these sort of places. Unfortunately however having reached the summit all the promised views to: St Pauls, the Sea, etc., were hidden behind the impenetrable mist that just wouldn’t lift despite the occasional glimpse of sunlight.

So with that amusement finished, we were back walking along various bridleways that took us through Wooton Common and Abinger Bottom. Eventually passing the Stephen Langton Inn, which is a potential lunch stop on this walk, but would have been far too late in the day for us. I did at this point start to get slightly concerned that it was now approaching three o clock, and we only seemed to have just made the half way point. However once we had picked up the Greensand Way at Broadmoor, passing the Henman Basecamp from my working holiday, I felt relaxed once more about the available daylight. Of less concern, but a definite curiousity, was why my new gators weren’t getting splattered in mud in the same way my trousers usually do (perhaps they are Teflon non-stick). Anyway once we had walked through a fallen tree on the path, we made it back round to Coldharbour cricket pitch again and stopped for assorted refreshments.

From there we were back on the home straight, passing through Coldharbour again, and this time taking a different route on a lane around Anstiebury Farm, and also around a horse that was doing his best to block it. Not the only wildlife on view here either, as at the bottom of our descent, three young deer flashed across the path we were heading towards. So with one more ascent along the hedgeline of four fields we soon found ourselves back at Holmwood station. Well that would actually either be too soon or too late, as having arrived at 1638, we then had a chilly wait for the 1719 train to Victoria in a windowless waiting room. Oh by the way I forgot to mention how I got on with the new boots, which in itself must be a good sign.

Walks since last blog entry:
(Run) Walks1 x 6 miles – Osterley Park / Grand Union Canal.

Wimbledon Park to Osterley (via Kew Bridge) – (Surrey/Middlesex) – 08/01/10 – 12 Miles – Myself

2010-01-08T10:44:00.000-08:00

Unless you’re a kid with an extended school holiday, the current big freeze is snow joke for anyone. Thus with four days off work, I have found all my plans having to be shelved due to a combination of slippy roads, unreliable trains, and threats of worse weather to come. Sure I know other people are having far worse problems with it. Also I always have work to look forward to next week, and the opportunity to do some more driving on the white stuff. But having said all that it is actually making me depressed okay (so bite me). However given that London Underground seem better at keeping their train set working than the other lot, and with my original plan for the day cancelled anyway, I decided to fight back against the elements and do one of my favourite walks.

So that’s two stages of the Capital Ring again then, and with only one station between home and Wimbledon Park actually underground, I was surprised at what a hassle free journey it was. Once in Wimbledon Park, it was obvious that the young mums and buggies fraternity, were not going to be put off from getting their toddlers to the swings. Fair play to them, but of course Wimbledon Park, and the road section that follows, is merely the necessary evil part of this walk until you get to the real start of proceedings in Wimbledon Common. Also given that this road section was the one bit I had most concerns about, it was something of a relief that I managed to get to Wimbledon Common without going arse over tit. Once in the common though I felt on much surer ground walking wise, with my £25 steel toe cap workboots (which I use for conservation activities) still performing well whilst I dither on about buying a proper pair of walking boots again.

So once past the Windmill I decided that I had already earned myself a tea break at the Windmill Tea Rooms. However seeing as I am making a sterling effort these days to break out of the coffee with chocolate cake (or bar or biscuits) rut, I decided to expand my horizons and have a cherry slice with a hot chocolate drink. Not too bad for £3.70, especially given the hot chocolate was made with milk not water. However given the blue blood clientele they seem to attract here I couldn’t help feeling I was lowering the tone of the place. So hoping I didn’t leave too many crumbs I supped up quickly and got back out into the snow.

Now as daft as it seems I couldn’t help feeling I was somewhat overdressed, given that on my upperbody I was wearing: one vest, one t-shirt, two pullovers, one fleece, and an anorak (not to mention a woolly hat). Therefore to counteract the fact that I was actually sweating buckets, I did periodically take off my gloves. Wimbledon Common naturally looks different in the snow and although I should know this route like the back of my hand by now, there were a few moments when I had to do a double take on which way to go. Another potential slip hazard loomed when it came to crossing the footbridge over the A3 to take one into Richmond Park. However despite that having no grit on it, it did have a handrail to balance oneself on.

Richmond Park was shut to cars, and for a moment I thought pedestrians as well, but once in I made a quick visit to the facilities at Robin Hood Gate. Then it was onto the climb up towards Spankers Hill Wood, whilst keeping it on my right. However given that all the paths were buried under a blanket of white, again it took me a moment to get my bearings. Once at Pen Ponds, it became apparent that they had both frozen up save for one small patch of water, that some ducks and swans were floating about on (see picture). Still perhaps they had the day off school as well as the multitude of kids who were up by Henry VIII’s mound tobagonning down towards the gate by the Dysart Arms. Not wishing to become a new type of accident statistic, I made sure I gave them the widest of berths before leaving the park.

