4 on this walk. Perhaps others were put off by the early morning rain, or the dreaded words “Euston” and “Leighton Buzzard” in the walk post. Two other SWC walkers were in fact spotted on the concourse at Euston but did not appear on the walk: so splittist tendencies may be at work. Our internal security has been informed.

London & Northwestern did their best to make us miss our connection at Bletchley, dawdling outside the station and then telling us the Bedford train was on platform 6 (it was platform 5). But in the end we made it without problems.

And so off we set - in glorious sunshine. Yes, reader, it was a lovely morning, the woods full of colour, the sky a lovely blue. Getting to the pub there was a temptation to sit outside on the scenic terrace…but we did not. All four of us ate and service was efficient.

After lunch we emerged to cloudy skies. It even dripped rain for a bit, but this did not last long. So sun in the morning and cloud in the afternoon . The grey skies were a pity because the leaf colour in the afternoon was glorious - yellow, gold and copper on beech and sweet chestnut, gold on larches. It would have been even prettier in sunshine.

Getting to the canal, my companions wrinkled their noses at the pub. Two of us saw a kingfisher on the way into town (or rather my companion saw it and pointed it out to me - thanks). One diverted to Tesco’s just before the bridge, and if I had had any sense I would have joined him (I bet they have a cafe…). Instead, I followed the other two to Leighton Buzzard station, where as might have been expected the cafe outlet was closed. So we got the 15.34 tea-less and I write this on the train to assuage my withdrawal symptoms….

11 of us on today's walk. It was overcast and cloudy all day , with the sun taking another day off, but no matter - it was very mild for the time of year, and pleasant for a late autumn day's walking. We were doing well in Back Wood, negotiating the tricky bits and on course to come up to the sequoia trees, when we were stopped by a shoot, linked to the Duke of Bedford's estate. An officious, rather rude shooter prevented us from continuing on our way along the public footpath through the woods as he said we would be encroaching on the shoot. Now whilst guns were seen stationed at their pegs, there was no sign of beaters and it looked as though the shoot was some way off from starting. But as we were "out-gunned", so to speak, we opted to make a strategic retreat and we took an alternative route onwards. Now the shoot organisers may well have obtained an official closure of the footpath for the day, but methinks if they had done so they should have displayed closure signs at the start of and along the footpath. Whilst some in our party took exception at this, the rest of us accepted the situation, and we continued on our walk, with a twisted smile.

Back Wood for once was not too muddy, and conditions underfoot for most of the walk were good all day. We managed to get through Buttermilk and Duncombe Woods without being stopped and we arrived at the Old Red Lion pub in Great Brickhill bang on time for our luncheon bookings. 8 of us enjoyed a very good lunch, served with a smile, which always helps, whilst our 3 sandwichers opted to continue on their walk after their picnic. We did not see them again - I hope they enjoyed the afternoon leg of their walk.

During the morning we did not see any other walkers or dog walkers - just the shooting party. But post prandial the route through Rushmere Park was busy with walkers, families out and dog walkers and it was so nice to see so many enjoying these lovely woods. So far I have not mentioned leaf colour. Well, we enjoyed the last of this year's glorious colour displays, above in the canopy on the trees and on the floor - for much of today's route. A delight.

The enjoyable afternoon passed without incident and we arrived at the Globe pub shortly after 3 pm to take tea and refreshments before continuing along the canal into dreary Leighton Buzzard. A fast train took us back to London in no time.

I believe all enjoyed today's autumn walk in very good SWC company - well, I certainly did.

6 at the station on a largely sunny day We had just congratulated ourselves on our neat, compliant number when, guess what. An awkward 7th turned up. So 7 . That was easily solved by dividing into 6 + 1 slow one. The 6 steamed off using their gizmos and whatnot. Not so the slow one, an aficionado of the written word, who grappled with the directions in Back Wood. And grappled and grappled and went up and down that bridleway more times than the Duke of York wondering “where is the T junction where you go right and then right again”? (Answer: there isn't one. There is a cross-paths where you go right. Full stop.) By now the others were well on the way to their sumptuous repast in the Old Red Lion and the slow one continued across the A5 and down Little Brickhill Lane using Mr Google. Then on past the Old Red Lion not realising he was now in the lead. Fshoom. This lead was maintained through Rushmere Park, despite going astray more than once. The others finally caught up with him at the exit where he had to quickly snap out of it and look like he knew where he was. After this it was plain sailing – just follow the others, innit.

The Globe had shut at 2:30 so no 'tea'.

A nice walk. The others did 9 miles, I did about 12.There was mud.

The directions in Back Wood at point eleven, which confused Mr Tiger, now corrected. The paths changed after the tree felling and path destruction a couple of year's ago.

Yay!

5 of us got the delayed train from Euston alas alack to find that the train at Bletchley had already gone so we got two cabs to the start of the walk.

