The sunshine attracted 16 Poly Ramblers on this walk in historic Bexley village and along the Cray river to Sidcup.
Nobody in the group knew what their home town or village were worth. But I could tell them that Bexley, in the Doomsday Survey of 1086, had 41 inhabitants, with 100 pigs and 10 ploughs, and was valued the equivalent of £20.

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I was surprised and pleased to find eighteen hardy walkers had arrived at Berkhamsted Station on an unusually dry morning. After the safety briefing we started the walk heading right from the station and then along the Grand Union Canal passing some pubs and cafes along the way. The path was not as muddy as when Jennifer and I did the recce previously.

We were very lucky with the weather on our walk, with a lovely blue sky and no rain.  We started with 14 walkers at Uxbridge station.  Heading down the High street and having crossed a few roads, we were able to drop down though the car park of The Swan and Bottle pub, onto the canal towpath.  Soon we reached Fran’s Tea Garden (closed but a bit early for a stop anyhow!). 

Despite the weather forecast of no sunshine and intermittent rain, an impressive turnout of twenty-four members and three guests assembled at Wimbledon Park station for a 4.5 mile walk across Putney Heath and Wimbledon Common.

A stroll along a suburban street took us to the gates of the nearby park. It is a recreational green space that sprawls across sixty-seven acres. Passing a children’s playground and numerous tennis courts, we reached a large lake with much wildlife. Zig-zagging past an athletics track took us out of the park and onto a road with a distant view of the home of lawn tennis. Turning off beforehand, we climbed up a side road until we found ourselves at an entrance to Putney Heath. Highwaymen once prowled here and duels were fought but we only saw locals enjoying the attractive woodlands.

Our train to Oxford was pretty much full as we left behind us an exceptionally busy Marylebone Station.    Arriving at Beaconsfield we were joined by others who had come by car.   We were 15 strong now and were packing out the small station building so we went outside for the briefing (in the rain unfortunately).

Happily the rain stopped quite soon after we began this 9 mile ramble although the sky remained in threatening mood all day. After passing a sign to the model village and walking along some residential streets we reached open fields and headed northeast towards Seer Green.   A couple of fields later we passed through an attractive avenue of trees and then we had to cross the very busy Amersham road.   We had to wait quite a long time before we could all cross safely.   Then we were walking through a wood and then across wet fields to Seer Green for an early lunch.  

Continue reading BEACONSFIELD CIRCULAR ON 7th FEBRUARY 2026 →