Unfortunately due to weather conditions of high winds and rain our pre Christmas Lunch walk was cancelled!
We arrived for lunch at 1pm. It was lovely to see 29 members enjoying their Christmas lunch with much chatter and laughter.
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| James, Geoff, Lynn, Pete, Liz & Denise |
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| Beryl, Yvonne, Brenda, Maureen, Bob, Celia, Sue & Nita |
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| Maureen, Bob, Celia, Sue, Nita, hidden Beryl & Yvonne, & Brenda |
Unfortunately we had to cancel the walk due to
high winds and rain!
Ten members braved the weather and
met at the church to a very warm welcome and had a really good time.
There was the usual delicious
selection of savouries and cakes with hot and cold drinks. Raffles and
Christmas gifts.
The theme was ‘Christmas Bells’ and we sang
Christmas carols whilst ringing the small hand bells and joined by the sounds
of an accordion.
The Golden Hare Morris Dancers
entertained us and much to their delight we joined in a dance with them!
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| Denise, Wendy, Sandra, Beryl & Debbie. |
I
have received this email from the church. They raised approximately £395
“It's always wonderful to welcome
you all back. Thanks for your continued support.
Merry Christmas and a blessed
2025!”
This 4.8 mile walk was led by Janet & John
Ten of us met at the Forest Centre on the outskirts of Marston Moretaine . We were lucky with the weather as it had rained overnight but mild and dry for the walk. We walked 3/4 way around the nature reserve then headed off past the sailing club to the top of the lake. We were not able to do the full circuit as a bridge has been closed for some time with no date for repair.
We had a short coffee stop then retraced our steps and finished walking round the nature reserve back to the car park. Not a challenging walk by any means but basically not too muddy and everyone enjoyed being outside and having a good chat. Six of us then enjoyed refreshments in the cafe.
This 5 mile walk should have been led by Beryl, however she was unable to lead it & so Tony who had "reccyed" the route took over the lead. 9 walkers met at the canal side car park at the bottom of Campbell Park on a dry but cold & frosty morning. We set off in a southerly direction along the canal until we reached a blue fence enclosing a partially built flat development. Here we crossed the canal but continued to walk along its other side. We soon came to the elevated walkway next to the Warbler on the Wharf pub.
Beryl had planned to cross the canal & have an early coffee stop opposite the new marina, but due to the low temperature no one was interested so we carried on. However we noticed the electric boat moored nearby which offers trips along the canal. We thought in might be a good idea to take this up in warmer weather. We soon met Diane coming the other way, she had parked in a different car park & missed the walk start. We passed a frost covered meadow where the sun was making the frost turn to steam which blew across the path making it quite misty. Quite an experience. We continued along the path between rows of poplar trees until the hard surfaced path ended. Here we left the canal & turned left along a path which led though Woughton past the sadly neglected water garden. We crossed the Newport Road & walked part way round a small pond. Here we stopped for a coffee break before continuing under Chaffron Way. We soon joined a detached part of Newport Road which led past Holy Trinity Church in Woolstone. We continued past the Cross Keys & the Barge pubs before turning off into Linford Lane. This led to a footpath which went under Child's Way to pass the rear of the Warbler & the marina. We then walked along the canal before tuning off to Camp Hill where we had lunch. Unfortunately we arrived rather early at 12 o'clock to find we were expected at 1 o'clock, The staff moved tables about to accommodate us without problems.
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| The 10 walkers having almost finished their lunch. |
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| Nita, Beryl & Penny waiting for their lunch |
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| Track of walk, walked in anti-clockwise direction. |
12 walkers started this 3.5 mile walk from outside the Ship Ashore pub in Milton Keynes.
We walked to the Grand Union canal which we followed south. After a short while we came to a frog carving which Beryl had to kiss.
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| Beryl kissing the frog. |
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| Cathy & Beryl on the see-saw |
We left the canal & walked past Camphill, then some climbed the steps whilst others walked up the zigzag path. At the top we stopped for a breather before descending to the Peace Pagoda. We sat on the wall here for our coffee break & almost immediately we joined by Sandra & Paul who had gone to a different car park. After leaving the Pagoda we walked along the lake stopping at the Japanese building before going under the A509, turning left & walking along the lake dividing strip to the little footbridge.
We missed the path past the birdhide which had been unfortunately closed. We climbed onto the embankment on the east side of Willen Lake which we followed to "The Hooke" where Penny gave us a talk about Robert Hooke. Famous to me as an engineer because of Hooke's Law & the invention of the universal joint without which modern cars could not work. Apparently he was also an architect & designed Willen church where we stopped for a photo.
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| The walkers in front of Willen church. |
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| Track of the walk, walked in anti-clockwise direction. |
This 8 mile walk started with 8 walkers from the car park adjacent to the Aspley Guise Golf Club.
