Thursday 28th July Harlington to Pulloxhill walk

This 7 mile walk had 4 walkers and was led by Tony P
Leaving the village hall, we made our way along Barton Rd towards Horsehill Spinney, then passing through the fields with Bunyan’s oak below us, we continued our way to Upper Samshill farm via the by-way track next to Lovett Green.
Moving on towards Portobello farm we passed through a herd of cattle, sheep & a solitary alpaca, whilst making our way up to the water tower.

Tony R, Ruth & John D by the gate

Carrying on through the fields being very careful not to fall into the large cracks that have appeared in the soil as the ground is so dry, we continued on until  we joined the John Bunyan trail.
Then walking through Bury farm where they were storing the just cut harvest.

John D, Ruth, Tony R & Tony P

We carried on and through Sharpenhoe village, where we then turned onto the tracks leading us to Wateroff, where the stream runs through the fields.
Then crossing over the stream and following the tracks back towards our start point at the village hall.
The day was bright, sunny but very humid with a little wind at times, making it tough going for the last mile or so.

Track of walk, walked in clockwise direction

Sunday 24th July London Walk led by Tony P

This 5 mile walk had 14 walkers and was arranged by Tony P as an extra walk for many of the people who were unable to attend the previous London Walk. Tony P provided a brilliant commentary at many points of interest. We left Harlington station at 9.35 on a bus as there were no early trains due to engineering work on the line. The bus took us to Luton station where we caught a London train disembarking at Farringdon station. We left Farringdon and walked to Smithfield where we learned about the history of its market.

Sue, Val, Christine, Hilda, Annie, Rosemary & Linda listening to Tony P

We then walked to the church of St Bartholomew the Great which, unfortunately, we could not enter as a service was underway.

St Bartholomew the Great

After traversing many narrow alleys we passed some fountains & then found ourselves outside the Central Criminal Court, otherwise known as the Old Bailey which is actually the name of it's street.

Cathy, Hilda, Graeme & Sue think about cooling off.

The Old Bailey

Soon we arrived at St Paul's Cathedral & then walked through Temple Bar gate into Paternoster Square where we had a short comfort stop.

Listening to Tony P after passing through Temple Bar gate

On leaving the square we had a group photo showing St Paul's in the background

The group less me

We passed the old General Post Office building, now sadly Bank of America, with its statue of Roland Hill, founder of the penny post outside.

Roland Hill

We saw several sections of the old Roman City walls before arriving at the Guildhall.

The Guildhall with the Art Gallery on the right

We went inside the Guildhall Art Galley & Museum where our bags had to be scanned.

The Mansion house

We then passed the Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London before arriving at the Sky Garden which Tony had arranged for us to visit. This had airport style security which involved putting all our loose items into a tray which passed through a scanner & then we walked through a scanner. The views from the 46th floor were amazing. Graeme was especially happy as he could see his beloved Arsenal Stadium in the distance.

View from Sky Garden showing Tower Bridge & HMS Belfast

After almost a couple of hours taking in the view & chatting we descended to ground floor & walked up to The Monument.

The monument

We did not bother to ascend its many steps & simply made our way to Blackfriars Station to catch the train back to Harlington where we climbed the steps to the footbridge.

Tony P & others on the last climb

Finally a round of applause was given to Tony P for organising a wonderful day out.

Track of walk, generally walked clockwise

Thursday 21st July Toddington to Tingrith walk

This 7.5 mile walk had 9 walkers & was led by Cathy & Kate
Leaving Toddington Village Hall, we made our way out to Long Lane where we entered the fields full of wheat ready to be harvested 

Care had to be taken going through these fields, due to all the cracks that had opened up after the night's rain.
We made our way down to Tingrith, where a break was taken in the village shelter.

The walkers at Tingrith.

As we made our way out from the village, we walked along the track through to Castle farm then up and through Washers Wood

Carrying on through the woods and fields & after passing Happyland farm, then Toddington  Park and the Manor, we made our way through a field freshly sprayed with manure, before walking back to the Village Hall.

Track of walk, walked in anti-clockwise direction.

Thursday 14th july - Letchworth walk led by John Dixon

There were 6 walkers on this 5.5 mile walk which started from John's home in Letchworth.
We soon passed a garden with lots of interesting items in it.

We then had a lovely walk, part of which took us around Willian Arboretum. 

John crouching, Beryl, Tony R & Penny in the tree with Tony P on guard

We finished our day in John's wonderful garden full of colourful flowers and interesting things, enjoying a home made cake kindly made by Pearl. 

Beryl, Pearl (about to cut the cake), Tony R, John & Tony P

Track of walk

Thursday 7th July Potsgrove walk led by Tony Price

This 7 mile walk had 11 walkers
Leaving Woburn and walking through the village, we made our way along the tracks and up through fields of barley, oats and rapeseed on our way up to Potsgrove, where we walked down the lane towards the old church that is no longer in use for our coffee break

Upon leaving the church, we made our way up to Battlesden Avenue where an number of Belted Galloway cows and calves were along the side of the track, where we carried on towards the gate house at Milton lodge

 Some road walking found us making our way down and back on the footpaths which led us into the Woburn estste where we had our lunch next to Paris house
Walking through the estate where a large number of deer were in front of us as we approached Basin bridge
Making our way onto and through Park Farm, past Upper Drakelow pond we then headed back towards the car park to finish our walk on a sunny and humid afternoon 

Track of walk, walked in anti-clockwise direction.