efog-blog
Recent outings and activities...
Durham – 8th-11th August 2024
On the morning of 8th August seven EFOGers set off for Durham, two by car and five by train. The race was on, who would arrive first? The plan was to meet at Crook Gardens at about 2.30 pm. However, there were a couple of diversions on the roads and the driver and passenger needed refuelling (the car was fine), so we suspected the train would be faster. However, with a change at York their connecting train was cancelled and so they had to await the next one.
Suffice to say that Cathy & I had a cream tea and a wander round Crook Hall & Gardens then met up with the other five a little later.
After settling into our rooms in the halls of residence, we had a stroll along the river, past the Kathedra (stone throne) and a single room dwelling once lived in by Josef Boruwlaski, an 18th C. Polish dwarf.
This was followed by a very welcome meal in a Lebanese restaurant just near the halls (though the centre of Durham is pretty small so everything is fairly near).
The next day was a trip to Beamish Museum where there were trams, trolley buses, a steam train etc, 1920s houses, bank, dentist etc, a colliery village, 1940’s farm. Staff are dressed for the eras and play the parts well, some really getting into character with banter and backstories between them.
That night we ate at a Thai restaurant down by the river and although we’d been told that some lights weren’t working it was light enough. The food was good, though Marian was rather surprised that her ‘Duck with Tamarind Sauce’ had rather more sauce than duck, but it wasn’t that there was a lack of duck.
Saturday was a trip to see The Angel of the North, which is certainly impressive when you are stood alongside, looking up at it.
Cathy & I having been there a few years before opted to walk instead to the Botanical Gardens, which are part of the University and were very peaceful and pleasant.
Trevor also opted not to see the Angel, but started off with a river walk, but then found a trail along a disused railway. Unfortunately at one point on his walk he was going up some steps and in looking down at the steps, failed to notice a branch at head height. Luckily, although it drew blood, there was no major injury, but now as well as the University dining room making us think of Harry Potter, Trevor had the Harry Potter scar on his forehead.
At lunchtime we met at the Cathedral Café and afterwards had a stroll round the Cathedral. We were very taken with a modern piece of artwork hanging in the main aisle consisting of thousands of hand-made paper doves tied to the dangling ribbons.
Evening meal was at an Italian restaurant called Uno Momento, whilst the food all tasted very nice, the pizzas which three of us had did take some effort to cut and chew.
On the Sunday Cathy and I headed to Lindisfarne whilst the others had a boat trip on the Wear, before which two real water lovers, Marian & Trevor hired a rowing boat. It was then back to the University to collect their luggage from reception, having had to vacate rooms by 10 am, then an Uber to the station and back to London.
Richard. 25th August 2024
Stratford to Walthamstow Wetlands Walk
A sunny and pleasantly warm Saturday 17th of August, just perfect for a river-side walk. We were meeting at Stratford Station by the ticket gates leading to Westfield at 11 a.m. and we had a good turn-out with 11 people, Cathy, Claire, Eileen, Jill S, Laurel, Louise, Madeleine, Nigel, Richard, Sue, and me (Trev). We headed off to the Olympic Park, by-passing Westfield shopping centre and its crowds seeking bargains.
Crossing the road into the park, we headed towards the London Stadium, crossing over the River Lea and turned right to head north with the River Lea on our right side, passing the new East Bank “cultural area” with new buildings which will house the V&A Museum, the BBC and Sadlers Wells. After a while we had left the landscaped gardens of the park and were walking along the bank overlooking the River Lea heading towards the Velodrome.
Crossing the A12 slip roads near Eastway we rejoined the river-side path. The path split into two with a surfaced footpath/cycleway or a natural track by the river. We took the riverside path through the trees, passing the football pitches of Hackney Marsh on our left and enjoyed the wildlife on the river, spotting ducks, cormorants and a good number of Little Egrets. After a while we reached Friends Bridge, a footbridge over the river and turned left towards the Filter Beds Nature Reserve, where we were going to stop for lunch.
On entering the nature reserve I spotted a large lump of concrete, presumably part of the old structures,but which now rather handily made perfect seating for 11 people, a stroke of luck! After lunch we continued through the reserve to a henge of stones, called Nature's Throne, and then joined and crossed the Lee Navigation. Exiting the towpath at the Princess of Wales, we turned right onto Lee Bridge road, eastwards for about 500 yards before turning right and right again onto a footpath and subway under the road and headed north along what used to be an aqueduct carrying water from the Walthamstow reservoirs to the filter beds.
We followed the pathway under the railway lines with the Walthamstow marshes on our left, to the car park at the end. Exiting the car park we ignored the low bridge beneath the railway, which was built so cattle could access the marshes, and turned right to enter the Walthamstow Wetlands Nature Reserve, continuing to the cafe at the visitor centre for some refreshments. Suitably refreshed we left the nature reserve heading for bus stops or railway stations to take us home.
The walk had been about 5½ to 6 miles and had taken about 3 hours including the lunch stop, and included a riverside section and two nature reserves, and if you turned up early you could even fit in some shopping at Stratford!.
Trev Eley. 22nd August 2024
Themed Music Evening
On Thursday 15th August we held a Themed Music Evening for our weekly get-together at the Scout Hall. We first tried this back in June and it could vaguely be described as successful, so we thought we'd put another one on the programme. The theme this time was Gemstones and I'd received 15 suggestions, plus I had the two songs that I'd whittled my shortlist of 150+ down to.
