Tag Archives: Walk

Spring Walk May 2017

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The Hambleden valley was the perfect location for the Society’s Spring walk on May 9th. It shows England at its very best with the idyllic villages of Fingest, Skirmett and Turville, beautiful rolling countryside and quaint pubs.

Sixteen members met at The Frog at Skirmett at 10 o’clock on a dry but quite chilly morning. As a large herd of deer grazed in the distance we were glad to get going. The walk took us across the valley, up a gentle slope through Adam’s Wood, passing a field of rare breed sheep and lambs. Even those of us with an agricultural background were unsure of the exact breed!

 

Through the bluebell woods

We were in luck as there was still a fine display of bluebells scattered amongst the trees. When we emerged from the wood we were greeted by marvelous views taking in the villages of Fingest and Turville below us. Turville is often used for filming episodes of Midsomer Murders and The Vicar of Dibley is set in the local church.

 

Gwyndaf explains the view

Gwyndaf explains the view

The valley and surrounding hills are a haven for wildlife and flora and one of the highlights of our walk was Janet enthralling us with her knowledge of the local wild flowers. As well as naming the myriad of tiny hedgerow flowers, which many of us had not even noticed, she educated us on the subtle differences between different species. Who knew there were so many species of buttercup! We all gave her our full attention suspecting there might be a quiz when we returned to the pub!

 

 

Even though we were given the option of following a shorter route we were all made of sterner stuff and completed the full distance of Gwyndaf’s 3-4 mile walk, returning to Skirmett via Fingest and its ancient church. This is a Grade 1 listed building with a tower dating from the early 12th century. Surrounding the church is a cluster of medieval and Georgian houses and cottages.

 

 

The Frog at Skirmett

We were all looking forward to our lunch at The Frog and we were not disappointed. The food was excellent and it was difficult to resist those tempting desserts!

Our thanks to Gwyndaf and Janet for organising such an enjoyable and interesting Spring walk.

 

Gwyneth Herrington

London Wetland Centre, October 2016

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Visit to the London Wetland Centre, October 2016

Peter Day guides our party

Peter Day guides our party

Having followed the amazing directions provided by Peter, via Gwyndaf, a select party of eighteen souls duly arrived at the Wetland Centre in Barnes late morning on Thursday 13th October. We were met and greeted by the WWT Chairman himself, otherwise known to us all as Peter Day. Having downed a very welcome hot coffee, we then embarked on our tour, under the watchful guidance of Peter.

We were led through a series of avian habitats from around the world, which have been expertly created by the efforts of the Trust. It is astonishing what the workforce has achieved in less than twenty years by remodelling the redundant Barnes reservoirs and diligently planting an abundant amount of trees and shrubs.

Emporer and red Breasted Geese

Emporer and red Breasted Geese

Peter walked us round, demonstrating a very impressive grasp of the subjects and imparting his extensive knowledge. He managed to answer virtually all our questions, no matter how obscure or trivial they may have seemed.

We were blessed with a dry and mostly sunny day, if a little chilly. There was
always plenty to see, with new surprises round every corner. Some of the birds there we would not have expected to see, like the Egyptian geese. However, as Peter pointed out, these had originally been imported from the Middle East by some unknown person and the young had escaped from their collection enabling them to fly to places like the Wetland Centre as and when they wished.

Puna Teal

Puna Teal

Cranes

Snooty looking Cranes

There is a constant threat from foxes and this has been largely controlled by surrounding the site with electric fences, extending up to three feet below ground, preventing burrowing. Incredibly they do not have a problem with squirrels or Canada Geese. The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, originally set up at Slimbridge by Peter Scott in 1946, is doing very valuable work in the
conservation of wetlands, their plants and waterfowl around the world. It is also providing an educational experience for many thousands of disadvantaged and other school children every year, some of whom we
saw, and they appeared to be having a very good time.

Southern Screamers

Southern Screamers

After lunch, in the excellent café, a number of us enjoyed seeing the Asian
otters being fed. Others enjoyed further strolls, taking in some of the hides
where the wild birds can be observed in peace and quiet.

All in all the visit to the London Wetland Centre proved to be both extremely
enjoyable and rewarding. A visit we are likely to repeat in the future. We thank
Peter Day very much for organising it and proving to be an excellent host.

Steve Adams

Sparrowhawk

Sparrowhawk

Cliveden Walk – 19th May 2016

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Cliveden 1Cliveden is conveniently local and was an excellent choice for a Society excursion on May 19th.


Cliveden 3The grand house, standing high over the Thames, is surrounded by gardens and extensive woodland. It is owned by the National Trust with the main part of the house leased to a luxury hotel group. An ideal place for our members to meet up and enjoy a convivial lunch, then take  walks in the fresh air before returning for afternoon tea and a tour of the house.

