Bloomsbury Festival walk - Sunday 20th October 2013

Take One, by Christine

A few hardy members donned their raincoats and wellies to make the most of the last day of the Bloomsbury Festival on Sunday.  We followed a route mapped out by Jacky, who organised the day so that we could see as much as possible that was going on (and a few that weren’t!).  Our first stop hadn’t quite got started when we arrived, but was an art installation made up of spherical white balls linked together, and with antennae of clear plastic tubes that lit up when pushed, generating sounds that formed music as they moved about.

In the crypt of St Pancras ChurchWe then went on to St Pancras Church to visit the crypt and see an art exhibition by Julie Caves and H Locke, a local Walthamstow artist. The crypt was huge with vaulted passageways and a series of rooms creating a most spooky atmosphere.  Dragon eggs, drawings and paintings adorned the walls, but the most magical effect was in a small room, where a set of delicately coloured translucent bells were arranged in a circle, glowing gently in the dark, gliding around as though they had a life of their own.

Afterwards we wandered through Russell Square, where the crafty ones among us could make an appropriately coloured paper flower to pin onto a banner of your choice strung across the walkway with emotions such as “Fearful” or “Excited” on them.  Another attraction was a demonstration of Mongolian throat music, which made Paul very excited as he already knew about this style of singing.

We left there after coffee, to return later.  The next stop was UCL;  here we came across an exhibition not normally open on Sunday at the Burundi Gallery called “The Eternal Flame” about Zoroastrianism, its origins and history.  Artefacts included pottery, paintings,  videos, textiles and included a reconstruction of a temple where a flame burns eternally.  Well worth seeing and free to enter, it’s on until 14 December http://www.soas.ac.uk/gallery/

Inside UCL we found a food event and, although we had to wait for it, a delicious lunch of vegetable soup, bread and dips, coffee, and homemade scones with cream and homemade jam.  Before each course we listened to expert artisan food producers who talked about why they set up and what they made.  Talks ranged from a cheesemaker who made Mexican cheeses to urban beekeepers and the future of composting – into gas for heating, and cooking, if you want to know.

Our penultimate destination was the Senate House at UCL, which we hurried along to in the pouring rain; we were lucky enough to squeeze onto a guided tour of the building and learn something about its history.  We then completed our day walking back through Russell Square, where the events were closing, hastened by the rain, and we caught the last few songs of the day from “The Choir with No Name”.

Christine Toogood, 23 October 2013

Take Two, by Paul

Just before 9am on Sunday morning I'd got myself ready to leave for Jackie's Bloomsbury walk, then texted Fred to say that I wouldn't be going because it was raining. Then words such as “outdoor” and “walk” and “wimp” started annoying my head, so I had to rush to catch the train.

Floating bells in the cryptWe met at Euston Station and visited the crypt of St Pancras New Church – the one with the dumpy caryatids - where there was an art exhibition by Julie Caves and guest artist H Locke. I needed to 'get myself in' to the art displayed, but H (that was her name) helped out a lot there. As well – especially as she lived in Walthamstow and wanted to explore the Forest on her bike a bit – she readily accepted one of our cards.

Then on to the fayre in Russell Square where, just as Jacky and Christine had finished adding their origami flowers to the category of their choice, I heard the strains of “The Gay Goshawk”* amongst the other sounds emanating all the goings-on in the square. I watched the performance from a distance, then rejoined Christine, Jacky, Lynne, Marilyn and Fred to tell them what I'd been listening to. The singer was Carole Pegg, a founder member of the Folk/Rock Group Mr Fox from the 70s. It was from Mr Fox that I'd first heard the lilting tune and disturbing words of the Gay Goshawk. Christine and Jacky placing their paper flowersThis was followed by Tuvan throat singer Radik Tülüsh, whose deep undertone singing I hope amazed us all. His words may possibly have been even stranger - but then perhaps not. Together with the bass player Richard Partridge, they were performing sets from the Goshawk Project: English Folk meets Siberian Roots.

From Russell Square we walked through Tavistock Square with its peace-themes and Ginkgo trees, then made an unscheduled visit to the School of Oriental and African Studies at UCL where there was a display about Zoroastrianism. It was interesting, but it didn't gel with me anything like the previous day's visit to the Hindu Temple had, but the Zen roof-garden was nice.

