11 at the station, on a day mostly cloudy with occasional sun Fairly dry underfoot.Skylarks singing over the golf course.

At Jordans, the quaker area seems sorrier than I remember, the Mayflower barn having been sold, hived off, and tarted up. Only one person spotted the large flightless bird as we approached Chalfont St Giles. Readers, that person was me! An emu, I think. Sadly I was so stultified by the endless succession of fields we had just crossed that I couldn't be bothered to take a closer look.

In C St G, most opted for the churchyard. Merlins Cave is operating reduced hours and closed Wednesday lunchtime. I found the others in the Feathers. Hardly time for a quick half and we were off.

And so on to the biggest challenge of the day - Hodgemoor Woods. "Take care when following the directions" it said. (A bit worrying, considering I had lost track of them even before entry). Gulp scary! The others were ahead and I heard that, after some controversy over routes, they split into two factions. I had given up on the directions and was following the green line on my phone, I went a little off-piste but accidentally found a short cut that enabled me to saunter up casually behind the others.

Eventually, and not before time, we reached the outskirts of Beaconsfield. During this perilous traverse of suburbia, we passed a film crew. What were they filming? Readers, get this...they were filming Midsomer Murders. They didn't look like they needed any extras so we continued our trek to the station just in time to miss the 16:04 The others probably caught it.

What time are people meeting for this walk, & are people meeting at Beaconsfield railway station. Sue please reply to sueantell@btinternet.com

Sue, the posted train should arrive at Beaconsfield at 10-08 hrs - so that is the expected time of meet-up, at the railway station. Although I usually / always turn up for my posted walks, this time I regret I will be absent, due to a minor injury I picked up on last last Wednesday's walk. The directions should be easy to follow - I have written the "backwards" route for you to follow to Chalfont St Doodah - thereafter, after your lunch stop, you pick up the directions for the Amersham Circular walk. Enjoy ! I'm disappointed not to be with you on what I consider to be a very nice "hybrid" walk.

7 people got off the train in Beaconsfield, and were met by 1 other walker so 8. 7 did the ant-clockwise route to Chalfont St Giles, whilst the 1 walker did the clockwise version, and met us in C St G. 4 ate their packed lunches in the porch of the Parish Church of Chalfont St Giles.

3 of us then pushed on to Amersham, but the others remained in Chalfont for lunch in the Deli, and then presumably a drink in one of the pubs (if anyone would like to add information on what they did in Chalfont, please do so.

Plenty of winter scenery and there was much tarmac walking which was good as we avoided mud until towards the end of the walk in Amersham when we did pass through muddy fields. Tea and delicious cakes were had by 3 of us in the Seasons Café Deli and then onwards to Amersham Station.

A nice walk (or half of two separate walks combined) in great company and the weather was cool and cloudy.

https://www.merlins-cave.com/

Before attending today's walk please read the restart rules. If you are not prepared to share contact information with others in your pod of six, then I regret you will not be permitted to participate in what is a SWC walk. You can walk alone, if you wish, socially distant from SWC walkers, but better still, stay at home.

A case of quality not quantity today. Separating into pods of six was not difficult, given we mustered only 3 for the re-start of SWC mid-week walks. I was expecting 18 plus. Either our regulars were girding their loins in preparation for the Brecon trip, or - and more likely - our Wednesday Renegades were at it again. Request on behalf of all SWC walk posters - the Renegades desist and return to the SWC fold.

Travelling today was safe and a doddle. Two of us opted to use public transport, some ninety minutes after the end of morning rush hour. We were probably the only fare paying passengers on an otherwise near empty train. Hopefully, even our sanctimonious Anonymous poster would not have been too ashamed at our modest support of Chiltern trains loss making service.

Back to the walk. Having joined walker No 3 who had driven to Beaconsfield and parked near the railway station, we set off in the clockwise (main) direction, on an overcast dull slightly humid day , which improved a little cum the afternoon. Rain threatened on a few occasions - it might have cleared the muggy air - but it remained dry for the duration of our walk - so no complaints. One of us adopted a more leisurely pace than the remaining two, who were far from fast - we met up at Merlins Cave, where we all enjoyed a pint, and one had a light lunch. The pub managed Covid space distancing very well: there were a good number of diners, all safely distanced apart, and enjoying what looked like excellent meals - good to see this pub's return to form.

The afternoon leg today was uneventful and enjoyable, for the two of us who set off before our relaxed pace walker. I hope he likewise enjoyed his afternoon.

Arriving back in Beaconsfield just after the Cape had closed, we opted not to seek an alternative tea stop but to call it a day and return home - me on the train (again, near empty), my companion by car.

It was good to be back - just a bit of a shame our regulars gave us a wide berth.

I blame the parents.

Just to reassure you Marcus i was on holiday in Swanage and Sandbanks so unable to attend this walk. Will look forward to seeing you in the Balcombe walk next week. Marion

I shall be bringing sausages, and if I’m feeling generous maybe some chilli chicken wings too. If anyone coming is vegan or vegetarian please let me know and I’ll gladly take along something meat free fir you to munch on.