Many members will have visited Cliveden before, but not so many will have enjoyed a guided tour of the house, led by a knowledgeable National Trust volunteer. Our party of twenty members discovered that there seemed to be two ways to become owners of such a magnificent residence. One was by family members consorting extremely closely with their King, whose favour resulted in titles and wealth. The other was for your family to develop housing in Manhattan and eventually become fabulously wealthy slum landlords.  Even after the property passed to the National Trust its association with scandal continued as it featured in the “Profumo Affair” in the early Sixties.

interiorWe were impressed by the opulent interior of the property. The extremely ornate “French Dining Room” had been re-assembled after being transported from a French hunting lodge, and no expense had been spared on wood panelling, ceilings and pictures.  As we wandered through the hotel and stood in the Great Hall we got a  hint of the what it must be like to stay at this luxury hotel as a steady stream of staff passed by us on their service errands. On the banks of the river we saw their beautiful boats of wood and gleaming

Suzy_Ann_Clivedenbrass, ready to be hired for trips along the Thames.

For those who were members of the National Trust, all but three of our group, the event was completely free. Though the Trust café did very well out of us during the course of the day!

 

Gwyndaf John

London Walk

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On a sunny Saturday morning on 26th July a group of about a dozen members met our guide Caroline James, at the foot of The Shard to explore sites around Southwark. IMG_0771
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The area is at the southern end of London Bridge which in Medieval times was closed at night.

Many inns were built there and thrived as staging posts for travellers. Theatres opened there, as did hospitals for the poor, sick, incurables, and homeless.  Bear baiting, prostitution, and similar activities, which were illegal in the City, all flourished.

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The ‘garret’ of the c17th St Thomas’ hospital houses its c19t operating theatre.

Betsi Cadwaladr from Bala worked there. She worked as a nurse in the Crimea with Florence Nightingale though their personalities clashed as they were from completely different backgrounds.

In the collonade of the adjacent Guy’s hospital a niche, from the old London Bridge, houses a statue of Keats.

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Off a short stretch of Borough High St are the ’Yards’ of many ancient galleried inns. Only the splendid George Inn remains and is often seen in historical films.
Little Dorrit Park and Marshalsea Rd were reminders of Dickens stories set in this locality.

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Nearby Redcross Gardens with its gabled cottages are a haven of serenity. They were founded by Octavia Hill who was one of the founders of the National Trust.

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In Tabard St the Cross Bones graveyard is an overgrown, unconsecrated plot where about 15,000 bodies of suicides, prostitutes, plague victims and other ’undesirables’ are buried. We all felt sorrow just being there.

The Welsh Borough Chapel has just been renovated. One of its founders was ‘Gin Shop Jones’. An old sign on its rear wall reads ’Commit No Nuisance’IMG_0780

From near the Globe theatre the dramatic view across the Thames included the recent ’Gherkin’,  ‘Walkie Talkie’, and ’Cheesegrater’ buildings, all of which were outshone by glorious St Paul’s.

Near the riverside Anchor pub was the site of the Anchor brewery which in

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the 18th century had the greatest output in the world. The wife of it’s owner, Henry Thrale MP, was Hester Salisbury  a socialite from a wealthy Caernarvonshire family.

Little remains of Winchester Palace from which the Bishop once issued permits for prostitution in the area (these poor girls were known as Winchester geese).

We concluded our walk at Southwark cathedral and thanked Caroline for planning a walk with such a variety of places of interest to show us.

Ralph Broomby

Chairman’s Report – July 2012

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Chairman’s Report
Once again it is my great pleasure to report that the Society has had an enjoyable period of very well attended events. And of course the sun shone – even on our Summer Lunch in the midst of the wettest summer on record.

At the AGM the entire committee was happy to stay in office – which goes to show that it is a pleasure rather than a chore! We were joined by Jonathan Pegler as our new Vice
Chairman. He will take the chair in May 2013.

A highlight of our programme was the presence of Roy Noble as our guest speaker
at the St David’s Day dinner. An exceptional entertainer and a lovely man too. Not only did he entertain us so well that evening after driving all the way up from the BBC studios in Cardiff, he even wrote and thanked us afterwards. Special thanks go to Hugh
Griffith for his dogged determination to get us such a special guest speaker.

The cold wet weather stopped for just a few days while a party of 23 members went to
Snowdonia in May. The glorious scenery was seen at its best in lovely sunshine and the
train journeys were a highlight. The group descending Snowdon’s PYG track managed
to keep up with Mike Stythe without mishap, whilst Margaret Broomby and Chris Thomas in the group descending the supposedly easier Llanberis trail managed to get in some acrobatics practice en-route (but survived to tell the tale). Many thanks go to Mike for the idea of the trip and for his experienced advice, and excellent choice of hotel.

