Brockley to Greenwich walk, 21st October 2023

Saturday 21st October, the date of our latest walk, but with Storm Babet wreaking havoc, would anyone turn up; surely Efoggers aren’t beaten by a bit of rain? So I set off for Brockley in south-east London not knowing if anyone else would turn up. Arriving ridiculously early the rain had almost stopped and did so shortly before 11 as Jill V arrived.

After waiting to se if there were any late-comers (nope), we set off, passing the Bob Marley mural of the back of the Wetherspoons pub, heading gradually uphill on tree lined streets to enter Hilly Fields, a pleasant park. Continuing uphill, there were fine views over London, to the Crystal Palace and Croydon transmitter masts to the south-west and Canary Wharf and the City to the north.

Passing a café under the trees we visited a “henge” of stones arranged in a circle, which is in fact a large sundial, and watched a group of “mace swingers” doing their weekly keep fit session. Continuing through the park, we started to descend into Lewisham with its forest of tower blocks.

Passing Lewisham station we came to a small oasis of greenery, at the confluence of the rivers Ravensbourne and Quaggy. Leaving this we turned right to see Lewisham Police station (the largest in Europe) and then returned to head up Lewisham Hill to Blackheath. At the top of the hill there was a pretty wildflower patch and convenient bench, both provided by Thames Water, which made an attractive spot for lunch.

After lunch, we continued over Blackheath with its impressive views towards Kent, to the Rangers House, a large Georgian House now owned by English Heritage, and followed the edge of the heath to an entrance to Greenwich Park.

Entering the park, we headed to the deer sanctuary, but sadly the sanctuary is being upgraded and the deer have gone to Richmond Park for a holiday, whilst the work is carried out. We continued through the park, picking up chestnuts which had fallen as were many others, and climbing to One Tree Hill and the Royal Observatory with their fabulous views over the Thames and the City. From here we cut across the park and followed the path down to St Mary’s gate, exiting into Greenwich, and headed for the DLR station.

A cracking undulating walk with some terrific views and except for two very light and short showers, good weather and surprisingly warm and sunny for late October.

Trev Eley   26th October 2023

Photos by Jill and Trevor

London Art Frieze Walk

On Sunday 15th October 2023, twelve of us met outside Great Portland Street station at 10.30am; one more joined us a little later.  Although it was a bit cold, it was a beautiful sunny morning and lovely to be outside.  

We crossed Marylebone Road, passed Park Square and entered the south-east corner of Regent's Park at Gandalf Corner. The Frieze Sculptures - an annual event that is London's largest free display of outdoor art - are dotted around The English Gardens, with 20 works of art on display.

We didn't try to follow them in number order but we did visit every piece that was there - the grin of the Cheshire Cat that was hanging from a tree near to the entrance into Frieze Art Fair's temporary building, a billowing, colourful fibreglass creation that was reminiscent of a sheet in the wind, a bird bath with an ear in the top, red resin 'letter' planters (spelling out My Body, My Choice) that were filled with succulents, green ceramic swans decorated with hard boiled eggs, a multi-coloured spaceship that represented African and Caribbean heritage, two painted cactus spikes that somehow referenced disorder in India, a sleepwalking man (very realistic!!), a chain of gold-coloured blocks, each embossed with different words, that were draped over three stone mushrooms, a red box for which you need to scan a QR code to see what is 'virtually' on top, a balloon man (actually made of metal) holding flowers, a Grim Reaper figure entitled 'Friend', an attractive sculpture of a person with a tree for a head, holding a cat whilst standing on a pile of books (that was described as being a self portrait of the artist) and more.

We spent almost two hours looking at all the sculptures - definitely an interesting mix, that provoked plenty of conversation and laughter - then crossed Chester Road and on to The Broad Walk. After a brief loo stop, we had a short walk around the central part of Regent's Park, visited Queen Mary's Rose Garden (a few still in bloom) and then headed towards Baker Street station via the Bandstand and the Boating Lake where we saw multiple Egyptian geese, a heron and a few swans with cygnets. No-one was boating though.

