Thursday 28th November Milton Keynes walk led by Tony R

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.

The 10 walkers having almost finished their lunch.

Sometime later Penny & Nita arrived having done a short walk starting from the same car park & they were joined by Beryl who had driven directly from home,
 

Nita, Beryl & Penny waiting for their lunch

After our lunch we left Camp Hill, crossed the canal & made our way along the tow path back to our cars.

Track of walk, walked in anti-clockwise direction.