When we arrived at the UCL cloisters the promised food was not yet ready, and we were ready to eat. However, we were encouraged to stay and during and following a series of short talks on bee-keeping, cheese-making, apple-picking and bread-making forth-came a selection of ecologically-friendly foodstuffs and coffee. It was a nice event and I felt I needed to say thank you to Marina (?), the organiser of the event, who had encouraged us to stay. I found that I was speaking to one of the nicest personalities I have ever met; when I thanked her there were tears in her eyes and she clutched my hands and thanked me! 

Christine, Jacky, Fred, Marilyn and Lynne in the UCL cloistersWe made our way to the '1984' building (thirties, actually) of Senate House where we were given a guided tour. In the Senate Hall, sitting at our desks in front of microphones, from my viewpoint I could see two of our small group seated in their esteemed positions looking somewhat weary. We had covered a fair bit of ground, walking outside as much as visiting inside, with a variety of exhibits and happenings to take in.

We returned to Russell Square to hear the close-down performance of the events there by the Choir With No Name. They were singing in the rain slightly less so than we we were standing in it.

There was a general consensus that we'd had a good day and that perhaps it was time to go home, so we did. In fact we'd had a very good time, taking in so many different things. Jacky had done a wonderful job organising it ( not the whole festival – just EFOG's participation!) Particularly as a very new member, she deserves to be congratulated on the day.

When I got home I remembered that I had almost not gone. I'd have missed a lot more than a gay goshawk.

Paul Ferris, 20^th October 2013

 * The gay goshawk came to my window sill;
The snow it fell fast & the stars stood still;
Oh, won't you take me in from the storm;
Won't you take me between your sheets so warm...

Don't breathe a word, don't speak don't shout;
I can turn the whole world round about;
Lay the moon flat on the land;
Whisper rope out of flying sand...

(from Mr Fox - "The Gay Goshawk", based on Child ballad number 96. My highlight of the day - apart from the company!)

The Rodings Rally - 16/17 November 2013

The annual Rodings Rally this year (2013) is on 16th/17th November, and lots of pre-event activities have been taking place over the months leading up to it. These have included planning the checkpoints, expeditions into Epping Forest to find the precise site of the checkpoints, and inventing new clues for the competitors to help them on their way.

What we need now is for EFOG members to volunteer to help on the night itself. Whether you can help for a couple of hours on the Saturday afternoon or evening of the event, first thing on Sunday morning to help clear up, or even all night, there will be something that needs doing that you can do.

Contact Ann on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Peter on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you might be able to help or have any questions.

If you would like to find out more about this annual event - or maybe even take part - click here.

EFOG's visit to Ireland in June 2013

In June 2013 eight EFOG members had a week's stay in County Wicklow, organised by Eileen.

Group member Pam has a sister who lives in neighbouring County Wexford to the south, so making use of the opportunity she asked if I'd like to go to Ireland earlier, to stay for a few days at Glenis and Stephen's home in New Ross. It had been a couple of years since I've been to Ireland – the last time with a Group holiday in County Galway – and many years since I'd visited County Wexford, and then only briefly, so I was pleased to be able to go.

We sailed from Fishguard on Tuesday 18th on fine Summer day for the crossing to Rosslare, and arrived at New Ross in the evening. It's only a two-up and two-down terraced house, so to give me and Pam a room each, Stephen and Glenis forsook their bedroom for the living room. The house was also shared by a Jack Russell, Poppy, who once he'd got over her apprehension about me proceeded to jump me at every opportunity. She was great for exploratory walks around the old port town of New Ross.

Our first expedition, on Wednesday, was to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Arboretum which was opened in 1968. This arboretum is dedicated to J.F.K. as the Kennedy ancestral home is at Dunganstown, just a few miles away. It was a beautiful, very warm and sunny, day and the arboretum is a lovely place to visit, with many fine trees.

Hello?I'd noticed on the map some islands off the coast at the S.E. tip of the County – the Saltee Islands. I'd never heard of these, and as boats were available to take visitors out from Kilmore Quay we decided that we'd go there. Thursday was another lovely day and the sea calm for the half-hour or so crossing in a small but powerful craft with cover only for the skipper and crew. Nearing the shore of Great Saltee – the other island being Little Saltee – we transferred into rubber inflatable boats for the final few metres to the only landing place, a bit of sand on an otherwise rocky coast. Visitors are only allowed on the Saltees for a limited time each day, and the boats from Kilmore abandon you there until they return at 4pm. There is no shelter – although the owner has a house there (often - as was the case - unoccupied) – but the day was so fine we didn't need any. The islands are a wonderful place for wildlife, with Puffins that come up and say hello, Seals that like to listen to you singing and a Gannet colony that you can walk up to without being attacked. It is a wonderful place and I'd recommend a visit for anyone down that way, but suspect that the weather might have some bearing on it.

