Our walk started at Pinner Station on a drizzly Saturday in January. Kevin and I were greeted by 11 eager walkers; a good start to the day and we would not be walking alone on a day with an uncertain weather forecast, and it was sure to be muddy on route. Off we set, Kevin leading the way following the Celandine Route to Uxbridge. First we entered Pinner Memorial Park, and on to some residential roads before we began following the River Pinn, passing through some muddy woodland paths around the back of Pinner. Our first stop was Eastcote Gardens for a quick comfort break. A quick look around the walled gardens for some before a head count and we were off again. We continued on through the back of Ruslip on to Kings College playing fields where we stopped for a quick group photo beside one of the many elaborate wood carvings on route. From there we carried on, passing the Winston Churchill Hall, a great venue for past and present HAWOG socials. We continued on to the start of the HS2 diversion where we cautiously crossed the busy Ladygate Lane to continue our route to our Ickenham lunch stop, now nearing around 6 miles completed.
Ready for some food and liquid refreshments to satisfy us, we made use of the many options on offer, most making use of the local public house and its warm welcome. It was there we were joined by another 3 walkers who had been busy during the morning at parkruns and boot camps. We bid farewell to 4 members. Lunch stop over and the now 12 refuelled, we continued on the last leg to the finish, heading through woodland then over the busy A40 bridge onto the open Uxbridge playing fields, once again meeting up with the River Pinn. Following now mostly residential streets we headed on through the St Andrews RAF estate and its many new builds with its Grand Hillingdon House, hidden Battle of Britain bunker in the distance, also passing by the former gunnery. On through many more ever growing new builds we made our way through to Uxbridge High Street, reaching the end of the walk at Uxbridge Station where some bade farewell and the rest headed onto the Fig Tree public house, formerly the old Uxbridge police station, for further liquid refreshments and more catching up.
Thank you to Neil, Cathy, Claire, Ewan, Hema, Milton, Rita, Neil, Soraya, Mick, Sarah D, Dee, Pat and Brian for your great company and for joining Kevin and me.
Report by Louise
On a cold overcast morning we met in the café at the Design Museum. After handing out the jam doughnuts, "just the ticket" said Judith with jam drooling away. We explored the free exhibition of everyday objects and technology and the evolution of their design. We headed north through Holland Park and admired the east wing of the 17th century palace and the Youth Hostel next door. We explored the Japanese gardens with its miniature trees and waterfalls. Next point was the Ukrainian church with its statue of Vladimir who converted the country to Christianity in the 10th century. We entered the independent bookshop Daunts where we encountered the eternal latecomer; "no train drivers today" he claimed. We then explored Kensington terraces with several blue plaques identified. Then onto Portobello Road for a slow amble through the antique shops, market stalls and hidden arcades full of collectable markets.
We ended the walk at the Museum of Brands and Advertising where Scott and Virgil joined us. The museum is great for history, design art, and popular culture. The month's special exhibition was on the television world of Gerry Anderson, from Stingray to UFO via Thunderbirds and Joe 90. The focus was on the cultural phenomenon they ignited, the tidal wave of branded merchandising unleashed. Kevin recognised the Dinky models of FAB 1 and TB2 that he still has in shed 6. Jeff explained that his father was a writer on the TV21 weekly magazine that accompanied the series. Nick recalled not finding the Captain Scarlet badge in his bowl of Sugar Frosties, "they weren't great!". After the tour we headed to the café (surrounded by vintage wireless sets) for tea and buns.
Walkers were Brian, Louise, Kevin, Nick G, Soraya, Neil, Coogee, Jeff, Neil, Judith and Julie.
Report by Brian
As I was having breakfast, I received a couple of text messages informing me that some of the day's walkers were experiencing problems with the trains and that they would not be able to make the start at the planned start time. Some walkers arrived on an earlier train which gave them time to enjoy a pre-walk coffee before the train with the remaining walkers arrived. The weather forecast for the day was for a dry bright sunny day but very cold.
Walkers set off fully prepared, with thermals, hats, gloves and sunglasses. After leaving the station the group headed out of Amersham along the main road to the edge of Old Amersham where we then picked up a rather dirty and litter-strewn footpath that ran behind some houses, before finally arriving out into the open countryside at the bottom of Gore Hill. The fields had a light sprinkle of overnight snow covering them, but as we made our way up Gore Hill some found the need to remove a layer of thermals but not the need to remove sunglasses as the sky was clear of clouds and the sun was very bright. We continued along the path, spotting the windmill at Coleshill. We looped our way around Coleshill before stopping for refreshments next to the frozen village pond whilst watching the ducks make their way over the ice.
We continued on past the village church and as we made our way out of the village we spotted 2 very healthy foxes running across the field ahead. As we continued into a small woodland we spotted several people out searching for buried treasure in the frozen ground. Shortly after this we arrived at Winchmore Hill only to find that the local pub had now closed its doors. It was a little too early to stop for lunch, so we followed the path from Winchmore Hill into Penn Street. We found benches in the sun on the common for lunch. For some unknown reason Victoria needed to take some close-up pictures of Paul's knees; despite the day being quite cold he felt that shorts were appropriate for the day's walk. After lunch we made our way through Penn Wood, emerging at Beamond End, and onwards down into Little Missenden, where we took on refreshments by the open fire at the Red Lion.
After finishing warm mulled wine we set off on the final leg of the day's walk along the River Misbourne and back into Old Amersham. Rather than walk along the main road back up into Amersham we took the footpath up the hill and around the edge of the woodland. As we looked back we could see the sun setting behind the hills where we had been walking earlier in the day. We arrived back at the station with minutes to spare for the those taking the train home.
Many thanks to Phil, Jan, Victoria, Mary, Paul S, Sandra and Rob for joining me on the 13-mile walk through the scenic wintry Buckinghamshire countryside.
Report by Malcolm
