Saturday 19th June

 Lilley & Telegraph Hill Walk led by Lynn - 6 miles - 7 walkers

After having heavy rain all day Friday, it was a relief to see the forecast was for Saturday to be dry until later in the afternoon. However, it was drizzling when we met in Lilley’s village hall car park, so a couple of us who had not worn or taken our waterproof trousers were rather worried we’d made the wrong decision!
Six of us set out from there - Beryl, Joan, Nita, Sharon, Tony P and myself- and met Brenda near The Lilley Arms from where we headed down the lane and along the track to eventually meet the Icknield Way. We had already passed some horse riders and one or two walkers and cyclists but as we got to the Icknield Way it suddenly became like Piccadilly Circus, with numerous cyclists and joggers as well as walkers! Fortunately, very few were heading north so we were soon able to walk without having to keep moving over. We stopped for our elevenses along this stretch, by which time we had warmed up after the unseasonably chilly start.

Coffee Break with Lynn, Brenda & Sharon

Soon after,  we reached the Hexton Road at Mountgrove Farm, where we have to walk the short stretch along the grassy verge and this was where I realised I made the wrong decision about not wearing my waterproofs or gaiters. In the two to three weeks since my reccie, the grass and cow parsley had grown so high and the rain had then weighed it all down so we had to wade through it. My trousers were soaked by the time we reached the bend to cross over and continue up to Telegraph Hill! Thank goodness they dry out quickly.

Beryl, Lynn, Joan, Nita & Brenda walking along the track

Beryl, Nita & Brenda in the foreground

This is a lovely part of the Icknield Way, especially in Spring when the new green of the leaves on the trees is so vibrant. When I did the reccie, it was a sunny day and there was so much bird song. Even on the grey, drizzly day of the walk, we heard quite a lot. At the top, you could make a little detour on a good day to look at the views from Pegsdon Hills but the weather on the day didn’t make that worth doing so we turned right and headed back in the direction of Lilley.
A little further on we took the diagonal path across the crop field to walk along the Woodside edge until we reached The Baulk to our right - a steep path into Lilley - but turned left to walk through a small wood, then turn right and go down the slope to Lilley Hoo Lane, with views across the other side of the A505

Lynn, Beryl & Brenda leading the way

Beryl on the swing

Just after reaching the lane, we took the RH path and followed the path up the hill, where there is a welcome bench at the top with views of Lilley below and Warden and Galley Hills beyond. This is also where Beryl made us all smile when she had a go on the swing hanging from the trees there!
From there, we walked down the other side, across a couple of fields, one full of golden yellow buttercups, and back into the village.

Brenda, Lynn, Tony P, Joan, Nita & Beryl

 

Everybody seemed to enjoy the walk and it was lovely for me to see people I haven’t seen for a long time because of the pandemic. My thanks to all of you for joining me.

Map showing the track of the walk, walked in clockwise direction