Backup Only

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 February 2017

Saturday walk - The Chilterns by Metropolitan Line

SWC Walk 81 - Chorleywood to Chesham
Length: 15.9km (9.9 miles) with shorter options possible
Toughness: 5 out of 10: some hills, lots of flat bits

9.57 Metropolitan Line from Kings Cross (10.05 Baker Street) to Chorleywood, arriving 10.46.

Chorleywood is in London Transport zone 7, Chesham in zone 9, so you can use Oyster or contactless. There once also was a zone 1-9 travelcard which you could buy from Underground ticket offices with a Network Card and get a 30% discount, but now there are no ticket offices, I have no idea how you get this.

For walk directions click here.

This is an easy and pleasant walk in the Chilterns with nice views in several places, during which you will also learn the origin various street names in Bloomsbury. It all feels very rural, making it all the more surprising that you are never more than a couple of kilometres from the Metropolitan Line. In fact, if you want to be hyper-lazy, the walk document now includes an option that takes you to Chalfont & Latimer station just 2.1 miles after lunch (reducing the walk to 6.2 miles in total), though I am assuming that red-blooded SWC types will ignore this.

There are also two shorter options in the morning - see walk document - option a) being just a slight trimming of the main route and option b) being a different start altogether (useful if you get up late and want to catch the group up at lunch).

The usual lunch stop is the small but recommended Red Lion in Chenies, but I was recently tempted by a walker comment to try the larger Bedford Arms up the road. This is now a hotel and has table service for meals in its bar, but is in other respects just like a pub: the food and prices are perfectly pub-like and if the sun decides to shine it has a big garden.

In Chesham the delightfully quirky Drawingroom cafe is always the top tea choice, though Messrs Costa and Nero will be happy to take your refreshment dollar if it proves wanting.

Trains back from Chesham are at 27 and 57 past. Do look out of the window to enjoy the longest gap between stations on the Underground and its most scenic views.


7 comments:

Marc Ricketts said...

Now I might do the Walk on Saturday. But I can't Guarantee I will. According to the Pub Restaurant. The website Address is www.redlionchenies.co.uk

Anonymous said...

The Red Lion in Chenies is temporarily closed, due to the retirement of the landlord and his wife. However the Bedford Arms has lots of room, and the local ale from the Marlow brewery is very good.

Ian T said...

N=17 set off. Due to the Red Lion being closed and the Bedford Arms being unable to accommodate us (already had taken 2 group bookings), most of the group made a diversion to Sarratt, where there are two pubs. The Cricketers was a good choice. People seemed to like their food and there was a wide choice of beer. Mr Tiger liked his beer so much he had to have another half. The diversion was straightforward – easy to follow. It turned the walk into a 12 mile one. 2 had diverted to Faundon and were never seen again. The group were intending to visit the Drawing Room for tea but 'yours truly' lagged behind and cannot confirm this occurred. Going was good, even if Doris had had a go at a few trees. If anyone’s missing a glove, I found one. Nice walk. W=damp-start-getting-damper-some-rain-pm-a-bit-blowy

delia's barmy army said...

If its dark blue Ian hang on to it, I came home with just the one

IAN T said...

It is indeed that colour.

Bridie said...

We were told by one of the group that The Drawing room has the best chocolate cake in the world. To misquote Jasper Carrot, falsely attributed to John Lennon, The Drawing Room doesn’t have the best chocolate cake in the world. It isn’t even the best chocolate cake in the Chilterns.
Though I admit that it was very nice. Five of us supped there and all five of us had a piece and I think that we all thought it was very nice.
The walk was great
As the Red Lion was closed and The Bedford arms was fully booked we had to use the Cricketeers
http://www.brunningandprice.co.uk/cricketers/menus/daily-menu/
excellent venue only about 400 metres off the route so and extra 10 minutes walking. Good food and service - very nice.

David Colver said...

As proponent of the claim that the Drawing Room in Chesham serves the best chocolate cake on any of our walks (a step short of best chocolate cake in the world) I am delighted to learn that there is even better to be found not far away and look forward to being led purposefully and accurately to the location of this wonder at a very early date.