tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13665817.post2225444559241071477..comments2024-03-29T13:33:35.228+00:00Comments on SWC - This Week's Walks: Saturday First Walk - Hayes CircularAndrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11395064086819994526noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13665817.post-17111389587722243592017-01-01T12:16:35.522+00:002017-01-01T12:16:35.522+00:00Eight walkers set off from Hayes Station at the ap...Eight walkers set off from Hayes Station at the appointed time, most of them enticed by the prospect of a short train journey from their local station in south-east London. In the course of the morning this nucleus attracted more participants at regular intervals and eventually n=12 sat down for an efficiently-served lunch at the very welcoming Fox Inn on an w=overcast day.<br /> <br />The author has packed quite a lot of walk into a small area, weaving an intricate route through the wooded commons between Hayes and Keston. Navigation was relatively straightforward along the well-waymarked Three Commons Circular Walk but whenever we were getting complacent we were directed down narrow paths on little loops and whorls through the woods; one hopes these unmarked paths don't change too much from one year to the next. The walk instructions got us round without mishap but a map (or GPS) and a good sense of direction wouldn't go amiss.<br /> <br />This made a good winter walk, with splashes of colour from the flowering gorse bushes, holly berries, pines and other evergreens, together with a mandarin duck which had fled the hurly-burly of St James Park and chosen a suburban life on Keston Ponds. For at least one walker recovering from a cold the short walk length was just right, but we were back at Hayes by 2.15pm where another walker made the not entirely frivolous suggestion that we could go round again. The author had talked about plans to extend the walk and it would certainly be nice to experience this area in other seasons.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10491475051270094030noreply@blogger.com