Epping Forest Bike Ride

On a pleasant Saturday in late April seven of us collected at Chingford Golf Club café for Lynne’s bike ride in Epping Forest. Only two of us were wearing shorts and Brian’s pasty legs – first time out this year - were in contrast to Peter B’s tanned limbs.

We first did a loop through Bury Wood then set off north, passing Grimston’s Oak. There has been recent research on the name of this tree and current opinion is that it has always been called Grimston’s Oak and never was called Bedford’s Oak. It seems odd to me that one of the prime movers behind the 1878 Epping Forest Act does not have a tree named after him but the then president of the MCC cricketing body does.

Up through Fairmead to skirt Hill Wood and we arrived just north of the biker’s café. Lynne gave us the option of the flat Paul’s Nursery Road or the Up and Down Ride and I foolishly elected for the latter. Much gasping and heaving later, we were at High Beach for a tea and fruit cake.

North again on the General’s Ride past Wake Arms roundabout to arrive at the Theydon Loop. Down the hill and up past Theydon Bois golf course where a couple of golfers were approaching the green. We stopped to look with the result that the poor golfer horribly sliced his shot and was no nearer the hole. Breathing restored, we carried on, enjoying the solitude in this northern part of the Forest and the sunlight shining through the new green leaf on the trees. Back down the General’s ride to High Beach again, this time for a tea and pasty which was consumed looking out over the Pillow Mounds.

Down Paul’s Nursery Road, past the biker’s café and through Bury Wood we arrived back at the Chingford Golf club café. Nearly 15 miles had been covered in leisurely fashion and we all look forward to Lynne’s next bike ride.

Brian U. 30th April 2022

 Photos by Brian and Val. Route map by Val.

Oxfordshire and The Ridgeway

On April Fool’s Day 2022 - a Friday - three of us (Brian, Dave and Lynne) set out to visit the White Horse Hill in Oxfordshire. It was nice enough but the best view seemed to be from the road. On to Wantage where Eileen, Marian and Val joined us to stay for the weekend at the Court Hill Centre.

The Centre was a lovely looking place and the host was welcoming. We had the place to ourselves after the tearoom closed, apart from some DOE’ers (Duke of Edinburgh Award entrants) who were camping (and freezing at night). The kitchen, showers and toilets were only for us and we ate in the tearoom. Strangely, we all stayed at one table and left the vast expanse of the tearoom untouched. Driving out to Wantage for an evening meal Brian managed to forget that Lynne was a passenger but Eileen rescued her. The 'House of Spice' was selected and immediately Val had an argument with the waiter. The rest of us carefully examined our meals after that.

On Saturday we set off on the Ridgeway Trail – see the photo of us at the start. It was warm and clothes were soon removed. The clothes were replaced when snow started to fall! The trail is on chalk which is very slippery when damp and also clings to your shoes. Passing several DOE’ers and cyclists we reached the White Horse (again, for three of us). This time we found better angles to see the horse but it was spoilt by a family whose four children were playing on the horse and throwing the chalk everywhere. A word from Marian soon stopped that. We had left Brian’s car at the National trust car park and climbed in for the journey back.

On Sunday we did a circular walk around Longcot and Uffington. We had an interesting stop at the church of St Mary the Virgin, Longcot which had only opened today after a £186,000 upgrade. The walk was across several open flat fields and underneath the busy Great Western Railway line. Lunch was at the Fox and Hounds in Uffington, near to a cottage with a blue plaque in memory of John Betjeman. The weather now became distinctly cold and the stiles became progressively tougher as we walked back across more open flat fields. There was no stile at the end, merely some fence rails which we clambered over with difficulty. This evening we ate in Wildwood’s in Wantage. It was virtually empty, which apparently is the norm for Sunday night in Wantage.

On Monday we toured Wantage, finding a delightful museum and the John Betjeman Millennium Park. After a pleasant couple of hours we left to go to Basildon Park, a National Trust property near Reading. Once again the café service was slow, which now seems to be the norm for NT cafes. It is the coffees that slow things down. The place itself was nice, although covid had restricted the amount we could see. The gardens were just coming out for Spring and will look lovely in a month.

Then it was off to the M4 and home.

Brian U. 6th April 2022

Greensted Church and Ongar

A walk from Bayford

On a dull Sunday 13th March, seven of us set off from Bayford, near Hertford, for an 8.3 mile walk recommended by the O.S.

The route was well marked and the local landowners strident notices were carefully observed. Spring is definitely in the air and all round the route we could hear the chiffchaffs making their distinctive call. It seemed to me that the route was constantly ascending but the group ignored the panted complaints from the back. Eileen was setting the pace and that was the way it was going to be!

I noticed the usual English habit of having unusual place names as we passed near Great Stockings. Three or four miles into the walk we passed a church at midday and a couple of us confessed that we did count the number of chimes, just to check.

The Georgian folly, Stratton’s Tower, was passed by and I took the opportunity to stop, get my breath back and take a photo. Essendon was reached and we turned for home. We stopped at The Five Horseshoes in Little Berkhamsted for a drink – Greene King IPA for me if you want to know – and the pub were very good as we apologised for our boots. Eileen had promised mud and there certainly had been some boggy stretches but we had jumped in puddles and scraped carefully so we didn’t make much mess.

It was after our stop that the directions seemed to be a bit confusing, around the Bucks Alley area, and we had to operate on the basis that if in doubt, keep going straight ahead. It worked. At last I found some downhill stretches and bounded on, energy restored – or was it the IPA? We eventually arrived back in Bayford, tired and hungry, the walk having taken about five hours.

 Brian U.    14th March 2022