2 set off ahead and were never seen again.

The walk was predominately a flood plain so I guess that this was the muddiest walk and no sign of flowers though loads of growth.

To our chagrin the lunch pub was closed due to a private function but we discovered a cafe

https://www.greensandtrust.org/tree-tops-cafe

in the park only say 2 k further on and it was very good with a large selection of dishes at reasonable prices. Being goody-goodies we all had salads, excellent and large. It is a charity as well so great to support it. Treetops cafe is by the Rushmere Park car park if you need to find it in future and all the locals (hundreds of them) seem to know it.

We had 5 k to do after our lunch and one of us got the 16.34 whereas 2 of us missed it by moments and then the next train was cancelled and then the one after that was delayed and hey presto we waited near on an hour for our train back to Euston.

At least two of us will be using Resolver to claim back our fares

https://www.resolver.co.uk/

part of https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/site/resolver/

I have used it before for train and air fares and it has been great for both.

dry

Good fun but hard work for a crassulent chap

A reasonably good weather forecast attracted 10 to attend today's walk between Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire.

It was mild with hazy sunny spells and a gentle breeze in the afternoon, making for very pleasant, late autumn walking conditions.

Back Wood early in the walk was muddy, as anticipated, but otherwise mud levels were very manageable all day, and it was mostly dry underfoot.

5 of us dined at the Old Red Lion pub in Great Brickhill. A table was reserved for us by the friendly staff in the cosy bar area, close to the fire, and we enjoyed our meals, washed down with some excellent draught beer. One sandwicher joined us for a coffee at our table as the other four sandwichers set off on with the afternoon leg of the walk.

Said afternoon leg was a delight today: the last of this year's lovely leaf colour was highlighted by the sun shining through the oak and beech trees in Rushmere Park and along the Greensand Ridge. We found the water meadows of the river Ouzel to be neither soggy nor too muddy before we joined the Grand Union Canal. Just along the canal the luncheoners met up with the sandwichers at the Globe Inn as the latter were preparing to leave after enjoying a refreshment stop: it was nice to say hello to them before they set off along the canal. Three of us luncheoners stopped for tea at the excellent, friendly Globe before we in turn set off along the canal at a steady pace, now in failing light. The dreary suburbs of Leighton Buzzard were quickly negotiated and the 16.34 hrs train for Euston was pulling in at the platform as we arrived at the railway station.

I believe we all enjoyed today's walk - I certainly did.

7 walkers showed up on what turned out to be a sunny but somewhat chilly day . Two walkers caught the earlier train out of Euston, which was packed, possibly because it was the first off-peak departure of the morning, but perhaps also because of the Warner Brothers studio/Harry Potter tour for which Watford Junction station is the point of assembly. The other five walkers caught the later train which, happily, arrived at Bletchley on time. A cautionary note: one of our number purchased tickets on the train and had to pay £14 rather than the correct £11.90 (senior return fare from Boundary Zone 6). There's a moral there somewhere. The walk itself was a mixture of skirting round fields, crossing stiles and walking through woodland. There was some mud, which was generally not problematic, though one of two uphill stretches were a touch slithery. Five of the walkers arrived at the Old Red Lion pub in Great Brickhill after an hour and a half of walking. I'm not sure whether the other two turned up later. I had to press on towards Leighton Buzzard after a quick drink. Others might like to comment on the food. At Corbetts Hill Farm, I chose discretion over valour and opted for the wet weather diversion rather than risk possibly waterlogged meadows. There was some road walking towards the end, but a pleasant stretch along the Grand Union Canal. I caught the slightly late-running 14.34 train back to London

Going. Thanks for putting it on.

Thank you Marcus for all your hard work organising the Mis-week walks. The reason why numbers may have fallen off is that the mid-week walkers generally prefer the established walk format and an inexpensive fare i.e. not too long or multiple options so we can walk together. Forking out £20 for a train fare just to get on a walk does not suit those on a budget any more than really expensive lunch stops do. Also the weather has been rather variable of late.

Posting experimental first walks with limited directions does not suit walkers who need to be assured that they have companions and can get back to London at a reasonable time. Those of us with time off during the week need to know that the walks are on a particular day. Having the occasional option of a Tuesday or Thursday may not fit with ones established work or social commitments.

Whilst I appreciate the need for new walks to be tried out perhaps we could avoid Wednesdays if there is no other choice of walk please.

Using Meetup as a way to further advertise the group is a great idea. However, a would-be new recruit having a quick look at the Meetup page (and keep in mind there are a huge number of hiking groups on that platform)might think only 1-3 people ever turn up on our walks. I suggest that under 'Welcome' on the first page an estimate of numbers be given: 8-30, for example. I realise a similar estimate can be found on the SWC site, but some would-be newbies will never make it that far, and be lost to those groups who lift our walks, often without acknowledgement. Having photos of walks with people walking (from the back to preserve anonymity, if need be) will also help. Younger people expect this. Thanks.