Gabriella

Hello. Is the travel card referred to an all-zone card which you buy on the day, or some special OAP card? Not walked in area before. Merci bien.

If you do not possess a travelcard one option for you is to buy a LT all-zone travelcard on the day, plus a single from the edge of the card's zone to Beaconsfield.

Not an OAP pass !

You can use an Oyster card for both legs of this walk.

Marcus is correct. Beaconsfield isn't within the London Travelcard Zone so you'll also need a single from edge of the travelcard zone to Beaconsfield.

If you are planning to buy a ticket at the ticket office at Marylebone Station I'd advise that you allow plenty of time as the queue can be fairly long and slow moving at times, particularly if you get stuck behind a load of visitors heading to Bicester Shopping Village.

Marcus - I'll bring along a back-up bottle, and a pack of 8 flutes. Bill S

To buy online for collection, get a ticket from West Ruislip which is the zone 6 boundary station

Does our train have to stop at West R, though, which it doesn't?

It does not, no. This rule applies on the rest of the network when using split tickets, but not when buying tickets from London Travelcard boundaries, or equivalent stations.

Thanks Bill, that will be much appreciated.

Thank you also Gabriella should you bring along some bangers - your sausages went down very well on last year's New Year Day walk when we stopped en route to Cookham - quite delicious, I recall.

Thank you Pete and Walker for card information.

14 on this walk: 11 at the start, two who caught us up, and one who materialised at lunch. One, or possibly more, left us at lunch and walked back to Beaconsfield, where one had parked a car. The weather was grey . Some would like me to add “and mild”, but actually it was pretty chilly in the early morning and I had several layers on all day.

We stopped for our New Year drinks on the green at Seer Green, where we commandeered the seesaw in the playground to use as a table, an action which earned a fierce glowering rebuke from a kiddie who passed with his father. After the champers, three went on the swings, watched by other parents. The front page of next week’s Seer Green Mercury will doubtless bear the headline “DRUNKEN RAMBLERS IN PLAYGROUND RAMPAGE”

Thanks to all those who brought food and drink: two bottles of fizz, one of rose and elderflower cordial, a whole box of sausages, “salmon in blankets”, a delicious Hungarian fried cheesy thing, cheese squares, crisps. Really next year we could probably turn this into a picnic lunch.

In the Quaker burial ground at Jordans there were two snowdrops. Reaching Merlin’s Cave in Chalfont St Giles we admired the architecture and were cheered by the relative lack of diners (well, I was), which seemed to promise quick service. But sadly the place seemed to be suffering from Day after the Night Before-itis. It took a while to get the one waiter to take our order, and the two staff in the kitchen took an hour and a quarter to produce most of the food. Quite a few ordered soup and were told this had to come at the same time as the main meal because that made things easier for the kitchen etc etc, except two of us pleaded and got ours quickly. The other soups then came ahead of the main meals anyway, and when the main meals came the waiter did not know what they were. “Isn’t that the Thai curry?” “I don’t know: it is my first day here.” It would be nice to report that the food was worth the wait, but generally it was not - the soup excepted, apparently.

We did manage to leave lunch by 3pm, however, and we then walked over the hills across a series of large, but not massively muddy, arable fields (following the route of the proposed HS2 tunnel almost exactly) to get to Old Amersham by dusk. Sadly no tea was to be had here, and New Amersham by the station did not exactly look like party town either. So we went straight to the station, where a fast Marylebone train was pulling into the platform. Two of us had a late tea (including a rather frozen vegan cheesecake) at Patisserie Valerie on Marylebone station (which might do more business if it turned the heating on).

Just 3 on this walk. We carelessly lost touch with one of our number just before lunch when he (or we) explored an alternative route, though I met him again briefly as we were both leaving Chalfont St Giles after lunch (his taken in the White Horse and mine in the Deli, supplemented by olive focaccia from a bread stall in the small market on the village green). By that time I had parted company with the other member of our group, I having decided at the outset to walk home from Chalfont St Giles to Chorleywood whilst she was planning to continue on to Seer Green and catch the train back to Marylebone from there.

A fair bit of squelchy mud underfoot, but nothing too onerous. Some decent colour, though a fair few trees had shed there leaves, covering the woodland floor with a fine carpet of gold. Mainly overcast with some sunny spells after lunch.

Two came by car, most of us were on the scheduled train, and one joined us at the lunch pub - in total we numbered a baker's dozen 13.

