Sunday October 31, 2004

Two nice walks this weekend...

Hoping to walk off some of the extra weight I have put on after our brief holiday in Barcelona we planned two four mile walks this weekend.

The first starting at Waltham St Lawrence where the local pub the Bell is one of a few pubs owned by the village itself. The landlord rents the pub off the village. The walk was a new one to us but took us on many familiar paths we have been on while doing other walks in the Waltham area. My interest in walking off some of the excess of the holiday was put on hold as we stopped off at the Royal Oak in Shurlock Row to see if we could book ourselves in for evening dinner. In the process of doing so I ordered a rather tasty sausage baguette which I enjoyed very much...

Back to the walk, the leaves are really falling off the trees now and mistletoe is now visible in the trees. I have heard it is making a comeback after being under threat for many years. There is plenty around here that is for sure. During the walk we are taken by a 14th century church at Shottesbrook Manor "St John the Baptist" part of the only manor in Berkshire to remain intact after the Norman conquest. It is said the architect on completion of the church in 1337, climbed the spire to toast his work with a glass of wine and fell to his death and was buried on the spot. As you walk around this area you get two lots of planes overhead. Jumbo jets doing their final approach or having taken off from Heathrow and also light aircraft doing circuits from White Waltham airfield which is nearby to Waltham st Lawrence.

The second walk was a new area to us. The town or village of Sunningdale in Surrey which is near the busy A30. We got there by going through Ascot. The racecourse is being redeveloped and thankfully the ugly old stadium is being pulled down. The walk soon got us away from the busy A30 and into Wentworth where I think some big golf matches are played. Meantime in the grounds of the course is an estate with some pretty impressive houses to see. Of course a walk across a golf course is not always a good idea with golf balls flying over your head..

Later on the walk through another estate again developed with nice housing and grounds that looked like Capability Brown had had a hand in their design. The walk was also good for another reason - despite having rained heavily recently the paths were easy to walk on having a good foundation of gravel bricks etc..