Thursday June 5th. at Priory Park in Bedford led by Liz and Pete

 

 

On Thursday June 5th, 11 members of Toddington Ramblers gathered at Priory Park in Bedford.  The weather outlook was not very promising!

Leaders Liz and Pete were pleasantly surprised by the number of walkers that turned up.

Off we went around Priory Park Lake walking and talking ,avoiding the odd cycle and runner.

 

The swans were quite friendly. 

....Then a pause in the Cafe for refreshments, the rain had held off, 

 

 

                                            and it was warm enough to sit outside!

 The second part of the walk we left Priory Park and walked along Bedford Embankment. A heron was sighted enjoying the Ouse. We completed a large figure of eight.

Pete pointed out Bedford Castle and the odd blue plaque then back to the car park at Priory Park.  A leisurely 4.8mile walk completed!

 

Canal Cruise and Walk on Tuesday 3rd June 2025 organised by Sue

Cruise one way to Great Linford on Milton Kynes Electra Community Boat

 

Sue organised a canal cruise along The Grand Union Canal and return walk event from Campbell Wharf to Great Linford Manor Park Milton Keynes.

 

We met at Avebury Boulevard car park and took a gentle stroll to the marina.

 

We were met by our friendly skipper and boarded at 11.30am for our 90-minute cruise taking 12 members.

 

We were given a warm welcome, health and safety talk and served with teas or coffee while we enjoyed leisurely scenic cruise

 

along the canal passing a few artworks on the Gyosei Art Trail and lots of wildlife,  passing Campbell Park, Pennyland Basin and Linford Wharf where the Newport Pagnell Canal once branched off.

 

When we arrived at Great Linford Manor Park, cared for by The Parks Trust, we had to shelter under trees for our lunch. The rain soon stopped and we started our leisurely walk back to Campbell Wharf.

 

Before doing so we had a brief stroll around a part of the park looking at the church, the newly restored ponds and the Alms houses.

 

Our walk back to us past some artworks and the Victorian Brick Kilns from which bricks were taken by canal boat to nearby building sites.

 

Clophill Lakes Nature Reserve on Saturday 31st May led by Beryl and Sue

 Clophill Lakes Nature Reserve

On 31 May, a beautiful day – perfect for walking, 10 members set out on a 3 mile stroll around the nature reserve.   It has been set up by The Greensand Trust and was opened just a couple of months ago.  We were – Anna, Beryl, Judith, Lynn, Maureen, Penny, Ruth, Sandra Hawkins, Sue F and Tony R

We arrived at the huge carpark and after waiting until the appointed time, we set off down the drive to the Visitors’ Centre where  we made use of the facilities.

 

We took a leisurely stroll round the lakes, through open country and a wooded area.   We visited several bridges over the River Flitt which, considering the lack of rain recently, was fairly fast flowing.

 

We all set out to walk up the grass path to the Castle Mound of Cainhoe Castle where we had a drinks stop and then one by one we peeled off back down to meet at the metal gate at the bottom of the hill. 

 

   Then we walked back to the Café in the Visitors’ Centre where we bought drinks and ice creams and also ate our own picnics.

 

 Everyone said that they thought it was a great place to visit and some plan to bring other friends and family to the Nature Reserve in the future.

Steppingley Church Stroll on Saturday 24 May 2025 led by Beryl

 

Eight of us set out from Churchill Drive (Froghall Road end) Flitwick by the Katherine’s Walk Information Notice Board.  We followed Katherine’s Walk and our first stop was at the wooden sculptures of a frog surrounded by several unusual “seats” featuring frogs.  At Fordfield Road we crossed the road and continued in the same direction towards the Fishing Lake.

Some of us ventured up to the entrance of the Lake where we saw several fishermen enjoying their sport plus some ducks, moorhens etc.   We continued at a very gentle pace outside the fencing of the Lake and up the hill towards Steppingley.  

We entered the Church and received a very warm welcome.  Some of us ventured to the new toilet in the shed in the Churchyard.   It was very interesting to learn how to cope with the special composting toilet.

As ever there was a wonderful choice of savoury goodies and lots of tempting cakes.

We were joined by Penny who had driven especially from Woburn Sands to join us for lunch.

The Flitwick & District U3A Ukulele Band entertained us all for quite some time and just before we left we joined them in the chorus of “Diana”.  

We took the shortest possible route back to Flitwick and had completed a total walk of 3.8 miles.

Woburn Stroll on Thursday May 22nd led by Hillary

......at the same time as Tony's longer walk in the same area  ......

Hilary led a lovely 3 mile stroll around Woburn. 

We met at Woburn car park and 8 of us had such a nice time. 

Hilary pointed out the reflection of the beautiful rhododendrons in the pond. My photo does not do them justice.

 

 

We stopped for coffee at a twisted interesting tree and Beryl enjoyed trying out its strength!

 

A Parks Warden stopped and joined us and answered all our questions about the house, which is still closed and under constant repairs.

 

After our walk we enjoyed lunch at Flutes  

Thank you Hilary for a lovely day.