Whilst everyone got tea / coffee and biscuits, so that I could check I had correctly connected the speakers to my laptop and therefore had sound working properly, we started the evening with a Neil Diamond medley that encompassed the two songs suggested, in absentia, by Brian. We then settled down to business. In turn, each person who had submitted a suggestion explained why they'd chosen it, I played the song and then we had a brief discussion as to whether anyone had heard the song before / whether we liked it. Many of the songs that were played, and even some of the artists, were new to several people in the group.
Although two of them were then asked to come up with an alternative choice, three people suggested "Diamonds and Rust" by Joan Baez and two people suggested (different) songs by Caro Emerald, yet our eclectic selection still managed to cover pearls, emeralds, jet, rubies and diamonds and we had a mix of jazz, blues, country, pop and rock. It was a fun evening that could have gone on for a lot longer than the time we had available - it was such a shame that we had to cut Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle's "Diamond Lights" short!
Our playlist consisted of the following:
Pearl in the Shell by Howard Jones
Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond
Absolutely Me by Caro Emerald
Diamonds and Rust by Joan Baez
Jet by Paul McCartney & Wings
The Birth of the Blues by Pearl Bailey
Emerald Eyes by Fleetwood Mac
Back It Up by Caro Emerald
Diamond Smiles by The Boomtown Rats
Hollywood by Marina and the Diamonds
Diamond Lights by Glen Hoddle & Chris Waddle
Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver
Diamonds on the Water by Enya
Diamonds are Forever by Shirley Bassey
Ruby by Kaiser Chiefs
Beautiful Noise by Neil Diamond
Rock n Roll Ruby by Johnny Cash
I look forward to adding another evening, with a different theme, when we plan the next programme.
Jill S. 19th August 2024
Finsbury Park and Woodberry Wetlands
On Saturday 13th July 2024, on a typical British summer day, eleven of us met at Finsbury Park Station for a 5 mile walk.
Mr. Toad by the New RiverIgnoring the temptation to join the throngs heading for the Wireless Festival, we entered Finsbury Park by the Stroud Green Road entrance and skirted round the festival barricades. We paused briefly by the lake where there was a grey heron, then passed the café before heading through the McKenzie Gardens. We then followed a short stretch of the London Ring as we headed for The New River. Probably because of the many new flats developments in the area, the path is well maintained and in some parts even landscaped.
Castle Climbing Centre, Clissold ParkAs we meandered along the river we spotted swans with their cygnets and coots and ducks with their young. There was also a small seating area near one of the newish flats developments where there were wood sculptures of Mole and Mr Toad from 'The Wind in the Willows'. A short distance further on we turned left over a wooden bridge and into the Woodberry Wetlands area, where there is the Coal House Café. This was an excellent place to stop for lunch, overlooking the East Reservoir.
Suitably refreshed, we then completed a circuit of the reservoir (on the recce the previous week I’d seen plenty of swifts flying in and out of the reeds, but they weren’t in evidence today) and rejoined the New River Path. We continued along past the West Reservoir until we came to the Castle Climbing Centre (a possible EFOG activity?) then turned right up Green Lanes. We then went along the road to the junction where there is Manor House Station. Two members decided to catch the tube there, and the others crossed over to walk through Finsbury Park and back to the station with the festival music (?) playing beside us. We saw the steam from a steam train going under the footbridge but were too far away at the time to see the actual train – a quick Google search at home suggests it was the locomotive 'Blue Peter' hauling a train on a special run from Kings Cross to Doncaster.
Also, due to the festival, there was a minor diversion via the roads back to the station.
Richard. 13th July 2024
Romford to Havering Park Walk
Sunday June 23rd and another hilly London walk. Having explored south, north and west London it was about time to have one on our home patch, east London. So it was that I arrived at Romford station just before 11 a.m. and was soon joined by Sue, Jill V and Nigel, as well and Francesca and Elliot from my 18 Plus group.
Leaving the station we headed along Eastern Road continuing to reach the entrance to Lodge Farm Park, the first of the five parks that the walk would take us through. Sadly, the park’s miniature railway, which is open two Sundays a month in the summer, was not working, although it was when I trialled the walk. Exiting the park we crossed over the main road and entered Raphael Park. We followed the path by the lake with its fountain, and came to the statues of Percy the Park Keeper and his animal friends. Percy is the star of the children’s books by local author Nick Butterworth, and also an animated TV series. Give yourself a point if you know who voiced Percy in the series (answer later).
Leaving Percy and friends we exited the park, continued to and crossed over the A12 and soon entered Rise Park, following the “Thomas England Walk” around the edge of the park, passing a fitness trail and a small brook to reach Lower Bedford Road. We entered Bedfords Park, and climbed to the summit of Foxes Hill, with some good views over the Thames Valley and beyond including the Queen Elizabeth Bridge. We then continued through the park, spotting buzzards and hobbies on route to the visitor centre for our lunch stop and more great views.
Suitably refreshed, we had a look at the resident herd of Red Deer, then continued past the car park, through woods and along a grassy plain with Havering Water Tower ahead. We left the park and turned left reaching Havering-atte-Bower cricket ground, which surely has some of the finest views of any cricket ground. Continuing, we soon reached the top of Orange Tree Hill, one of the highest in London. We crossed the village green and entered our fifth and final park, Havering Country Park, where we headed downhill through an avenue of impressive Wellingtonia or Giant Redwood trees before exiting onto a lane with more glorious views over London, and from here we made our way back to some houses to catch a bus back to Romford.
The walk was about 6 miles with some good views, a variety of terrain and things to see and learn about, all virtually on our doorstep, but I certainly wasn’t aware of all this until recently!. And the answer to the quiz – the voice of Percy the Park Keeper in the TV series was provided by Jim Broadbent, well done if you knew that. .
Trev Eley 2nd July 2024