We left the car park, crossed Westhill & entered a narrow enclosed footpath to cross Woodside & join the MK boundary walk. We joined Aspley Hill by the Fir Tree pub where we crossed Woburn Road by the double roundabout to enter Sandy Lane. After leaving the houses behind we left this track to climb quite steeply up Old Wavenden Heath. After a while we rejoined Sandy Lane. At its end we walked a short distance along Longslade Lane before walking through Bells Copse where we stopped for a coffee break. Although we had a good view of the golf course no golfers were in sight. We passed Hundred's Farm before arriving at the corner of the raised reservoir above Horsemoor Farm. We kept right here to avoid what Bob said was a muddy area. After dropping down to the Horsemoor Farm track we climbed steeply into Landonhill Plantation before passing the forest school & then Marylands. We crossed Leighton Street & entered Wayn Close which we left near the Fire Station to join George Street. We walked past the Red Lion, now Fratellis, to join Duck Lane. We recrossed Leighton Street to see Beryl & Penny waiting for us outside one of the expensive restaurants. Behind the old Town Hall, now an antiques shop we found a tree with a circular seat around it. This was just the right size for the 10 of us to have our picnic
.
After lunch we walked along Bedford Street, turning off past Eleanor Close to cross Crawley Road by the Village Hall. We then crossed the playing fields to pass Birchmoor Green & then Birchmoor Farm which looked empty. We carried on the path to join Horsepool Lane where we turned left & left again at the top of the hill to enter Gypsy Lane. We soon left this road on a footpath which led to Aspley Guise school. We then joined Mount Pleasant & crossed Bedford Road to join a footpath where Bob had assured us we would see some elephants. Unfortunately these elephants had disappeared so we carried on to join Bedford Road which we crossed by the church to join a footpath by the side of the cemetery.
This footpath led to the walk start where we were glad to find our cars still there. A great walk on a very dismal, but dry day.
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| Track of walk, walked in anti-clockwise direction |
Richard
and Wendy led a 5.6 mile return walk from Flitwick following part of the St Katherine’s Way.
18
members enjoyed the walk with the beautiful colours of leaves in the woods and
the sunshine.
Joan did particularly well to walk the first 3.6 mile route to the church.
We
all managed a short coffee stop in the woods. Luckily it was not too muddy, but
very pretty with all the colours of the leaves. Three members met us at the church.
Steppingley
church hosted a Holy Halloween with the usual selection of lovely home made
savouries and delicious cakes, plus hot and cold drinks.
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| Members enjoying chatting as well as eating |
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| Sheila & Beryl ringing the bells |
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| On the way back to Flitwick |
13 walkers met at the Bedford Rd. lay-by in Wilstead for this 6 mile walk. We walked through the village before turning left onto the Dragon Wood footpath going behind a school & some houses. Although the ground here was relatively flat we could see the Cardington Hangers in the distance so we stopped for a group photo.
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| The walkers with the green Hangers just visible in the background |
| We turned right to ascend Fir Tree Hill (not a fir tree in sight) before arriving at a bench where we stopped for a coffee break . Although we took a photo at this point sadly it disappeared into cyberspace. We continued past Firtree Hall & Firtree Hill Farm to Northwood End Farm where we turned left to join the John Bunyan Trail. This led downhill to Manor Farm where we left the JBT to continue along level ground crossing a brook several times. However on crossing it for the last time we encountered a flooded field which walked past keeping to the very edge where the water was shallower. Soon we left the flood & rejoined the path that we had walked previously in the morning. On reaching the road we tuned right, crossed Cotton End Rd near a mini roundabout before arriving at the Woolpack pub. Most of us entered the pub for well earned lunch. | ||||||||
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| Lunch at the Woolpack |
It made a welcome change to visit a pub for lunch as since Covid these opportunities have been sadly lacking. After lunch we walked the quarter of a mile back to our cars parked in the large lay-by.
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| Track of walk, walked in anti-clockwise direction. |
3 walkers started from the High St in Graveley on this 7 mile walk. The forecast was for a dry morning with rain starting after lunch. We left the High St & walked past several potential building sites fenced off with portable fences. We joined the Hertfordshire Way which we followed past Ten Acre Plantation & Manor Farm before stopping for a coffee break just opposite Tilekiln Wood. After our break we passed Tilekiln Farm & then left the Hertfordshire Way at Warren's Green. We then followed other paths past Park Wood to Damask Green where we stopped for our lunch on a bench. After lunch we walked past the Cricketer's Arms before turning left by some newish houses & then entering a long field. On our right were some inquisitive bullocks, but they seemed more interested in munching grass rather than us. Here the drizzle started but we carried on. We then passed How Wood before a long descent back to Graveley where we passed the church before entering the High St. We crossed to our cars glad that the rain was not serious. Back at our cars we remembered that we had not taken any photos so Tony took a photo of his 2 lady companions.
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| Brenda & Beryl who walked along with Tony R |
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| Track of the walk, walked in anti-clockwise direction. |
14 members met at
Westoning Parish Church and set off walking the first part of the Flit Valley
Walk. It was a pleasant morning and we set off in high spirits at a gentle
pace to suit all the walkers, round the field alongside a newly erected fence.
It appears that the farm which has been empty for a while is now being farmed
again.
After a pavement
road walk we arrived at the recently rebuilt gates of Flitwick Manor Park. We
circled the park taking in the woodland path through the Arboretum and the
meadows.
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| The 14 walkers in Flitwick Manor Park |
We returned on a path in the woods alongside the A5120 and 11 of us sat down for coffee at Nuyard Garden Centre. The staff made us very welcome and rearranged the tables for us. Then two more members who were unable to do the walk joined us for coffee. So all in all we had a very sociable morning.