It is only worth resorting to Meet Up (which costs money, btw) if numbers are short. I would argue our weekend walks are well enough attended. We don’t want to have groups of 40 which make finding space in lunch pubs difficult. As for midweek walks the point of having two a week was because it was felt TOO MANY came on them when there was one a week (though on the few occasions I came - I must admit I am not a midweek regular - group sizes seemed fine).

Regarding photos of walks with people in, I put some on our Facebook page. But no one else did, so I stopped doing so.

I believe our advice for we members already has information about typical group sizes.

Totally agree with everything Marion has said ,it is offputting to fork out on expensive fares etc.. walking should be an inexpensive activity! well said M

Many thanks to Marcus for another great day.

Woods, weather and company were brilliant.

In transit at Bletchley, as we waited for the train to Bow Brickhill, we just about managed to separate the 7 SWC walkers from a London based group of French Ladies, 8 of whom were doing our walk. During the course of the morning we met up en route although once we left Back Wood we never saw them again. As their leader was using one of those hand held gps jobbies I hope she didn't get her group too lost in the woods. Our written walk directions and the OS Explorer maps are so much better...... and bring back the quill pen......

It was sunny and unseasonably warm , infact a glorious late autumn day. Said Back Wood was muddy in places but passable (this time last year it was impassable due to the forestry tree felling works churning up the paths). Onwards then through Buttermilk and Duncombe woods with some nice leaf colour to Great Brickhill where four of us enjoyed excellent lunches at the walker friendly Old Red Lion pub: and being able to sit outside at this time of year enjoying the lovely view from the pub's terrace was an unexpected treat and a bonus. Our three sandwich eaters joined us for a drink before we set out on the afternoon leg of the walk, with leaf colour in Oak Wood and in Rushmere Country Park nearing its best for the season. For once the water meadows just before the Grand Union Canal were not waterlogged and we made it safely to the Globe Inn, where we stopped for tea. A leisurely stroll beside the canal took us into Leighton Buzzard (not the prettiest of towns) and then to the railway station - where the "fun" began. All trains to and from London were at a standstill following an incident just before our arrival - someone hit by a train near Harrow and Wealdstone. We were advised by helpful staff at LB station to seek an alternative route back to London - and here we struck lucky. We managed to hire the last available taxi (with seats for seven passengers, no more) to the outskirts of Luton at a reasonable price. A slowish, but comfortable train then took us to St Pancras, where we went our separate ways home, and grateful to make it back to London given the circumstances.

Notwithstanding the end-of-walk excitement, I believe all enjoyed the walk, its variety and lovely leaf colour.

And delightful company, of course.

In response to comments 2 and 5, it just shows how impossible is the task of the walk poster to please everyone, let alone anyone.

For some time we have used Wednesday walks to test drive new walks. My current fellow walk poster, who goes to great trouble, time and personal expense to devise new walks for the SWC (with limited thanks), once in a while posts a new walk on a Wednesday. For my part I am biased towards posting Book 1 walks as it helps me keep them updated. As for cost, train fares are train fares, and we try to post most walks with an after 10 am start, to enable travel cards to come into play. The comments on expensive lunches are puzzling: some Wednesday walkers will only come on a walk with a gourmet, up-market lunch stop: they are sniffy over pub grub.

As I said, it is impossible to please everyone: walk posters just do their best to strike a balance between short, medium and long walks, close to London (which incites complaints over traffic noise) or a bit further out - and shock horror, the train fare is more.

12 on this Bucks stroll with light clouds and sun . The Bow Brickhill blackberries were found to be tasty and a few walkers consumed one or two of their 5 a day on the hoof.

The last time I did this walk there was a high squelch factor and the final fields before the Grand Union a real challenge. Not so today in this gently undulating pleasant woodland and meadowland stroll. OK the A5 is a pain to cross but it's one carriageway at a time with a clever gap in the crash barriers for walkers to navigate through. The fields before the canal were completely dry with (new?) boardwalks in places for the rainy seasons.

All met up for tea at the Globe on the Canal and agreed Marc's cheesecake was the best pudding on offer with the Crumbles coming a close second. Several puddings came under attack from other walkers (you know who I mean!).

The sun shone for the final section down the canal and we all caught the non-stop train back to the great Wen from LB. All in all a great day out and a good (mud free) time of year to do this walk

We did this walk on Saturday 12 August ( 12 of us ) and had no problem at all with paths churned up by tree works. I was pleasantly surprised by the joy of the terrain after the storms on the previous Wednesday and I expected it to be a ' bit muddy ' but there was little mud and when there was it was easily passable.

A good walk with lovely woods.

Muddy Waters