Pushing on through Petersham Meadows, I was very surprised to find the towpath by Richmond Bridge not just gritted in places, but actually lacking any evidence of it having snowed there at all. However as if to restore some sort of equilibrium, this was the moment when large blobs of the white stuff briefly started to come down again, as you can see in my Canadian geese picture.

Once past Twickenham bridge it was back to watching where you were walking on the towpath again. What was worse however was that due to ice (get out of it) they had shut Twickenham footbridge, leaving me stuck on the Surrey side of the river and a longer diversion home via Kew Bridge. Well that was not too much of a problem I suppose, certainly not as much as the idiot who let the largest of his three dogs come barking up to me, and then ram me with his head (once I had quickly put my hands in my pockets). Just what you need when walking on an icy towpath, and even though the guy immediately said sorry, no doubt if I had broke my leg he would have just walked on. Anyway that gripe aside, once I reached Kew Bridge I decided the paths were too slippy and ungritted (is that a word ?) to risk coming back via the Thames and the Grand Union at the back of Brentford, and instead walked the modernist mile along the Great West Road instead.

Walks since last blog entry:

(Run) Walks:

1 x 6 miles – Grand Union Canal / Osterley Park .

The Best Walk Awards - 2009

2009-12-31T14:22:00.001-08:00

Also known as my favourite walks of the year, in three seperate categories. So:

BEST WALK WITH IVC
Well there was quite a few good ones, and a few so so ones as well. I did particularly enjoy the Bank Holiday walk from Eastbourne to Seaford back in April (which was the opposite way to how I have otherwise done it). Also the walk we did the previous day from Leigh to Tunbridge Wells was also a cracker. In fact coming to think of it, the expedition from Brighton to Newhaven which I criticised at the time, seems to have hung long in the memory. However the winner in this category is: Arundel to Amberley – (West Sussex) – 27/09/09 – 10 Miles – IVC. which was a perfect late Summer's day walk.

BEST WALK ON MY OWN
Nowadays the majority of my walks are on my own (an expanded innovation from 2008), which means because they are repeated often they now only feature as a footnote on this blog (unless it is a new walk). So despite some late competition from my Leith Hill Circular walk, the clear winner is: Sidmouth to Exmouth – (East Devon) – 01/04/09 – 10 miles – N/Trust W/Hol. – Myself. which was a continuation of a coastal walk I began five years prior (which itself was my introduction to Country Walking). What made this extra special (besides the fact that it was a coastal walk which I love) was that it was a fantastic seventy degree Summer's day, on the 1st of April.

BEST WALK WITH HELEN
Some very strong contenders here especially: the walk over Mam Tor (slightly spoiled by the people and flies at the beginning), and the Upper Derwent Reservoirs circular (this time slightly spoiled by the road walking on the last third of it). So basically it came down to two walks (or more to the point two climbs). Now by rights our walk over Skiddaw and Little Man should really be the winner, as it basically had everything going for it, and unlike the winner it didn't involve me having to watch my footing coming downhill. Nevertheless I have chosen as the winner: Haystacks Circular (including Buttermere Lake) – (Lake District – Day 6) – (Cumbria) – 11/09/09 – 8.5 Miles – Helen (luther & Molly) because as well as a great ascent and descent of Haystacks in perfect conditions, it also included a complete circuit of Buttermere Lake (which unlike Skiddaw, didn't require us to go straight into a climb after stepping out of the car).

WORST / SADDEST MOMENT OF THE YEAR
No need to dwell on what occured on 15th May (as those people who should know do already), save that it would be wrong not to at least make some sort of footnote of it.

Other than that I wish all my readers GOOD WALKING IN 2010.

Leith Hill Circular – (Surrey) – 15/12/09 – 9.5 Miles – Myself (N/Trust working holiday)

2009-12-18T13:02:00.000-08:00

For the day off on my working holiday at Gatton Park – Reigate for the National Trust (which incorporated Scrub Bash 2009), I decided to follow a route plan from Country Walking magazine, that started right outside the Henman Basecamp. Given that there was only 5 other people on the holiday, 3 of whom who wanted to spend the day off in the basecamp (yawn), I was on my own for this one. Now on the Country Walking map/instructions (Feb 2009 issue) the walk starts at Holmwood Station, however I was picking it up just past point 4 on the Greensand Way by Broadmoor.

The day itself was bright but crispy cold, but with thankfully no wind chill factor and after asking a lady and dog, whether the bridlepath outside the basecamp was what I thought it was (I had only seen it in the dark), I was on my way. My first point of reference (where the walk loops back) was the rather small Coldharbour cricket pitch. From there it was a steep descent, before hitting the road and turning left at the public house. Having negotiated that I found myself dissecting Antiebury Farm, then partaking of a wooded descent and finally crossing over three fields where the ‘careful of livestock’ signs proved unnecessary. I then became slightly confused with the instructions (not for the first time during the walk), before quickly getting back on track, and arriving at Holmwood railway station (the walk’s official start). As things had proceeded relatively easy thus far, and it was only quarter to eleven (I had set off at nine thirty), I decided coffee and biscuits were in order on the station platform.

