Stories

Chorleywood to Amersham
10 September 2017
4 people
32 km / 19.8 m
LDWA

The Chilterns landscape is full of memories
Ancient buildings recall peoples' lives of old
Cattle sheds made from monumental stone
Owl and pussycat gates found on a shady path.

Brick kilns from time immemorial fired clay
In some forgotten forest which we passed
The modern works nearby with piles of bricks
Where people toil the whole week through.

We wished we had an almanac to explain
The curious places marked out on maps
The memorial plaques on gates recalling
The long passed life of some lost relative
Or the golden jubilee of an unknown pair
In the green hills among the grazing sheep.

Dryads

Burgess Hill to Three Bridges
19 August 2017

14 people

27.5 km / 17 miles

Blackheath Ramblers

Morning dryads were angry

Bit our ankles with nettles

Unleashed barking rabid dogs

From undergrowth around roots.

We drank a lunchtime libation

In honour of those tree spirits

The grey clouds cleared from afar

We walked along pleasant glades.

August end presages autumn

Sweet blackberries ready to pick

Leaves burning a russet colour

Summer's ardour almost spent

And our fifty years old stories

Of Empire's end in the east.

Gridlock

Amersham to Great Missenden
2 July 2017
7 people
26 km; 16 miles

The undulating topography of a patchwork landscape
Forests and fields of wheat flowing into each other
Like the black and white squares of a chequerboard
The tall wheat ready for the summer harvest time.

A midsummer festival in each small town around
Open gardens of Little Missenden drew crowds
Navigating their motors through narrow country lanes
Brought to a standstill through lack of car parks.

So remember, you lovers of local floral displays
A car can only travel from one car park to the next
If you wish to take pleasure in gardens galore
Try leaving the limo safely behind in its space
And experience the beauty of the wheat in the fields
and the cool delight of woodland paths as you walk.

The Foggy Dew

Brief Description  Edenbridge to Nutfield
Date  8-Apr-17
Actual Distance km  25.30
Actual Distance miles  15.72
Variance  5.42%
People 16
Hours  5.83

We walked into the foggy dew

Feet kicking grassland spray

The rising sun burnt the mist

Pouring warming rays onto us.

Spring country revealed itself

With that fresh April green

Painting every leaf and blade

With its a delightful verdancy.

The heat was almost summery

That day of spring in Kent

Without the burning dryness

Of the long midsummer days

As we made our cheerful way

Around garden fields of Kent.

The Linear park

Brief Description         Greenwich to East Croydon
Date 25-Feb-17
Actual Distance km 28.70
Actual Distance miles         17.84
People 18
Hours 6.17

From the regal Cutty Sark, three masts held aloft

To run down artists studios along the Ravensbourne

Flowing dirtily to the strangely named River Pool

Through Ladywell and its lively green parkland.

From Beckenham Park with its Palladian mansion

To the Kelsey green along the limpid river Beck

Through plush woodlands where we forded a stream

And suburban streets of Croydon at the fall of day.

The linear park is a string of precious gems

Allowing subterranean rivers to take a breath

As they escape dark tunnels into blinding light.

People come here to escape their little boxes

Dogs run, remembering their lupine ancestors

As we stride by in our close knit little pack.

Lavender Fields

Brief Description Coulsdon South to Kingston
Date 14-Jan-17
A km 25.50
Actual Distance miles 15.85
People 9

The frosty treacherous roads of suburbia

Quickly dissolved into frozen woodland

Snow covered meadows stretched forward

Below the boots of our fleet-footed group.

Nonsuch Park developed all of its beauty

Under the grey winter clouds and rain

The slippery mud of the Hogsmill river

Led us to the urban crowds of Kingston

Fields of lavender snored almost audibly

Hibernating as they waited for Candlemas

The course devoid of golfers at Banstead

Eerily empty on a cold Saturday morn

Late afternoon, a golden sun beamed out

Under cold blue skies presaging spring.