On the Solstice (June 21st), we drove quite a long way into Tipperary to visit the largest stone circle in Ireland, at Grange. The whole area is a bit of a holy place if you are a Pagan, so I did my usual pagan things like having a look round and wondering how the trees in the stone circle have changed to stone – or perhaps the stones have turned into trees? We missed the actual sunrise by a few hours, and were just about the only ones there, but it was worth the journey.

Hanging on at Bray HeadAs many of the Kennedy family from the U.S. were to be visiting New Ross on the Saturday – and more particularly as we wanted to meet up with the rest of the Group when they arrived - we left New Ross before the celebrations began and drove to Brittas Bay in County Wicklow. As it happened, Pam and I got there shortly before the cars containing the rest of the Group did, and we had to do a bit of blagging with the security guard at the site (security gates, and a keypad login to a holiday-complex) before we got the code and found our cottage. The rest had misinterpreted the SatNav a bit, I think, and had almost got to the gates before deciding they were wrong and turning back.

Anyway, we settled in to our accommodation, which was a wooden dormer bungalow, I suppose. It was quite new, and had most of the facilities you'd expect, although some – particularly the kitchen – were laid out a bit awkwardly, the water supply was a bit wayward, and I couldn't stand up in the upstairs loo.

The first of the Group's walks was the next day, Sunday 23rd. From the respectable sea-side town of Bray, we walked along the promenade and steeply uphill on a very windy day to Bray Head (241m). It was so windy it was hard to stand upright by the cross at the top overlooking the town. We found some very slightly sheltered positions for a snack-break before walking the hill-side path above the sea to Windgate, some four or five miles north, and then back along a slightly more sheltered lower route nearer the sea.

Banshees at GlendaloughOn Monday 24th we went to Glendalough - The Glen of the two lakes - an early mediaeval settlement founded by St Kevin in the sixth century. Some of the group did a harder and higher-level walk whilst others did a lower and easier walk, but both groups were pestered by midges. I noted that these tended to hang around ready for the attack at places favoured by photographers. At the end of the visit Eileen, Pam and Val played at banshees in the river.

The following day, Tuesday 25th, we visited Avoca, which is the village in which the series "Ballykissangel" was set. I was surprised to see a Red Kite over the high street as I had not realised that there were kites in Ireland. A mile or two up the road from Avoca we visited the beauty spot of meeting of the waters. This features in a poem by the Irish poet Thomas Moore, and there is a memorial to him there. I not known that Thomas Moore was the writer of the lyrics for The Minstrel Boy andThe Last Rose of Summer.

Fitzgerald's, Avoca...we'd already been in!On Wednesday 26th some of the Group went somewhere, and Pam and I went to Devil's Glen, near Ashford. This is a woodland area with a deep gorge running through and again feelings of rocks and woods that have merged to become one. Almost at the beginning of one of the walks is a quote from the late Seamus Heaney: The riverbed, dried up, half-full of leaves. Us, listening to a river in the trees. And standing where we were, with the river far below us - out of sight and possibly out of sound - the noise of the wind in the trees was like a river. The next thought-provoking lines - cut into a rock – were We have lost the dog. I liked that. We were remarkably blessed with the weather, which generally was pretty good. After we had returned from the Devil's Glen we met up with Val and the three of us even managed an hour or two of sun-basking on the long sandy beach, just a short walk from our accommodation.

She's a bit shiny 'cos a lot of people are hands onWe spent Thursday in Dublin, and that was - conveniently in a way - the day we had the most rain. Dublin is a fine city and between us we managed to visit Trinity College, O'Connell Street, the Ha'penny Bridge, Phoenix Park and Molly Malone's statue amongst others. Coincidently at the end of the day we all met up in the lovely park of St. Stephens Green, right in the heart of the city. I would like to pay a return visit especially to the National Museum of Ireland; there are some wonderful things in there.