However after setting off again things became slightly more confusing. Part of the problem was the instruction to go past Moorhurst, when there was no sign or marking to say what on earth that actually was. Just when I had convinced myself I was officially lost a stile appeared on my right where one had been vaguely promised. However when the next stile supposedly to be found by hogging the left side of the second next field didn’t appear (it should have said walk across it diagonally) I temporarily started to feel slightly queasy. However once that stile was located (with more coffee/biscuits consumed as well to settle my stomach), I began the climb that took me across Antiebury Farm again, this time from the other side.

Once I had come past the public house again and begun the climb up towards the Coldharbour cricket pitch once more, I found myself facing about four different choices of direction where none was supposed to be. So suitably flummoxed I decided to stop there and have lunch. This however didn’t take long as it was getting distinctly nippy. So assuming that the left hand fork meant straight on, I followed the bridleway until I eventually reached the signs for Leith Hill. Now it was obvious to any fool, that this meant continuing uphill, and the sign in front of me pointed uphill. However what the instructions said was that having reached the sign I should: ‘Follow waymarked route downhill to R to junction, then L uphill to tower’. So down I went, reaching the road and carrying on yet further down hill, until I suddenly thought ‘waida minnite’………….

Anyway so back up I went finding Leith Hill tower in the process, which apparently is the highest point in Surrey, that gives views to the capital and the sea. No such views on show this day however as beyond the immediate canopy, all one could see was mist. Also following ‘the clear path signed to Starveall car park’ turned out not to be all that clear either, as this soon fragmented into multiple paths. When I did eventually find the bridleway on my right, this turned into more confusion when the instructions telling me to ‘turn left at the path crossroads’ didn’t actually mean the first crossroads one came to, but rather the one with the wooden signs further on. So basically I found myself looping back into the car park on two further occasions.

Once I eventually broke free from this, I then located the right part of the road, only to have a DHL delivery driver ask me for directions (I pointed the innocent fool, to the nearest sideroad I could see). So having left Wotton Common, I was now able to pick up the bridleway (alongside the stream) through Abinger Bottom, eventually coming out at the Stephan Langton Inn, which would be the logical lunch point if I lead this walk for IVC. Following one final confusion through the woods at Broadmoor, where I wasn’t sure whether the instruction ‘L at next junction’ applied to either the path or the road, I was soon back on the Greensand Way and ultimately the Henman basecamp.

So overall a very good walk, but one to be enjoyed far more the second time once one knows where one is actually going. Given the amount of retracing steps that I did on this one however, I would say the true distance I walked was probably nearer 11 miles.

Walks since last blog entry:

(Run) Walks
1 x 6 miles – Grand Union Canal / Osterley Park .
1 x 6 miles – Osterley Park / Grand Union Canal.

Longshaw Circular – (White/Dark) Peak District – (Derbyshire) – 01/12/09 – 6 Miles – Helen (luther & Molly)

2009-12-03T05:55:00.000-08:00

With one of our objectives for the walk being an ascent over Carl Wark, we were most perturbed to find the nearby car park only took credit cards (thus discriminating against people who just carry currency on walks). So that required a swift of change of route/plan by the map lady, which nonetheless produced an excellent walk (with Carl Wark excluded).

So with a new parking place at the top of Padley Gorge, we descended down into the Longshaw Estate, where ‘the red grouse calls’ (often mistaken by locals for pheasant). The weather was bright and crispy cold, with a fair smattering of thin ice on top of the puddles. None of this bothered superdogs Luther and Molly however who were of course in their element, and basically didn’t bother us either as there was no wind chill about to test our resilience. Thus we proceeded in a downwardly direction on the gorge, with a stream far below us to our left, and moss covered rocks and trees to our right, that conceal carefully disguised monsters (see photo). Presently we found a footpath to take us onto higher ground, passing a small dwelling as we did. There then followed a small amount of confusion as to how we were going to climb higher still onto the rocky outcrops around us. Whilst we were faffing about on this, all four of us were suddenly startled by an unkempt man and even more shaggy Old English Sheepdog running past us, and up onto the rocks. They turned out to be one half of a shepherding team rounding up the sheep far above us. The other half of the team shouted down for us not to follow them up with the dogs (like we could climb up there anyway). However there was no need as we discovered we were on the right path as it was.

So we continued on in what turned out to be Bolehill Quarry admiring the many millstones that are scattered about in these parts (again see photo), before eventually crossing the A625 onto Millstone Edge in the direction of Higger Tor. Lunch soon followed, which was in this instance fairly modest given the much larger meal planned for that evening. Also the fact that one could get fairly chilled fairly quickly when not moving, meant that neither of us insisted on our statutory hour.

