Jan

Canary Wharf Light Festival

Feb

Snowdrops: #swc353 Knebworth Circular; #swc53 Overton to Whitchurch; #cw1.51 Henley to Pangbourne

Mar

National Lottery Open Week - free entry to gardens, Hampton Court etc.

Wood anemones: #cw1.15: Leigh to Tunbridge Wells; #short43 Lesnes Abbey Woods; #cw2.20 (option b) Robertsbridge to Battle

Apr

Azaleas: #cw1.18 Sunningdale to Windsor - in Saville Gardens (Windsor): also Isabella Plantation (Richmond Park)

May

Bluebells : Late April-early May: #swc353: Knebworth to Hitchin; #cw2.5 (option ab) Tring to Berkhamsted via Dockey Wood and Flat Isley; #cw1.9 Shiplake to Henley via High Wood and Greys Court; #cw2.13 (option e) Guildford to Boxhill; #cw1.47: Ockley to Warnham.......and many more (see our Nature Blog)

Early May: for late bluebells plus rhododendrons and azaleas: #cw1.42: Holmwood to Gomshall via Leith Hill Rhododendron Wood

Kurume Azaleas in Isabella Plantation, Richmond Park: #SWC.261: Norbiton to Hammersmith

Ashwell at Home - for open gardens - #SWC91 Baldock Circular - usually the 2nd Sunday in May - 12 May 2024

Cow Parsley: #SWC.91: Baldock Circular ; #cw1.8: Bures to Sudbury

Jun

Apple Blossom: #cw1.28: Chilham to Canterbury; #SWC299 - Teynham to Faversham; #cw1.36: Borough Green to Sevenoaks

Buttercups: #cw1.8: Bures to Sudbury; #SWC190 - Thame Circular; #SWC.194 - Aylesbury Vale Parkway to Aylesbury

Oxeye daisies: #cw1.10 Beaconsfield Circular

Leigh on Sea folk festival ~ late Jun

Poppies: #cw2.22 Amberley to Arundel

Jul

Sandwich folk festival ~ 4 & 5 July

Lavender: Late July - #Short.23 - Banstead to Woodmansterne; #cw1.36: Borough Green to Sevenoaks ; also in Letchworth Garden City

Aug

Pride Parade in Brighton: ~ 1st Sat in Aug

Heather: #cw1.27 Milford to Haslemere

Sep

Heather - and berries, fruits and nuts.

Start of fungi (mushrooms) in woods

Heritage Open Days Oct

Deer Rut - Bushy Park, Richmond Park

Sussex Bonfires - Oct and Nov.

Late October - early November: autumn leaf colour: #SWC.140 - Wendover Circular via the Lee and Swan Bottom; #c1.45: Princes Risborough to Great Missenden; #cw1.47 Ockley to Warnham

Nov

Brokham Bonfire, Lewes Bonfire, many "smaller" ones in Sussex

Dec

Christmas Fair: #cw1.7 Garston to St Albans

For a more comprehensive list of SWC walks with flowers, particularly our bluebell walks, please see the Nature Pages / Where to Find Wild Flowers

Extra Walk 261 (second half only) – Barnes to Putney

Length: About 11 km (7 miles). Toughness: 1/10

10:44 Windsor & Eton train from Waterloo (Vauxhall 10:48, Clapham Jct 10:54, etc), arriving Barnes (TfL Zone 3) at 11:03. If you just miss this and take the 10:50 Woking train you can either get off at Barnes (11:09) and walk quickly to catch up, or stay on the train to Barnes Bridge (11:11) and wait for the group there.

At Putney you can return from the mainline station to Clapham Jct & Waterloo, or on the District Line from Putney Bridge. Both these stations are in Zone 2.

On this short New Years Eve walk you'll soon reach Chiswick House and after a little circuit of its grounds you could break for refreshments on the picnic lawn by the lake or in the Chiswick House café. If you choose to carry on there are plenty of alternative places on the next stretch, with five riverside pubs before you reach Hammersmith Bridge.