Our walk on Friday 28th was on Dublin Mountain, part of the Wicklow Mountains that stretches right to the outskirts of the city at Kilmashogue. From the high point of Three Rocks (400m) there is a wonderful view over the whole of the city and along the coast north and south, whilst behind the Wicklow Mountains stretch wildly away to the west. It is a further hike up to what becomes wild country, although the route we followed was made relatively easy by nicely placed rock paving. The conditions up on the top at Fairy Castle (536m) however, were damp, misty and windy.

The Fairy Castle on Dublin MountainWe strolled through the streets of Dun Laoghaire on Saturday morning, had a bite to eat and perhaps collected some snacks for the ferry crossing back to Britain at Holyhead. To alleviate too long a journey in one day, we had booked in for an overnight hotel stay at Newcastle-under-Lyme. Breakfast there in the morning was perhaps considered as the end of another great Irish holiday organised by Eileen.

I think the most memorable bits for me, in order, were the Saltee Islands, Devil's Glen, listening to the uileann-piper at Glendalough, and Dublin Museum. The Bananagrams in the evenings were pretty good, too.

Participants: Eileen, Fozie, Fred, Fritz, Ken, Pam, Val and me (Paul) 

Paul Ferris    8th September 2013

Hornchurch Country Park - Sunday 1st September 2013

Amina and Madeleine had a walk planned for Sunday in Bexley, but travel disruptions on the route had them cancel that arrangement. Thus it was on Thursday evening after I'd suggested an alternative walk at Hornchurch Country Park, I found myself elected walk leader.

Warm-up session with Sue, Amina and JennyI used to know the area around the Ingreborne Valley quite well. It had until 1962 been an RAF aerodrome, then became disused and overgrown. More recently it has become Hornchurch Country Park, so eight of us met up on Sunday morning at the car park in Squadrons Approach to explore. It was a fine sunny day, warm but not oppressively hot, and we began our expedition with some warmup exercises on the training equipment usefully provided for members of the public. Then off on the walk, with some comments by me and questions by others about the wildflowers we were passing. Most striking of these perhaps was the Chicory that was showing it's wonderful blue flowers in many places in the park. The blackberries were also enticing and some of us made instant use of them.

Skirting Albyns farm, we left Hornchurch Country Park to gain Hornchurch Hill. This was a landfill site but is now laid out with foot paths and bicycle tracks. Summiting Hornchurch HillFrom the summit is a 360° panorama and we picked out some places that we recognised. Looking north across a hidden Romford was the white water-tower at Havering-atte-Bower above Bedfords Park and a few degrees to the north east could be seen Upminster Windmill with the hills of Weald Country Park beyond. More to the east were the Brentwood Hills and Thorndon Park, and the Queen Elizabeth River Crossing bridge was distinctive towards the south-east. Across much of the far southern horizon the North Downs were visible. Looking to the S.W. beyond the wind-turbines at Dagenham, Shooters Hill was prominent, then the Canary Wharf complex, the Shard, the towers of the City, the B.T.Tower and the Highgate Hills to the west. Ilford's newer tower blocks were clear, with the water-tower at Claybury, Hainault Forest and the Redwood trees at Havering Country Park completing the circle. It struck me just how many of these places the group has visited and what a good place the summit of Hornchurch Hill would be for some compass practice.

A view of the Ingrebourne river valleyWe returned to the Country Park just east of Albyns farm, stopped for a drink by a fishing lake, then continued the walk to cross Ingrebourne river at one of the few bridges. I was heading for Berwick Ponds, but it all looked different here and I made my first slight mistake in direction. It has to be said that the signposting was less than clear, but we reached the ponds then made our way back to the bridge. The River Ingrebourne is about 10 miles long and has its sources around Navestock and South Weald. It is a small but important river which feeds the Thames and particularly here has valuable wildlife and ecological importance, thus it has been designated an SSSI.

One of the group noted that there were now a number of people around in flip-flops, so we must be nearing the car park. We sat on some benches for a short while near to some of the remaining structures from the airfield days: pill boxes and Tett turrets, which are one-man fortified gun-emplacements. I'd in mind to walk northwards along the river for a mile or so before returning to the cars, but everybody seemed to think they were satisfied with the expedition as was, so we left it there.

Participants: Amina, Fritz, Jill V., Sue Sell., Madeleine plus Jenny and Garry and me.    Distance: 4 Miles

Paul Ferris   4th September 2013