When we reached Higger Tor, this involved a steep climb up some rocks which threw Luther into a momentarily panic, before he worked out the best way to get up. Following which we continued down to Upper Burbage Bridge crossing the two streams underneath (aka Burbage Brook), as I admired the strange coloured and smelling water, which Helen of course insisted was au naturelle for the area. As we continued along with Burbage Rocks to our left we spotted a guy running along the edge carrying some sort of strange rucksack (or something) on his back. Having dispensed with his load he then proceeded to scale the face of the rocks unassisted (save for his fingers and boots – most impressive). The light was starting to go by now and we continued on as Luther made the most of the brown moss all around, and I speculated on whether some of the more elaborately shaped boulders were really concealing alien spacecraft (just wait till there is a lightning storm round these parts).

Anyway we eventually crossed over the A625 again and into Longshaw Park, where I reacquainted myself with the wooden sheep that I met here with IVC M&M back in May 2008 (looking slightly the worse for wear). Helen for her part reacquainted herself with the pond that she used to go iceskating on as a girl, and we also noted the problems ducks have trying to contend with half frozen water. Not before time then given the failing light, we were back at the car ready to undertake our next adventure later that afternoon, which involved a game of hide and seek with a key.

South Benfleet / Leigh on Sea (circular) – (Essex) – 22/11/09 – 8 Miles – IVC.

2009-11-23T09:28:00.000-08:00

Now I have a little confession to make. I did attempt to do this walk from Country Walking magazine (July 2008) on my own back in September, with a view to leading IVC around it at a later point. However after starting along the deserted estuary for about a mile, I got spooked by a combination of: having to share the narrow stretch of path with some angry looking cows, and seeing a group of youths heading in my direction with a couple of bull terrier type dogs running around off the lead. So immediately feeling somewhat alone and vulnerable, I basically bottled it and turned back. Whether that was right or wrong who knows ? However since my incident of 15th May this year (see earlier blog entry), I have become a lot more cautious when it comes to walking on my own in remote areas, without anyone knowing that I am there.

So why am I back then you may well ask ? The answer being that I had promised IVC I would lead this walk, before my (failed) attempt to check it out for myself. Now I did try to do it last week with Helen, however severe weather warnings for the region which in the event turned into a tornado http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/8360298.stm fortunately put us off. On this occasion however there was no problem with any pitbulls or cows, but initially plenty of concerns caused by the weather.

Anyway a group of nine of us assembled at Benfleet station for the off, and after making our way into Hadleigh country park, down and across the railway line, and alongside the marina, we all began to speculate on the angry looking sky that was appearing to follow us. At that point though the weather was still holding fire, and we were all able to see up and away in the distance the tiny form of Hadleigh castle, as the regular train services hurried by. However once out on the completely exposed seawall path the weather let rip with everything it had at us, as we all frantically tried to put on waterproofs that themselves were threatening to be blown out of our hands and away. The driving gusts of wind and rain, soon turned into hailstones, which although fortunately coming from behind us, felt to me like small buckshot blasting against the back of my hood/head. So yes it was a definate ‘beam me up Scotty’ moment. Momentarily the hailstones did ease enough for us to pull our hoods down, before returning once again for a more severe barrage. However by the time we got as far as the the putting green on our left, the weather had begun to ease, and we were able to note the damage to that club’s fencing, which we speculated could have been caused by the previous weeks tornado.

By this time we had nearly reached Leigh on Sea, at which point the sky turned blue, the day brightened up, and the weather remained as good as gold for the rest of the walk. As we diverted away from the railway station into Leigh, one of our party recommended a pub called ‘Ye Olde Smack’ for lunch, which turned out to be a fairly good choice. Thus once inside we had a perfect window view of the estuary and the fast rising sea level. I thought I would try for a change some fish and chips, with one of our group even having a veggie version of this, which on a price wise and taste wise level proved to be fairly reasonable choice. Unfortunately the chocolate fudge cake pudding was a bit of a squashed mess, with some thin yellow liquid on the dish which we couldn’t decide on whether it was meant to be cream or custard. I decided to leave that as an open ended question rather than putting any of it in my mouth, and just ate the brown goo instead. I do like though to make allowances especially given the handy nature of the floor by the windows being made of stone. This being due to a large and embarrassing pool of water that was forming under my saturated rucksack (if it had been carpet I would had to have blamed it on one of the four dogs that were milling around).

Anyway once lunch had gone down two of our party decided that they had done enough for the day, no doubt fearing a repeat of the weather, and dropped out at Leigh on Sea station, as we headed back into the Hadleigh Marsh, now on the other side of the railway. This however turned into a real treacherous mud trail, which given my penchant for falling over these days, it was with some relief that I didn’t end up lying in it. Eventually we came to a stile in the hedge and began the long climb up the turf covered hill to Hadleigh castle. As we turned round we could see Canvey Island, as well as the Thames and Medway estuaries below us.

