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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Saturday, 25 May 2024

Ely circular

SWC 118 Ely circular

Length: 18 km (11.2 miles). Toughness: 2/10

Catch the 9:42 from London Kings Cross arrives Ely 10:53. Return xx:18 xx:53. 

A fairly easy walk with lunch at The Red Lion (8.2km into the walk); numerous tea options in Ely’s Old Town prior to a short quayside stroll back to the station.
T=swc.118

3 comments:

Marc Ricketts said...

Now I might do the Walk on Saturday. But I can't guarantee I will. Now instead I will take the Train from London King's Cross. I will take the Train from Tottenham Hall to Cambridge. And change for another Train to Ely from there.

The Maverick said...

#4 out of the station with group cohesion factor of 10/10 through most of the walk. Gray and dramatic skies over a flat but gently varied landscape, but only a few drops of warm drizzle.
We enjoyed some splendid views of the river and the fens, and the Ely Cathedral from the distance. We reached the designated lunch pub in good time only to find that the kitchen could not produce much. Luckily, a corner shop across the square had plenty of unremarkable sandwiches and snacks. The way back into town, though guided by the sights of cathedral towers, was louder and muddier, and we had a close encounter with a golf ball in the final stretch of the walk.
Thee went to visit the cathedral (current ticket price is £14 but can be converted into an annual ticket and includes a very good multimedia guide). Group cohesion collapsed to shambolic levels at that point and two enjoyed coffee and cakes in the old town. The clouds cleared by that time and the pubs along the river on the way to the station looked very inviting. Alas, we rushed to catch 17:18 train back.

The Maverick said...

Fauna and flora report:

Two friendly and one skittish cat, a few aloof dogs, one crane and one buzzard, and no livestock on this walk.
Plenty of cow parsley, buttercups, elderflower, burdock and nasty nettles. We also crossed a field with intermingled barley and rapeseed (have not seen that before) and a few fields of young wheat.