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

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)

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

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

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).

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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

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)

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.

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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.

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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

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)