Once at the castle however the final climb up onto it’s mount was like the sort of mud slide that in the Seventies used to feature on shows like ‘It’s A Knockout’. Thus for several minutes three of us were stuck on it, trying to find a way to help each other up without all coming down together in a great muddy heap. Once that obstacle was overcome we were able to investigate the ruins of Hadleigh castle which turned out to be a lot bigger than anticipated from below. I had been telling everyone all day in my most authoritive voice that three of Henry VIII’s wives had lived there, a fact the information board conveniently ommitted, making me look a bit of a chump as it only really mentioned Edward III. A quick check just now on Wikipedia however proves me right, and also mentions the interesting fact that this is going to be used as the venue for the Mountain biking competition in the 2012 Olympics.

So by the time we had finished with Hadleigh Castle the light was starting to go, and we descended once more along Hadleigh Marsh with the railway and Benfleet creek on our left. When we eventually found a crossing by the marina to get across the railway, it turned out to be about 50 yards down from the one we had crossed earlier in the day causing me as walk leader some slight confusion. However the leader of all leaders soon came to my aid pointing out that we could reach Benfleet station from the road anyway (obviously done this walk before then), with us easily making the 1625 to Fenchurch Street. So overall an enjoyable winter’s walk despite the hailstones in the first half, and the mud in the second.

Walks since last blog entry:

Walks
1 x 8 miles – Putney to Osterley (Helen).

(Run) Walks
3 x 6 miles – Grand Union Canal / Osterley Park .
1 x 6 miles – Osterley Park / Grand Union Canal.

(Rucksack 9kg) Walks
1 x 8 miles – Putney to Osterley.

Dorking to Boxhill – (Surrey) – 25/10/09 – 8 Miles – IVC.

2009-10-25T13:44:00.000-07:00

This wasn’t a great day for travelling, as my section of the Piccadilly line was on a replacement bus service, and the South West Trains alternative only runs once an hour on a Sunday. Thus I ended up being stuck between a rock and a hard place of either: killing an hour at Clapham Junction in both directions for the journey out and the return home, or travel to and fro between Clapham Junction and Waterloo four times in order to have somewhere to sit down.

Anyway enough of that as this was a warm and sunny autumnal day, that managed to bring together a group of 23 of us (hope my walk next month does as well). So with all these people around there was a fair amount of chin wagging going on, which probably explains why I can’t remember much of the first half of the walk up to lunch (well save for the extremely fast road we crossed near a garden centre, which seemed to be as busy and fast as your average motorway).

Anyway lunch was at The Dolphin at Betchworth, where the pretty young bar staff (that includes the girls), seemed to take twice as long to take your order, as did the kitchen staff to cook it. Anyway I ordered a chicken, ham and leek pie, with mashed potatoes, which when it turned up looked and tasted distinctly average, in a Seventies school dinner sort of way (so well worth the nine quid I paid for it !). To add to my chagrin one of the young waitresses then bounced by in the garden with someones elses rather appetising looking burger and chips, which wasn’t on any menu I saw.

Anyway following lunch we ended up playing chicken all over again with another dangerous road, which involved one driver screaming abuse at one of our party at 70mph. Past that hurdle however and we could see Boxhill in the distance. After a walk through a long and wooded path we came across a former Lime Kiln in Brockham. From there we began some serious climbing up towards Boxhill, which spread the group out somewhat. However having got near the summit, our leader explained that we would then have to do a very long descent as the route had long been blocked by houses, before starting the steep climb all over again (isn’t this the sort of thing the Para’s do ?). That said these little bits of running I have been doing in the last few weeks must be doing me some good, as three of us shot off up the hill leaving everyone else for dead.

So at this point we had reached the top of Boxhill, which I hope you can see from the photo, seems to be a popular vantage point for flying kites. From there we joined the very long queue at the Boxhill National Trust outdoor café/kiosk for afternoon tea. Well bugger tea actually, as I had a hot chocolate plus a slice of sponge cake, less my 20% discount for being a National Trust volunteer. Following which we had a beautiful backlit descent down from Boxhill towards the finish at Boxhill and Westhumble station, passing Rykas (bikers) café which we had visited earlier in the year. So overall a pleasant day, that is apart from the crap train connections which meant a two hour trip home from Dorking for me(aarrgh).

Walks since last blog entry:

(Run) Walks
1 x 4 miler – Osterley Park .
2 x 6 milers – Grand Union Canal / Osterley Park .
1 x 7.5 miler – Grand Union Canal / Osterley Park .

(Rucksack 9kg) Walks1 x 7.5 miler – Grand Union Canal / Osterley Park .

Arundel to Amberley – (West Sussex) – 27/09/09 – 10 Miles – IVC.

2009-09-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

Who knows maybe this was the last good day’s walking of the Summer, but after a nippy start leaving the house in the morning, by the time we all alighted at Arundel station a few hours later, it was immediately a case of sweatshirt off and sunhat on. As we set off through the town we caught a first glimpse of Arundel Castle which was to periodically crop up in the distance throughout the first half of the walk. As such the first half was a combination of small lanes, lush green fields, and rolling hills as we made our way along the Arun Valley. However given that I hadn’t seen some people for a few weeks, I did find myself getting a little caught up in various conversations rather than spending time looking around at the scenery.