In the Wetherspoons by the station, we managed to get three tables next to each other that seated all 13 of us together. After a pleasant, leisurely lunch, we all headed off in our separate directions. 

  Jill S.   16th October 2023

Hainault Forest Country Park

On an unseasonably warm but very nice Sunday on 8th October, Madeleine and Louise led a short walk around Hainault Forest Country Park, which was incredibly busy but once we got around the lake and into the woods it was much quieter.

We were joined by Laurel, Jill Strudwick, Frances, Parviz, Richard, Trevor and fledgling member Pauline and first we went to the Henge, and then deeper into the woods, where we met a couple who recommended a statue on the sculpture trail. We went off to look for that, found it and then weren't quite sure where we were.... but we found some other sculptures and got back onto the trail, which wasn't the one we'd initially been following, but they tend to join up with each other and with Pauline's help we carried on in the cool shelter of the woods. Eventually we got back to the new cafe (which opened at Easter) and visitor centre, where we were joined by Cathy Smith for tea and whatever they had left at the cafe, and we sat outside and enjoyed the late afternoon sunshine. 

Thanks to everyone who came, and to Pauline for her help (she's a volunteer there).

Madeleine and Louise  13th October 2013

New Forest – 25th - 28th September 2023

Six of us (Ken, Richard, Cathy, Eileen, Louise & Marion) went youth (age is just a number) hostelling in Burley, Hampshire, organised by Eileen. Some of us availed ourselves of the unlimited breakfasts, including liberating fruit for the walks. Two opted for DIY breakfasts.

We travelled down in two cars and met up at the Shappen Café in Burley for a nice lunch, marred slightly by a few wasps which wanted a share of a cream tea. You do however have to give way to horses which saunter down the village streets.

Ponies in the New ForestWe then drove down to Bournemouth where some went in the Upside Down House and on the Observation Wheel then we all sauntered down the pier.

Whilst looking at the menu outside an Italian restaurant one customer dashed out and enthused over how wonderful the food was, she just seemed too over enthusiastic and we wondered if she was actually employed by the restaurant. So, after a lovely meal in a Thai restaurant we returned to Burley and the Youth Hostel.

Tuesday during breakfast, the rain came down in torrents, but by the time we were ready to leave it had blown over and we ended up with a lovely 8.5 mile circular walk from Whitemoor Car Park up to the Tall Trees Trail where we ate our sandwiches, then past Rhinefield House and back to the car park. It was a pleasant mix of forest and heath sometimes walking alongside streams, though at one point a massive puddle on a bridge over a stream made it feel like we were almost in the stream.

That evening we ate at the White Buck Inn just a stroll down from the Hostel. We were allocated seats at a rather sticky table, then had a long wait for our orders to be taken and an even longer wait for the food, which was OK, but nothing outstanding given the price and wait. The wines were also slightly expensive, but that’s another story.

A cottage in the village of BrookOn Wednesday we drove to the Rufus Stone (site of the death of William the Conqueror’s son in a hunting accident) from there we had a 5.5 mile walk up to Brook, where we stopped at the Green Dragon for refreshments and saw picturesque thatched cottages. Then back down to the Rufus Stone on the way we saw a couple of deer cross our path in the woods.

Although both walks were taken from a book and so were pre-walked, the directions sometimes left a bit to be desired leaving us at Much Dithering on the Moor. One was ‘turn right at the water tower’. You’d think that would be easy to spot even with all the trees, but we saw no sign of it.

A good map and compass or sometimes even google maps helps keep you on track.

In the evening we had an excellent meal at the Burley Inn. Service was quite a contrast to the night before.

On the drive back we stopped off at The Vyne (National Trust) near Basingstoke where we experienced a variety of guides – one outside and others in the rooms - giving us some of the history. We also had a pleasant stroll through the attached woods.

We slightly misjudged our leaving time so hit rush hour or worse round the M25/A406 and took 4 hours from The Vyne, but otherwise a good time was had by all.

Richard.   6th October 2023