Some wanders about

Seeing that most of my time is now spent in England, there are ways to get out and about cheaply. The trouble is, over half the country is not accessible by any kind of public tansport. I have a Freedom Pass, available to over 60's in London (for all public transport after rush hour) and I can travel on buses free anywhere in the nation. A Senior Rail Pass gives me 30 percent off train fares, plus the National Coach service also offers discounts. So off I go....

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
(JRR Tolkien)

We all step out the door, pack on back, out on the road to some near or far off place. Over fourteen years ago such was done by myself as I set out, not being all that sure how it would all go. I remember thinking about what it must have been like for two hobbits in The Lord of the Rings and wondered what would happen. There have been some great times as well as a few bad ones. After giving it all some thought, I decided that if a village is involved it must have a maximum population of 2000, preferably half that. Also it is really nice to get out on some trails far away from people, especially since outside my front door there are about 20 million of them. A nice one for that was in the Negev Desert.

A Wandle wander

Reckoning to begin with some short trips, I took a look at the map and found a river named Wandle, which goes south of the River Thames and is supposed to be a 12 mile walk. Finding the beginning of it is a real pain, so I scrapped that idea and saw a tram stop on the map named Phipps Bridge, where I could walk across a large park to the river. That's where it all went pear shaped, not quite a wipeput, but trying.

Once I arrived at the tram stop I entered Morden Hall Park a National Trust area and walked across it to the River Wandle. The park is very sterile and there are some long pathways going past a lot of open ground. I asked a number of people, some could not speak English and after a few wrong ways finally found the River Wandle. The river seemed to split up in different places and a path beside it went way off in some strange direction. That happened twice and I walked out of the park.

Seats are available. I liked this old one for the texture.

Part of the mansion. The owner died and left the entire thing to the National Trust.

Signage is available and there is a lot to do in the park.

Liked the waterwheel so grabbed a photo of it.

After leaving the park and almost back at the tram stop, I asked someone about the river, was given the direction so went that way and found an entrance.

Entered through the gates.

Finally found the river walk.

I walked quite a ways, some of it in deep woodland and continued, hoping I would be able to cover ar least 5 miles. Reality was a different matter.

Suddenly I ended up on a main road in part of Mitcham, a London suburb, no idea where the river went.

End of the river.

By now I was fed up and after a fair plod along the road found the tram stop and grabbed the next one back. Another stop on the tram is Wandle Park, why not? Let's see what is there. I had a good laugh standing over what was left of the River Wandle, I guess it just trickles along underground.

Personally, if I were visiting London I wouldn't bother about it. I chose to hate big cities, beginning with New York a long time ago and will not waste my time and money again on any special hikes in London.

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Hervines Park Amersham

The weather forecast was a heatwave. In England that means it might be higher than 75 degrees Farenheit. As for myself such a description is laughable, 110 F degrees is a heatwave. Regardless, I set out on a tramp through a wood in Amersham which is a little beyond the opposite corner of London from where I am now.

Following the Wipeouts recently, this trek was in line to what I have decided to do. Normally, in the past, Amersham was a starting point for many of my hikes in Buckinghamshire, the last one being my long search for a beautiful little valley. I did some screensnaps of the direction I needed to go and made the mistake of asking a woman in a shop if the street opposite was Station Road, she said yes, but it was not. Eventually I found it, kicking myself for not looking at the screensnap on my J5 phone that I have turned into a tablet. I finally found the long road of houses that ends at the entrance to Hervines Park.

The entrance had two ways in, one to a large open area on the right and on the left I could go into the wooded area.

Heading was West.

I headed down the trail after the entrance and saw ahead that the wood was very thick and quite dark. That was nice because it was a lot cooler with a slight breeze. I had to walk slowly because of all the tree roots and small drops in the trails. Occasionally there would be a couple of steps in sunlight that was like a blast of heat (the official temperature was about 85 F) At one point I ran across a large wired fence with a path beside it and turned back. No one else was around and the silence was great, I just meandered about revelling in it all.

A more open spot with sun shining on the trees

Further on there is a small area with a basic fence around it holding some tall pine trees.

Beyond the pines I could see a space that looked like an exit into the other part of the large park and headed for it, I wanted to be back in London and on a train home before rush hour.

Walking a little bit I found a bench and sat down, it was in direct sunlight, but a rest was needed. Close to where I sat were some fruit trees in a special area, they were maybe 4-5 feet high and must have been planted a few months ago from a special place which starts them out and were moved from there. Maybe in 20 or so years they may bear fruit, I dunno—just had a little chuckle at it all.

Following my rest I wandered in the shade and found quite a few other benches which could have been sat on. Two guys were on one with a beer each and we had a short chat. I walked Eastward to the way out which was on the right side at the way in, mentioned earlier. Got back to Amersham station and a train came by shortly aftwards to London's Marylebone where I grabbed a Tube (metro) to where I caught my train back, 5 minutes before rush hour began.

Quite enjoyed it

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Some narrow trails

Autumn had arrived, with a vengeance. Temperatures nose diving from the high eighties into the lower sixties with colder nights announcing that winter was on the way. It was a simple trip for exercise and like always my camera with me just in case. Making my way along trails often depends on how wide the thing is. A wide trail means I can put more distance behind me by striding out and not worrying about it. Narrow trails are a different matter so upon seeing one decided to do a write up in that regards.

A narrow trail, that goes on for quite a way.

Ground cover changes from year to year. Where I live, the lawn was full of clover for 2 years. Bees were having the time of their lives. A local guy had about 10 hives, each hive contained approximately 50,000 bees in a season. He would carry a hive to another lawn, like ours, and turn the things loose. He loved the bees and they loved him. I found out that he passed away a year or so back. All his bees flew out of their hives to the ground, laid down and died—about half a million of them. I didn't know bees would do that.

Not very visible, but there.

Sometimes I have been putting the miles behind me and passed a side trail going narrow. Quite often I've found following the little one leads to something worth seeing or experiencing.

On one trek, in springtime, an otherwise boring narrow trail had these Periwinkles. Their brightness cheered the walk up.

The trouble with Autumn is many leaves are down and you cannot see what is underneath them. It's slow going with things like tree roots, rocks and holes. If it has rained then things get worse.

Next time you are out tramping along some major trail, try out a narrow one leading off it. It's worth the effort, just try not to get lost.