So some four and a bit miles later we found ourselves in Burpham and at the George and Dragon pub. Given that this was a good turn out for IVC, it was a bit of a surprise that only three of us went into the pub, with then only two of us actually ordering any food (nothing was mentioned about bringing sandwiches in the flyer). That said I couldn’t really find anything on the menu I specifically fancied, and so settled for just a side order of chips and a bread roll (with a pint of lager of course). Mindful however that I may be missing out on all my food groups, I did have the chocolate brownie for dessert.

In the afternoon we found ourselves on a very steep climb up onto the South Downs, but with that one effort out of the way it was easy walking from that point onwards. As we walked along there was a succession of gliders being towed into the air by the one small light aircraft (probably a Cessna), who would then buzz off to go and get another one. I was a little puzzled as to why once released, the gliders seemed to float in very small circles. However it was explained to me that this was how they gained height. Also buzzing around was a couple of microlites.

After being entertained by the gliders for over an hour we eventually ended up on a small mound that had been the exclusive preserve of an elderly couple who had been sitting on it. The view was perhaps comparable to the one me and Helen had on Hallin Fell recently in the Lakes, only in this case you could see all the way to the North Downs in the hazy distance. As such I actually went as far as to dig my binoculars out of my rucksack, but ended up concentrating more on the gliders and Cessna. Anyway the elderly lady who had periodically kept turning round and glaring at us for sitting on her hill, eventually wanting to know were we on a walking holiday. When we replied that we just on a day walk, she then sneered at us and said: “Well why are you all wearing rucksacks then”.

Undeterred we continued on our way eventually coming off the South Downs and headed into Amberley. As we reached the station we still had half an hour before the train, and most people set off for afternoon tea. For once I decided not to join them as I was still feelling a little bloated from the Chocolate brownie dessert earlier. However we all regrouped on the platform in time for the 1719 train back to Victoria. So overall a scenic and easy days walking on the most perfect of late Summer’s days.

Walks since last blog entry: 1 x seven and a half miler – Grand Union Canal / Osterley Park.

Haystacks Circular (including Buttermere Lake) – (Lake District – Day 6) – (Cumbria) – 11/09/09 – 8.5 Miles – Helen (luther & Molly)

2009-09-15T03:11:00.000-07:00

Not taking any chances of having the day ruined by another parking fiasco, we decided that this was one we could do from the front door, even if it meant my third walk around Buttermere Lake since the Tuesday. This was also a good idea for two other reasons: one because it extended the walk and on a perfect Summer’s day why would one not want to, and two it meant we had a chance to warm up walking on the flat ground rather than getting straight out of the car and into a steep ascent.

Anyway we all seemed well up for it, and to add a little bit of variety, we decided to go round Buttermere in the opposite direction to how we had done it before. So whilst Luther and Molly got into the swing of things with a good paddle, me and Helen messed around taking photos, with some exposing better than others. When we reached the car park at Gatesgarth cottages/farm which is the official start point according to the ‘Country Walking cut out’ I created a little bit of confusion as to which direction left actually was. Thus having continued along the valley at the end of Buttermere beside the farm, I created more ‘cut out’ confusion as to what was the actual path up towards Haystacks, perhaps my ears were still ringing from the fighter jet that had loudly shot over us. Anyway on both occasions Helen was able to put me straight.

So up we went and not alone either, as various walkers either pushed on up or straggled along behind us. As was the norm this week I pushed on with Luther off his lead, whilst Helen was a little way back with Molly on the lead. One of the good things about Haystacks is that there is no shortage of handily placed rocks to stop and have a break, and after several of these we decided to have half of our sandwiches before pushing on. Also most people we met up with seemed friendly and positive towards the dogs. Referring to the ‘cut outs’ I was on the look out for one or two vitally placed cairns to tell us we were on the right track, but basically there were loads of them all over the place, and the track was pretty bloody obvious anyway. Coming near to what was nearly the final scramble to the summit, we met a lad from Northumberland, who had passed us a long time back, puzzling over what was the best way up. Thus whilst I dithered over the correct route, Luther pushed on ahead of us, showing the right way up (a massive improvement on the Luther of the previous Sunday). No such good marks for Molly however as having finally been let off the lead, she managed to locate what must have been the only sheep up there and went hareing after it. With no Helen or whistle in sight, I gave my best Sargeant Major roar and she did come trotting back.

