20 Mile Circular around Lewes, Sunday June 21st

On Sunday June 21st at 10.00 am a party of 11 set out from Lewes on a 20-mile, fast-paced walk ably led by Jerry O'Connor. It included Richard and Tessa Clark who were going on their last ramble with the Hampstead Group before emigrating permanently to New Zealand (second and third from left below).



The weather was dry and the temperature was ideal - warm but not too hot. Although it was fairly cloudy we were soon rewarded by good views as we climbed Mount Caburn. On the way Richard pointed out pyramid orchids



Later on we had the pleasure of seeing massed poppies



After dropping down to Glynde we had another stiff climb onto Beddingham Hill where we joined the South Downs Way which, unfortunately, is popular with cyclists...



By that time Richard and Tessa were feeling the pace and were struggling to keep up with the rest of the party and, unfortunately, the last we saw of them was at the Blackcap Hill car park, which was busy with hangliders' vehicles. From there we descended along a straight, open path to our lunch stop at Denton where some of the party slaked their thirst at the 'Flying Fish'. After a 50 minute break we continued to Newhaven, crossed the River Ouse




and walked along the embankment to Piddinghoe. Upon reaching Telscombe we climbed back up to the South Downs Way passing through lovely countryside and saw the Seven Sisters in the distance...




Near the point where we left the South Downs Way to drop down to Kingston near Lewes medieval terracing was clearly visible...



The final photograph shows Kingston and Lewes in the distance...




We arrived back at Lewes Station at around 5.30 pm, in good time to catch the 17.44 to Victoria via Brighton. We had walked 20.7 miles in 5 hours 55 minutes, excluding breaks, at an average speed of 3.5 mph.

(All text and photos from Jane Rosoux, with many thanks.)

[Edit. On the 23rd of June I received some photos sent by Patrick Tso. I reproduce one below with Patrick's kind permission. Jane Rosoux is rarely photographed, but Patrick managed to catch her during a breather on this walk. Walk Leader Jerry O'Connor is first left, Jane Second left...]





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Amersham Circular via Little Missenden

Today's walk was led by Robin Midwinter, and took a seven mile circular route through the Misbourne Hills of the Chilterns.

Rail replacement buses covered the missing link from Rickmansworth to Amersham on the Metropolitan Line. Work on the lines has been an all too frequent irritation for Hampstead and all the other London Rambler's Groups over the last few months.. Nevertheless there were 12 walkers to join Robin, although one was unwell and stopped after a short distance.

The day started overcast...



But the skies soon cleared to give some good views...



The poppies were worthy of an impressionist painter...



Even in the relatively popular walking area of the Chilterns a group can still find "the road less travelled"....



Some scenes had an almost Japanese beauty...



Animals featured strongly. Most of the group had excellent views of a group of three Red Kites in the afternoon. One day I will stop getting so excited when I see them that I will capture one in a photo.

Our lunch stop was at the Red Lion in Little Missenden. There aren't many other pubs with a pond in the beer garden. I was tucking into a very nice hot sausage sandwich and a bowl of excellent chips when I felt a strong nudge on my lower leg...

I looked under the table to see Mr Daffy watching my sarnie...



We also had a narrow escape from a particularly vicious-looking dog...



At the end of an enjoyable day some of the party stopped off at the Amersham church fete, while the rest of us paused to enjoy one last view before heading through the woods for the bus to start our journey home. Robin Midwinter is second from the right...



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Tadworth Circular.

There were 14 of us on Sunday for a twelve mile circular walk around the North Downs near Boxhill.

The walk was led unnerringly by Stephen Bird, pictured below...


Despite the heat, in the high seventies (showing my age here) we kept a pace near to three miles an hour for the first few miles.



Near Mogador (very Tolkien-sounding!) we paused for a quick breather near a Coal Post (see here for an explanatory link).



We had some stunning views...



Later in the day we were to become very familiar with the hill at the top of the photo below.



A couple of us got seperated for a while after stopping for a chat and a photo of one of the locals...



The walk was described as "hilly" with good reason. Perhaps these pictures will convey exactly how steep it was in parts...





I'm certain that quite a few of us knew we had been on a walk the day after!!

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The Seawalls of Canvey Island, Sunday 7th June.

Torrential overnight rain and thunderstorms at dawn led my wife and I to roll over and go back to sleep last Sunday, while Jane Rosoux enjoyed Caryn Mackenzie's walk on the Essex Coast.

Shamefaced, I give you her walk report...

"Only four of us travelled to Benfleet for the Sea Walls of Canvey Island walk, perhaps because there was quite a lot of overnight rain and the weather forecast for the rest of the day was not good. However the proverb "rain before seven, fine before eleven" as usual turned out to be true and we had a fine day with quite a lot of sunshine, although in the morning we found ourselves wading through long, wet grass on the dykes at the western end of the island and I for one regretted not wearing waterproof trousers or gaiters.

However, by the time we reached 'The Lobster Smack' where we stopped for lunch we had dried out in the sun.



Shortly after lunch we reached the beach at Thorney Bay



and soon afterwards we passed the graffiti shown below...



On reaching the sailing centre we decided to divert from the route and walk to Canvey Point and were rewarded by the experience of traversing the salt marsh



and having a good view of Leigh Marsh and Leigh-on-Sea on the far side of Benfleet Creek






It was agreed that the section of the walk from Canvey Point back to Benfleet Station, with a continuous stretch of salt marsh on our right and Hadleigh Marsh and Castle in the distance was the most scenic part of the walk and that the walk would be well worth repeating on another occasion.

For the record the distance was 15.5 miles, including the detour to Canvey Point and we walked for 5.5 hours - an average speed of around 2.8 mph."

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Midweek Walk - Boxhill Circular

Jane Rosoux writes...

I attach some photographs taken on Pat Hully's 12 mile circular walk from Boxhill & Westhumble Station. There were 8 in the party, which was good for a mid-week walk.


The party included a new HRA member (Janet Campbell), a North West London Group member (Jean Pollard) and a Blackheath Group member and the only male (Keith Sargentt).

The weather was dry and fairly warm but the sky was fairly overcast and not that good for photography. We started off by following the North Downs Way west through Denbies Vineyard...



and continued to have good views towards the south as we approached the wooded White Down.



Soon after passing two WWII pillboxes...



we stopped in a grassy clearing for a picnic lunch. On the return route (no views and more cloud) we passed Tanners Hatch Youth Hostel



Near West Humble village we passed a new bench on the spot where there used to be a bench with the following dedication:- "In memory of Ethel Chipchase, Geoffrey Hollis, Leslie Nicholson and Eric Smith in appreciation of their years of devotion to the preservation of footpaths and countryside amenities that others may enjoy. Rest in peace. Ramblers Association Southern Area." which, when I photographed it on 7th November 2006 on another of Pat's midweek rambles, was in a very poor state of repair.

The dedication on the replacement bench is "In memory of Michael Banister 1918-2006. A favourite place for Michael and Rachel" and I can only assume that when the offer of a replacement bench was accepted no-one thought about the reason for the original one.

What happened to the original brass plate?"