In June Bob Ford organised a superb trip to the International Eisteddfod at Llangollen (see below).
Looking forward the 2012 schedule includes the Golf Day – in glorious weather again?
There are two exceptional trips in September to Buckingham Palace and to Oxford,
followed in October by the biennial Festival of Male Voice choirs at the Royal Albert Hall.
Finally, Ann Tennant has been our regular caterer at events and her meals and service
much appreciated. I am pleased to report that she received an MBE in the recent honours
list. Our congratulations go to Ann.
Gwyndaf John

Visit to Snowdonia 20th-23rd April.
“The day we went up Snowdon & returned by the Llanberis path”
Another sunny & hot morning in north Wales, & the intrepid walkers all wait in anticipation at Llanberis Station. None of the glitz of St. Pancreas or Waterloo, but quaintness personified. With justifiable Welsh pride we all await the pre-journey video – “good to get out of the sun”! What an engineering feat to think that all of this was put in place over 100 years ago – 1896 to be exact – the grand opening.

With all tickets duly dispensed we are allowed onto the platform – where a small engine & carriage glides slowly backwards to squeeze us in. The weather just perfect – we could see for ever! The engine climbed the 3,650 feet to the summit whilst we were entertained by brilliant commentary from the driver. A journey to be long remembered. A photo opportunity around every bend.

Fifty minutes & we are at the summit.

Here the party divided into 3 groups; some waited for the return trip by train; another party prepared for the Pen Y Gwryd (PYG) track – 11 kilometres with descent of 2,370
feet; whilst a 3rd group departed on the Llanberis path – 14.5 kilometres with descent
of 3,200 feet.
Despite a few mishaps (3), the Llanberis path/walk was brilliant. The silence
in the mountains “had to be heard to be believed”!!- all this, occasionally interrupted
by the screams from a fallen climber or walker. Everyone arrived back with a real
sense of pride & achievement. Even for the seasoned walkers – the Llanberis path was
’tough’ but rewarding, especially as we had views of the trains creeping cunningly along
carefully & classhcally constructed cog cortege – ah!, the alliteration – one gets
carried away !

A day to catalogue. Well done to our organisers.
Gwyn Owen

Summer Lunch 10th June
About 50 of us were exceptionally lucky with the weather. It had been raining all week, but
the rain held off for our annual garden party, held this year courtesy of Tony & Irene Glyn-Jones in their beautiful garden.

While we were tucking in to a delicious meal prepared and served by Ann Tennant, Mr
Jonathan Pegler had devised a teasingly difficult cryptic quiz – Gwyndaf’s team won (again).
John and Thelma Lusher organised an enjoyable ‘heads or tails’ auction for a bottle
of Penderyn Welsh whisky, raising £100 for the Tenovus Cancer charity.

The fine weather lasted until about 4 o’clock, by which time a fine team of volunteers had
packed everything away before the rain started.

Llangollen International Eisteddfod
We arrived in good time at the Bryn Howel hotel with luggage and much needed macs, umbrellas hats etc.

Later, on site and after seeing usual numerous stalls and stages, we took our seats for the evening performance of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert. Top artists: Alison Balsom (solo trumpeter) was fantastic, Nicola Benedetti (violinist) magnificent and Lesley Garrett excellent with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, all first class. About 9.30pm the heavens opened, heavy storms in competition with the music!
Flood and mud were everywhere, but thankfully we returned to the hotel safely.

On Thursday 5th July we toured the shops, then back on site in the Royal Pavilion we
saw fantastic dancers in beautiful costumes from different countries. At one o’clock
everyone held hands for a minute’s silence, the Llangollen message of peace, a new idea
and most moving. Solo artists and choirs followed, two outstanding ones were from
Singapore and South Africa. Weatherwise the sun shone, and it was too hot to sit in! That
evening seventeen members from the Chiltern Welsh Society assembled in the
marquee for Alfie Boe to a packed, enthusiastic audience house.

On Friday, some of us visited Plas Newydd House. It rained again but it was a delight to
see the home of the Ladies of Llangollen. All the rooms were beautifully oak panelled and it
had wonderful, manicured gardens.
That evening, we all met up in the hotel for a truly, lovely meal, good in both quality and
quantity. Thank you, Bob, for a good choice of hotel.

With purchases of a 2013 Snowdonia National Park calendar, Welsh honey and
Penderyn whisky we set off for home with lots of memories. I’m looking forward to the next
time.
Eilwen Turner.

 

Forthcoming events
Golf day at Oakland Park Golf Club, Three Households, Chalfont St.
Giles – 31st August
The annual follow up to the Open! Nonplayers are welcome at the after-golf lunch.

 

Visit to the State rooms and Gardens at Buckingham Palace on the 4th September.
A tour of the State Rooms will start at 12.45pm, last approximately two and a half hours. The Garden Tour will follow at 3.15pm and the visit should finish at 4pm.