Presently we reached the summit making this our fifth Wainwright of the week at 1,958ft. Along with quite a few others we took a pew to finish off the rest of our lunch, whilst watching the odd helicopter and light aircraft buzz around. So with break over we had a minor difficulty finding a correct way down, as well as referencing which tarns we should be looking out for. Once again Helen was way out in front on the descent, as I concentrated on keeping my footing on the slippy slate and rocks, pausing only to chat to a guy with red socks. Luther and Molly for their part forgot all about me, and decided to keep in close attendance with the hand that feeds them. As we neared the bottom another fighter jet came out of nowhere and roared over the summit, leaving me wondering how many people it shook off the rocks in doing so. Once at the bottom we once again picked up the trail in the alternate direction around buttemere. Both Luther and Molly had a good time retrieving sticks from the water. Molly would swim out for hers, whilst Luther was only prepared to paddle to get his. On the other hand Luther had more of a taste for the bigger stick variety which he also likes to eat. However having been off the lead a while, Molly disgraced herself one final time by locating a sheep way up in the hills to chase, whilst Helen worried whether the ‘Dogs worrying livestock, will be shot’ sign was about to come true. That drama resolved we arrived home tired (more in my case than I realised) but happy.

So a slightly mixed week for me, with my problems on the downhills causing me to wonder whether I really want to come back to the Lake District again. Certainly overall the good outweighed the bad, but I was anything but pain free throughout the week, and which was unfortunately rounded off on my last night in the cottage with a sudden illness. That couldn’t have happened at a worse time and has slightly put a cloud over the whole week. So Coast to Coast next time anyone ?

Hallin Hill (Circular) – (Lake District – Day 5) – (Cumbria) –10/09/09 – 1,271 ft – Helen (luther & Molly) + Buttermere Lake (Circular) – 4 Miles -own

2009-09-14T18:23:00.000-07:00

Okay lets get the negative dealt with and out of the way first. Basically we had planned to do a combination of sailing and walking over and along Ullswater. However that plan was basically wrecked for the most trivial reason of not being able to get a car parking space at either Glenridden or Pooley Bridge. Suffice to say that given how close a call a parking spot had been the previous day at Skiddaw, and how full the car park at Gatesgarth farm that serves Haystacks always looked whenever we drove past, this is obviously an unspoken problem that exists in the Lake District. Anyway we eventually ended up in a church car park at Howdale initially in the futile hope of getting on the boat there. However that was a long long way from where we were parked, and was also just an alighting point. So we decided to regroup and have our packed lunch instead.

Following lunch we looked at the hill (Hallin) opposite, and decided that as it was marked on our cruise brochure, and we were now in the vicinity we might as well go up and down it, before vacating the area. So with the Sun blazing down off we set. Now to be blunt it was steep and quick, and did take ones breath away a bit. However without totally killing ourselves we soon found ourselves at the summit, and without realising it at the time, Hallin Hill turned out to be our fourth Wainwright of the week at 1,271ft.

That said our parking spot was more than a little above Sea level so I wouldn’t like to venture a guess as to how high our actual starting point was. Nevertheless a Wainwright is a Wainwright doncha know. Anyway having reached the top we were all able to sit down and admire the view, both checking out the Lake traffic on Ullswater, as well as watching more sheep and dogs working out their issues in the far distance (as per the previous day). The descent itself was fairly swift, with various sheep hiding in the Ferns to torment Molly, following which we decided to drive off in search of an ice cream.

Once back at the cottage I decided that I hadn’t really done enough for the day, and ventured out on my own around 5.30pm for a repeat walk around Buttermere Lake (finally cracking out my shorts in the process). Now having been used to my three constant companions all week, it actually made a refreshing change to just have ones own company for this one. Also given how shit the weather had been when we all did this circuit on the Tuesday, one could really appreciate the reflections in the water, the golden light of the setting Sun, and the majesty and colour of the fells that surrounded Buttermere (oh well Helen did produce a poetry book in the cottage on the previous evening). Also everyone I passed said Hello (giving me final confirmation I wasn’t in London). This included a mum who was cajoling her two youngish teenage sons to walk quicker before their pub shut (I assume for accommodation purposes and not a booze up)

For my part I did waste a lot of time faffing about with the camera on self timer trying to take the ultimate self portrait. The best moment being when a large group of grey woolly sheep decided they were coming through a gate the same time that I was. When I finally did get back to the cottage I had a bit of a Wilma and Fred Flintstone moment, when it became apparent that I had been locked out. However this was merely because Helen and the doggies had set out to intercept me on my return, but just missed where I had turned back out onto the road.

So overall a really enjoyable evening stroll proving that everthing in the Lake District doesn’t have to be about flogging yourself climbing fells. That said combine that walk with the fact that we had bagged a Wainwright earlier on anyway, and I would say a pretty successful day overall. Cruise steamers who needs them.

Skiddaw (Circular including Little Man) – (Lake District – Day 4) – (Cumbria) – 09/09/09 – 8.75 Miles – Helen (luther & Molly)

2009-09-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

The rain that had featured so heavily on two of our first three days, was now a thing of the past, as we were now able to enjoy three perfect late Summer’s days in succession. For this walk it was back to using the Country Walking Magazine’s ‘cut outs’, with our objective being Skiddaw, which is apparently the fourth highest peak in the Lakes, and only one of four over 3,000ft. However given that we got exceptionally lucky (this day anyway) with the car parking, getting the last and closest space to the start, it turns out we had already climbed 1,000ft before getting out of the car.