The bridge is open to pedestrians and if you reach it before 1pm I suggest crossing the river to complete the walk on the south bank, since Fulham have a home game against Arsenal and the area around Craven Cottage will be thronged with footie fans. However, if you pass the ground after the 2pm kick-off the north bank route should be fine; you can then explore the grounds of Fulham Palace and Bishop's Park before reaching Putney Bridge. A Wetherspoons on the south bank has become the favoured watering-hole for SWC walks ending at Putney, but bear in mind that the trains and tubes will be pretty crowded after about 4pm.

You'll need to bring the directions from the L=swc.261.r page. If you're printing it, you can click the Riverside Walk option to leave out the directions you won't need.

Extra Walk 261 – Norbiton to Hammersmith

Length: 16¾ km (10.4 miles), with longer and shorter options. Toughness: 2/10

10:12 Shepperton train from Waterloo (Vauxhall 10:16, Clapham Jct 10:21, etc), arriving Norbiton (in TfL Zone 5) at 10:38.

Return from Hammersmith is via underground (or bus). The walk document lists several mainline stations as earlier and later finishing points, but there are fewer services than usual this weekend. If you carry on past Hammersmith head for the mainline station at Putney (trains at xx:04, xx:29, xx:34 & xx:59) as there's no District line service from Putney Bridge. If you want to finish the walk earlier there's a replacement bus every half hour from Chiswick & Barnes Bridge to Barnes, connecting with trains via Putney to Waterloo.

The first part of this walk is through Richmond Park, and at this time of year it should be worth putting up with the Bank Holiday crowds in the Isabella Plantation to admire the Kurume Azaleas. It's quite a bit further to the suggested lunch pub – Sun Inn by the village pond on Barnes Green – but you could break for mid-morning refreshment (or a picnic lunch) at the park café near Roehampton Gate.

Unless you drop out at Barnes the afternoon leg is along the north bank of the Thames, with a short diversion inland to visit Chiswick House & Gardens (free entry to the gardens, but £12.50 if you want to visit the house and aren't a member of English Heritage or have a National Art Pass). There's another drop-out option of diverting to Chiswick or Turnham Green, but the full walk continues along the Thames Path to Hammersmith and (optionally) onwards to Putney. There's a café in Chiswick House and plenty of other refreshment places wherever you choose to finish.

You'll need to bring the directions from the L=swc.261 . A fair proportion of the walk is on firm surfaces, so choose comfortable footwear.

Norbiton to Hammersmith
Length: 16.8km (10.4 miles) Toughness: 2/10

10:18Strawberry Hill train from Waterloo (Vauxhall 10:22, Clapham Junction 10:27, Wimbledon 10:34) arriving at Norbiton at 10:43.

For the return journey, there are frequent tube trains and bus services from Hammersmith (TfL zone 2). Norbiton is in TfL zone 5

The morning section of the walk is mainly through Richmond Park, followed, after lunch in Barnes, by an afternoon leg along the Thames Path, with a diversion to visit the grounds of Chiswick House. The house itself is closed for the winter, but nearby Hogarth House (home of the artist William Hogarth) is open until 5pm.

The directions include various options for shortening the walk by dropping out at Barnes or Chiswick, and for extending the walk to Putney.

There are several possible lunch places in Barnes, including the Sun Inn (020 8876 5256) on Barnes Green.

You will need to download a PDF of the walk directions, or print the version you want from the walk's information page, suppressing the sections you don't need.

t=swc.261

Extra Walk 261 (second half only) – Barnes to Putney
Length: About 11 km (7 miles). Toughness: 1/10

11:14 Strawberry Hill (via Richmond) train from Waterloo (Vauxhall 11:19, Queenstown Road 11:22, Clapham Jct 11:25, etc), arriving Barnes at 11:34.

Barnes is in TfL Zone 3 and Putney in Zone 2, so use your Oyster card.

The full version of this walk is rather long for winter so I'm specifying just the second half alongside the river, hopefully attracting those who did the earlier sections in 2016 but dropped out before the end.

