efog-blog
Recent outings and activities...
The Stanley Spencer Exhibition, and an historical walk - Saturday 25th January 2014
Just to prove that EFOG people are not always wading about in the mud at this time of year, on Saturday 25th January Chairman Pam proposed a trip to see an exhibition of painting by the artist Stanley Spencer being held at Somerset House. The works in the exhibition are normally housed in the chapel at Sandhurst and are temporarily on loans while refurbishments take place.
Memorial to the London Civil Service DivisionSpencer painted his pictures shortly after the 1st World War and reflect some of his experiences amongst the troops whilst working as a hospital orderly in Bristol and fighting in Salonika. They show domestic scenes rather than battles, men in very human situations that represented for the soldiers of the time a 'heaven in a hell of war'. 
"twelve of the best looking English women of the day"After a short break, the group reconvened for a local walk led by Jim on some of the commemorative monuments to people who had been in the War. At the back of Somerset House there is a monument to some 2,000 plus men from the London Civil Service Division who gave their lives in an extraordinary numbers of campaigns running the entire length of the war through to 1919 and the Middle East. Heading back up to the Strand, the group learned about the formation of the Royal Air Force in 1918 from the combined forces of the Royal Flying Corps, who had done sterling work with the army since their formation in 1906, and the Royal Naval Air Service.
Memorial to the Imperial Camel CorpsDown on the Embankment, Jim talked about the damage done to Cleopatra's needle by Zeppelins and Gotha Bombers during the war, and pointed out the shrapnel scars still visible. The ladies were then lined up for a photo in front of the obelisk. Very conveniently there happened to be twelve of us in the picture, as Jim explained the significance of this in his narrative: in the base of the monument is a time capsule, placed there in 1878 when the monument was finally retrieved from Alexandria. Amongst the other items placed on the capsule was a set of photographs of the twelve best looking English women of the day! Not sure that we quite live up to that acclaim, but it was a nice surprise to be associated with those glamorous ladies!
Burns' Birthday CelebrantsThe group then crossed over to Embankment gardens for a much smaller statue, representing the forces of the Imperial Camel Corps who operated out of Egypt during the First World War. The brigade comprised British, Australian, New Zealand and Indian troops fighting against Ottoman forces in the Libyan Desert, and on into Palestine. Some of the units also assisted Lawrence of Arabia in the Arab revolt before the companies were eventually disbanded in 1919.
EFOG's website - how you can help make it more 'visitable'
This is the Epping Forest Outdoor Group's website. If you are a member you can help make it more interesting to existing members as well as encourage new members.
We now have a new page called "Coming Soon". Maybe we could 'advertise' future activities better, in ways which will encourage more people to participate. If you lead or intend to lead a walk or other activity try to write something about it (or try to encourage somebody participating in the event to do so).
Think about contributing something, such as:
• Articles about Group activities, recent or future.
• Submitting news articles relating to the outdoors for publication.
• If you have any comments or suggestions, or if there is anything on the website that you are not happy about, let somebody know.
• Use the Contacts Form to let us know of any glitches on the site.
Have you contributed yet ?
Contributions can be sent by cuttting and pasting into the Contacts Form, or direct to Paul
Secret Nuclear Bunker and Ongar Walk
Sunday 19th January 2014 saw 15 intrepid EFOGers embarking on a mission to visit the Secret Nuclear Bunker at Kelvedon Hatch. This was well hidden (except for the not-so-secret big signs directing visitors to it). It was a very interesting - if chilling - experience with an informative self-guided tour using 
Outside the bungalow-disguised entrance to the bunker'wands' which gave information along 23 separate locations along the route. The bunker was originally built in the 50's and went through various incarnations and was finally designed for use by the government - not the likes of you and me - to shelter in and 'run' the country in the event of a nuclear attack during the cold war period.
Efob-bits emerging from the bunker It should form part of every child's education, just to remind people that this must NEVER happen and that, in reality, a self-made shelter under the dining room table with a few doors removed from their hinges and mattresses piled on top is really quite inadequate in the midst of a nuclear war! We had a quick bite to eat in the canteen after the tour and then drove on to Ongar to commence a short walk of about 3 1/2 miles.
Leaving Ongar at the start of the walkThe walk (rather muddy and slippery at times) took us along the Essex Way to the wooden church at Greensted and from then along paths and bridleways through farmland and woods back in a circle to Ongar. The lovely little old church at Greensted is fascinating, dating back to Anglo-Saxon times and is reputedly the oldest wooden church in the world. It even has a grave of a crusader in the cemetery.
Trying to avoid the mud at a kissing-gate
St Edmund's body (of Bury St. Edmunds fame) was allegedly rested there on the way to his burial (in Bury St. Edmunds) after he was murdered by many arrows and decapitation. Paul tells us that a wolf is also involved in the tale somewhere along the line - guarding the head until it was found so that it could be buried along with the body. The church did a good trade with members buying several jars of the homemade jams, pickles and preserves which were on sale. We carried on our trail afterwards, with some members looking at times as if they were competing in Dancing on Ice. We met, and talked to along the way, 2 lovely ponies and a rather pretty hairy pig in a small paddock munching her Sunday lunch of leeks and other vegetables. The birds were singing in the hedgerows, the weather was beautiful and the sunset as we drove home was spectacular.
Greensted Church - the oldest wooden church in the world
It was a bit muddy underfoot at times
Lynne E. 22nd January 2014
Puss in Boots Pantomime, January 5th 2014
I don't remember having seen anything called Puss in Boots before, although I have heard of it. I get it mixed up with another story about a dick and his cat, but that one hasn't got boots.