So once out of the car the obvious track led us straight up. Helen was in t-shirt mode, whilst I decided to keep my long sleeve top on and then see how things went. This was quite a demanding climb to go straight into, with the pattern of me and Luther (off lead) surging ahead, whilst Helen with Molly (on lead) caught up whenever we stopped to take a photo. This is also an obviously popular part of the Lakes, as there was no shortage of people going in either direction. Unfortunately toilet facilities are non existent on this walk (even at the car park). However the glaciers who designed the whole course, thoughtfully provided a small out of view ledge which is apparently visited very frequently. So after a series of climbs and peaks we eventually reached a gate where we could either: go through and right on an easier traverse up Skiddaw, or alternatively go straight over Little Man. We choose to do the latter, with me in power surge mode at this point leaving my three fellow travellers behind until I had reached this particular summit. This effort making Little Man our second Wainwright of the week at 2,838ft.

The descent down from Little Man was quite steep but for once I felt confident of my footing. Thus having rejoined the path leading up to Skiddaw, I stopped and chatted to another guy (+ dog) whom I had met earlier on the other side by the gate. Helen for her part was taking a break with a cup of coffee, before catching up. Given that we were now closing in on 3,000ft it was getting noticeably colder, with Helen putting her grey fleece thing back on, and me putting on my body warmer. However the distance from the foot of Little Man to the summit of Skiddaw is next to nothing, and with no great extra effort we were there making Skiddaw our third Wainwright of the week at 3,053ft.

After a nice man took a family photo for us, we managed to find a set of rocks to shelter behind and have lunch, eventually being moved on by a couple under a pretext of what is the best way to train their puppies. I was in full ‘follow me I have the cut out’ mode for the way back down. Not for the first time however I had misunderstood what I was reading, and Helen had to point out we were merely going back the way we came, rather than following the route suggested by the ‘cut out’. This then required a 45 degree about turn to rendevous with the path we were supposed to be on, and across the sort of marshy and spongy ground we had gone through on the Monday. So yes you guessed it, my boots and socks were once again soaking wet. Also once on the path it was a downwards and muddy trajectory, leaving me slipping all over the place, whilst Helen and doggies surged on far ahead. One benefit however, was apart from a few walkers, the majority of the Skiddawites, seemed to know nothing of this path and so this allowed Molly a chance to get off the lead a bit more.

Having eventually reached Skiddaw House Youth Hostel (which must be great fun lugging all your baggage to) we were able to turn right and pick up the Cumbria Way. At this point I suggested Helen take my picture, only for her to throw my camera down on the ground in a fit of temper (just checking your reading this sweetie). Anyway the lens was bent over and wouldn’t go back in. However a bit of force from me straightened the thing up, but don’t you know the camera has never been the same since. No problem though as Helen promised me on the spot to buy a new one (a Leica will do nicely).

By following the Cumbria Way we eventually found ourselves walking along a ridge with Lonscale Fell on our right and stunning views over Glenderaterra Beck on the drop over our left. This section of the walk was probably close to three miles, and as we eventually began a descent, Helen was able to hear the whistle of a shepherdess working her sheep and dogs well over a mile away in the distance. Eventually we came to a little stream with Helen faffing about trying to take a picture of a waterfall. Given the irreparable damage she had caused my camera earlier I decided to take the picture for her, only to once again fall over backwards standing on a wet stone. Thankfully my lunch box in my backpack was able to take the full impact leaving me thankfully unscathed. From there it was a short walk back to the car, which to our relief had not been clamped or anything similar for blocking the turning circle out of a nearbye gate. Finally to round the day off on our drive back to the cottage, Helen took me to see the Bowder Stone rock in Keswick.

Buttermere Lake (Circular) – (Lake District – Day 3) – (Cumbria) – 08/09/09 – 4 Miles approx – Helen (luther & Molly)

2009-09-14T01:48:00.000-07:00

Oh dear, no one said anything about there being rain in the Lake District. So after a night where the wind was howling and the rain lashing it down, we woke to find the morning wasn’t any better. As such our mountain view from the cottage was obsured by the mizzly mist, and despite hanging around there all morning there was no sign of any improvement. In the event we decided to bite the bullet and do a 4 mile door to door ramble around Buttermere (Lake) so at least the dogs got some exercise.

In the event the dogs seemed to love it, although needing to give themselves a good shake every few minutes. For my part I had bought a £2 PVC mac which I had under my £155 worth of waterproofs in order to make them waterproof (which worked for my torso anyway). The rain lashed, the wind gusted, and the view across the lake wasn’t. Also based on the previous days fall I was being really really careful anytime I had to step onto any sort of slate type rocks. Yet perversely it wasn’t a bad walk overall, and we were all happy enough to have got outdoors and done something (no pictures by the way, as I wasn’t getting my camera out in that).