Quite early in the walk you'll reach the grounds of Chiswick House where you can admire the elaborate displays of the Magical Lantern Festival, with its Chinese New Year theme of “Explore the Silk Road”. You could stop for lunch here at the Chiswick House Café but I'd be tempted to press on and try one of the five riverside pubs on the stretch to Hammersmith. Rather surprisingly the walk author doesn't appear to have done any in-depth research, so it's a case of choosing the first one that takes your fancy.

If you stay on the north bank for the final leg to Putney you'll be able to explore the grounds of Fulham Palace towards the end of the walk, with its café providing a convenient tea stop if you're not too late. You can return on the District Line from Putney Bridge or the mainline station to Clapham Jct & Waterloo.

You'll need to print the walk directions (with maps) from the Extra Walk 261 page. You can significantly reduce the amount printed by clicking the “Afternoon Walk” option. As most of this urban walk is on firm surfaces, choose comfortable footwear. T=swc.261

Extra Walk 261 – Norbiton to Putney
Length: Up to 20 km (12.4 miles), with lots of drop-out points. Toughness: 2 or 3/10

10:18 Strawberry Hill train from Waterloo (Vauxhall 10:22, Clapham Jct 10:27, etc), arriving Norbiton at 10:43 (see below for an afternoon walk option).

Norbiton is in TfL Zone 5 and all the possible return stations in Zones 2 or 3, so use your Oyster card.

This walk had its début on a rather damp Saturday in February when most people dropped out early, so I'm hoping for better weather this time. The first part of the walk is through Richmond Park and if the Kurume Azaleas in the Isabella Plantation are in full flower it'll be worth taking the extended route here. Hopefully you'll be able to squeeze into the popular Sun Inn for lunch in Barnes, but there are alternatives nearby (and a picturesque village green if you bring sandwiches).

For the afternoon leg you can basically choose to go as far as you like along the Thames Path, with a short diversion inland to visit the grounds of Chiswick House (free entry, but about £7 if you want to visit the house and aren't a member of English Heritage or the Arts Fund).

You'll need to print the walk directions (with maps) from the Extra Walk 261 page, which lists the possible drop-out points from Barnes Bridge onwards. As a fair proportion of the walk is on firm surfaces, choose comfortable footwear.

Afternoon Walk: If you're doing some other long walks this weekend and just want a half-day outing, an alternative to dropping out early would be to take the 12:44 Windsor & Eton train from Waterloo to Barnes, arriving at 13:03. Click the 'pm. Afternoon Walk' option to start the directions at §D and (if you like) look for the main group in the Sun Inn or around Barnes Green. T=swc.261

New Walk – Norbiton to Hammersmith
Length: 16½ km (10.25 miles), with longer and shorter options. Toughness: 2/10

10:12 Shepperton train from Waterloo (Vauxhall 10:16, Clapham Jct 10:21, etc), arriving Norbiton at 10:37.

Norbiton is in TfL Zone 5 and all the possible return stations in Zones 2 or 3, so use your Oyster card.

This walk starts with a trek through a huge deer park and ends with a stretch along an attractive part of the River Thames. In between you can have lunch at a pub overlooking a village green and then explore the grounds of a historic neo-Palladian villa, currently celebrating the Chinese New Year. All in south-west London.

The park is of course Richmond Park and the lunchtime stop is at the Sun Inn in Barnes, “the village on the river”. The grounds are those of Chiswick House, where Lord Burlington's attempt to recreate the gardens of ancient Rome is somewhat overshadowed this month by the vivid displays of a Magical Lantern Festival. The suggested destination is Hammersmith but you can easily cut the walk short or extend it to Putney; see the walk document for details. However, if you do the extension note that football fans will be spilling out of Craven Cottage at 5pm as Fulham have a home game with Charlton.

You'll need to print the walk directions (with maps) from this New Walk page. As a fair proportion of the walk is on firm surfaces and the park shouldn't be too muddy, choose comfortable footwear.

PS. Before anyone asks, there's no GPS route on the website; the better to show up any inadequacies in the written directions. In any case you hardly need one for urban walks and Richmond Park is a nice place to get lost in. Leave your gizmo at home! T=swc.261.y