So – the annual EFOG pantomime visit, organised by Pam this year and - as last - at Greenwich. I arrived about 12 minutes early to meet the group at 3pm, so - rather than wait about - decided to visit the Cutty Sark and make use of the few remaining days left of my annual pass. I met Sue S. as I made my way round to the ship, and she said I couldn't do it, but I thought I could. Bit of a hold-up at the check-in – though nothing like Stanstead and you don't have to go through an X-ray machine – but it meant that by the time I'd walked around the ship – waving to the security cameras – disembarked and got back to the DLR station, I was 5 minutes late. Well, I was in that mood where I didn't care, and apparently some of the others had just arrived, so anyway – we went and had a pizza. I blagged an early check-in of my two-for-one voucher from the last P.E. visit (it was supposed to be valid only after 5pm, but the manageress took a fancy to me – understandably). As it turned out – it was a real winner 'cos when the bill came up we had got two lots of two-for-one, so we shared out the winnings.
Back to the Pantomime, to which we then made our way. Unfortunately there were loads of kids there, but the sheer numbers of EFOG members overwhelmed them. We had loads of rows of seats between us, and a lot of waving went on between separated parties. This led to some confusion for the rest of the audience because some obviously thought we were waving at them. There is a funny atmosphere at pantomimes.
The show itself - like most pantomimes, I find – was quite hard to follow. The plot starts off well enough, then people start bursting into song and asking the audience to participate in the oddest ways. Even the plot seems confused: as an example one of the leading characters (the one who had the cat; is his name Dick?) was from Arkansas or somewhere silly like that. The year of 1517 was mentioned as being when this was supposed to have taken place, and yet I don't think Arkansas was invented then. The cat was supposed to be male, but (figure notwithstanding – it certainly wasn't outstanding but then it was a cat-suit) I think it was a female dressed up. And a very large and tall women – who was quite funny, admittedly – was obviously a man, even though she wasn't wearing a cat-suit. This always seems to happen in these plays, and it is all very confusing.
I suppose I enjoyed it, even though I hadn't intended to, and I suppose ( all being well) I shall find myself in a similar position of unreality next year – or even this year if we go before next January 1st – which is always a possibility.
Paul Ferris, January 5th (by the way, thanks, Pam, for organising it)
Welcome 2014 in The Lake District
I didn’t believe it when Ken said we were going to climb up the waterfall gushing and tumbling down the very steep, high crag – but we did – TWICE!
On 31st December 2013, starting off in lightish rain, five of us walked and climbed up the path by the side of the wonderful, fast flowing waterfall behind the hostel we were staying at, on the side of Derwentwater. It was fantastic, the mist and rain added to the winter beauty of this lovely part of the world. At times the paths themselves proved to be a mini rivulets with water skimming over stones, mosses and lichen, exaggerating the multi-coloured rocks beneath our feet.
We paused several times on the way up and admired the all-round views. Wet bracken glowed in rust red swathes, draping undulating hills blessed with a myriad shades of green. The tops of some of the lower fells were capped by mists, the tops of the higher ones laced with snow. The air was intoxicating especially when the rain stopped for the afternoon, bringing smiles all round as we emerged from closely fitted hats and hoods.
Lynne atop the Bowder StoneOur 8 mile trek took us through Ashness Wood and over some lovely stone bridges. We walked down a “hanging valley” through Watendlath and towards The Grange. Lynne and Ken made a detour (uphill again) to see the Bowder Stone, catching up with us in time to sample the delights of a café in the village where home baked sticky gingerbread was a delight.
Three of us took a bus back to the hostel. The other two had a pub crawl back ….. both groups seeing the amazing sight of cyclists riding out of the lake!
At midnight we welcomed the New Year in at the hostel with other residents, standing outside to watch pretty fireworks going light up the jet black sky across the lake. We toasted the new year and sang Auld Lang Syne. Dave led some more singing – brave man….. before the rain decided we had been out long enough and sent us back indoors …… the forecast for the next day was dire!
A walk over Cat Bells had been planned for New Years Day itself but the heavy mist sat on top of the hills seemed pretty settled so an alternative walk was agreed. We would ascend the waterfall again (!) and this time carry on upwards, through a mainly wooded path to the top of the crag where we would cross the lower fell to reach Castlerigg Stone Circle. Once there we would text Paul, even send him a photograph of us all up there – signals were erratic so we were unsure we would succeed in but who knows what pagan gods might do to help us ?
The waterfall...againIt was dry when we set off this time and we seemed to reach the top of the waterfall more quickly than the day before. The journey through the woods proved a lot more “exciting” than we had expected. By this time the rain had returned, much stronger than the day before and accompanied by strong winds.
We had to cross quite a few mini streams, some only possible to ford by skilled teamwork (i.e. human chains and support to avoid wet bums or worse). There were also some tricky stiles – Ken’s head proved a useful prop. Difficulties notwithstanding, we remained positive and were still seduced by the beauties to be found. It was impossible for me not to stop sometimes to ogle winter fruiting lichens, running rivulets channelling down the hillside, clustered berries and the stark black tracery of winter trees. Magnificent.
Walla Crag, at 1,234 feet, is mentioned in one of Wainwright’s book of walks. We got to the top via Cat Ghyll. When we reached the top and looked over the Low Fell, trying hard to stand upright in the now very strong winds and lashing rain we all realised a return journey was a wiser option than carrying on across exposed bog and moorland. So, after huddling in an amazingly dry ditch behind a stone wall to have a snack and drinks break, we made our way down again.
Ken and Lynne were brilliant leaders. We couldn’t have done it without them – they even found a short cut back to the hostel. That night we had a lovely meal in one of the pubs they had found on their pub crawl (yes it was them) . A fitting end to a very different kind of New Year start for me – and we saw red squirrels as well! Thanks for organising such a great break Ken – you have had your orders for more, and more, and more, and more ……….
Pam Fleisch, 4th January 2014