As for the weather, it was warm and dry in the morning wet all afternoon . The countryside was green and lush, the route was mud-free, and we observed some wonderful displays of buttercups and oxeye daisies in the meadows after lunch. Lambing also starts later in the south Chilterns - and we encountered some youngsters in the afternoon, always a nice sight. Lunch at Merlins Cave was very good. Five of us dined and everyone else joined us at a large table for drinks. During our enjoyable lunch break the weather had turned, from a gentle drizzle as we approached Chalfont, to light but steady rain, which necessitated the donning of waterproofs for the afternoon leg of our walk. One in our group bade farewell to us as he headed for Chorleywood, leaving the rest of us to negotiate the main walk. No-one complained at the wet weather as we were all aware we needed rain in southern England - and much more than we encountered during our walk. The rain freshened the air and we all enjoyed our walk over meadows and through more woods and finally over a golf course as we approached Beaconsfield. We found a tea shop in the town still open (just - most tea shops bizarrely close at tea time !) and although the staff were none too pleased to accommodate eight damp walkers, they warmed to us as we partook of their excellent cakes, tea and coffee. Methinks our total spend made it worthwhile their staying open for us. The railway station was a few minutes walk away and we had a short wait of fifteen minutes before our train arrived to whisk us back to London. During the journey we enjoyed some good robust banter on Brexit and the Tory candidates for the PM's job, slagging off most of the rum bunch - all good stuff ! - and a good way to end a most enjoyable day's walking in excellent SWC company.

Worried about getting lost if I'm alone. Is anyone doing this walk?

Hoping to!

8 off the train plus 1 latecomer who walked anticlockwise hoping to meet up so 9 altogether.

Yet another perfect day for walking. warm –and-sunny throughout. For those who like some shade there were long stretches in the morning through woodland where the only people out and about were those on horseback. Otherwise it was just the odd woodpecker that disturbed the tranquillity. At Chalfont St Giles we all picnicked in the sunshine on benches in the green before moving to the chairs outside Merlin’s Cave for some stronger stuff.

Five minutes into the afternoon walk we met the lone latecomer who failed to persuade us to return to the pub with him. The highlight of the afternoon was the garden of the Friends Meeting House which was particularly peaceful because the house is closed until March. The low point was navigating a diversion on the other side of Beaconsfield golf course where they seem to be building a new road. The shortcutter who took the train from Seer Green may be happy to read this. Once back in Beaconsfield we bumped into the indefatigable latecomer who this time persuaded two to join him in the Revolution pub. Two others preferred Costa coffee and three caught the 17.03 train. You missed a good walk and a lovely day, Stargazer!

I plan to go.

Will be on this walk.

Merry Christmas guys,

I shall be attending this walk and hope to see some of you at Marylebone. Weather

cold but dry.

Monica

Just 3 walkers turned up on this cold and sunny day, though we came across an independent walker coincidentally doing the same walk. The fact that a walk can be done at all on Boxing Day, when much of the network is shut down, is thanks to the large number of Asian shoppers who flock to Bicester Village at this time of year, prompting Chiltern Railways to run a half-hourly service throughout the day. The 9.45 train was packed on the way out. The Beaconsfield Circular is a pleasant walk through woodland and fields. My app measured the walk at about 12 miles, taking into account the 750-metre shortcut bypassing the Grade 1 listed Jordans Quaker Centre. This meant that we had to keep on the move, with sunset just before 4 p.m. Parts of the walk were quite muddy. The whole trip, including sandwiches in Chalfont St Giles and a warming hot drink afterwards in Costa coffee was about 5 hours 10 minutes. The route was fairly easy to follow, though GPS came in useful, particularly through woodland. The 3.39 train back to London was early enough to beat many of the shoppers.

I have not walked on a Sunday before and am wondering if these walked are well attended. I am interested in joining but would not like to do it on my own. Any comments will be gratefully received.

5-15 walkers is a typical average, but it does vary. Saturday walks tend to get higher attendance than Sunday ones, south of the Thames ones more than north of the Thames, and weather makes a difference (particularly on Sunday, a little less so on Saturday which is our "traditional" walking day). But it absolutely varies. Some walks get 30, some get 2 or 1 or even 0 (very rare, but possible). Sometimes the weather is awful and you get a big group.

You can see some recent numbers on how many attended each walk here

http://www.walkingclub.org.uk/swc/recent_walks.shtml

You have to click on each walk to get the walk post and then scroll down to see the comment, which will usually have a walk report including how many attended. If there is no report, then probably no one turned up.

11 on the walk with the weather fine and sunny to start but clouding over later . Its been years since I last did this walk and although pleasant enough I could not quite work out why it was scheduled as the 10th walk in the original TO timetable as it is far too early for the abundant bluebells in the woods where the trails are inevitably muddy in early March. I much preferred the walk when we hit more open countryside.

The good news is that the Merlins Cave pub has been completely refurbished and modernised and is now an excellent lunch spot with an attractive outside seating area. Our resident "Sunday roasts" inspector (D Colver esq) gave it a very good rating with one point deducted for the lack of crispness to the roast potatoes. The young and enthusiastic staff served all meals promptly. The excellent village deli is also still open but now has competition from a large "Costas" which has taken over a nearby pub and frankly looks a bit out of place on the corner of the attractive village green.

The group kept together the whole day and 4 of us had refreshments at a Costas near the station -their regular tea is not bad but the Earl Grey disappointed!

Finally well done to whoever drew the gpx route for this complex walk. There were a couple of places in the woods where trails veered this way and that and it differed slightly from the instructions but not seriously so.