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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.

Tuesday 19 February 2019

Evening Walk

CW2 Walk 2* - Saunderton via Lacey Green
Length: 9.9km (6.2 miles)

Catch the 18:24 train from London Marylebone, arrives Saunderton 19:08. Return trains from Saunderton 20:54, 21:53, 22:54.

Will stop for a drink / meal at the Whipp Inn, Lacey Green or The Boot, Bledlow Ridge.

* Start with the 2(b) Alternative ending at Princes Risborough route, to then pick up the main walk directions at [3] to then take the short walk option back to Saunderton.
T=2.2

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi. New to group. Is the protocol to bring head torches given it'll be dark by 6?Thanks.

Anonymous said...

head torches? always recommended in winter

Walker said...

I have to say that from what I know of the regulars on these evening walks, they tend to discourage the use of torches. This sounds barmy, but actually there is a lot more ambient light for night walks in this part of the world than you might think and once your eyes adjust to the dark, you will be surprised how well you can see.

Added to that is the fact that this evening is a FULL MOON and by the light of that you can definitely see to walk (providing there is no cloud, of course). This is a magical experience if you have never tried it, but you can't do it if in the presence of torches or other artificial illumination as your eyes then do not adjust.

But of course it is useful to bring a torch for checking maps or directions or whatever. But if you really get into night walking you find yourself minimising your use of them as much as possible, since every time you switch a torch on you lose your night vision for some minutes. Once your eyes have adjusted even a mobile phone screen seems unbearably bright.

One last remark: all this, as on all SWC walks, is at your own risk. And all the above is my personal view, not the view of the SWC, because there is no official view of the SWC.

Sean said...

Astronomers use a red light torch when stargazing as this is better at preserving night vision. Covering a normal torch with a few layers of red cellophane should work fairly well too.

Stargazer said...

The usual two disembarked from the appointed train under a surprisingly, if slightly hazy, w=perfectly-round-full-super-snow-moon. After waiting to see if others would emerge, we set off on the gently rolling terrain of the route. The moon provided sufficient light for us to manage without lights -- aided by the fact that one was very familiar with the route. We kept a good pace and arrived at the Boot Inn just in time for last orders...the food and ambience were both excellent -- so highly recommended....On a more relaxed pace after dinner, I am reasonably positive that I saw the ghostly apparition of a barn owl silently swooping low across an adjacent field...such is the magic of a moonlit walk…..

Ps: As an addendum, I learned later that a third walker arrived by car just as we were heading off....he set-off (hoping to catch us) but ended up walking most of the route on his own..in the dark -- kudos to him!

So, in total, n=3.....