Thursday April 16 :Sandy Smith Nature Reserve, Clophill on led by Beryl

 

Sandy Smith Nature Reserve, Clophill

On 16 April 2026,  9 walkers met at the Sandy Smith Nature Reserve Car Park and set off at exactly 10 am.  We walked up a gentle incline away from the car park when a car hooter was heard and an additional member of the club had arrived.  While we waited, a second late comer arrived.   So now we were 11 walkers!

It wasn’t long before we entered a wood which was covered in bluebells.   It was just a shame that a barbed wire fence was between us and the carpet of flowers.  Then we came across many cowslips and they kept appearing throughout the walk.

The reserve was land used in the 1960/70s during the Cold War when a huge early warning system (named locally as the Elephant Cage) adorned the site.  I am reliably informed that a couple from Eversholt called Sandy and Peter Smith bought the land in order for it to become a nature reserve.

We walked along various tracks and were kept away from military areas at Chicksands by large notices informing us not to trespass.   We crossed a field and climbed a hill which had a pond at the top with lots of bullrushes.  There we had ourrst coffee/banana stop.   The views throughout the walk were amazing and we could see for miles and miles.  

We could see Rowney Warren Wood on our left as we proceeded to Appley Corner where we turned right along the John Bunyan Trail.   A second stop was held alongside a stream and a metal railing which was just the right height to sit on!   After a climb back up a gentle hill we came to the fence of the Chicksands Military Base.   We were taking some photographs when a member of the British Army with a huge dog came to have a chat.   He told us that the camp was manned by the Army, Navy and Airforce.

It was all downhill from then on back to the cars.   Many of the group said that they had never walked in the area before and did not even know it existed.   (Just shy of 4 miles.)

Thursday 9th April Woburn walks

There were 2 walks on this date. The shorter one of 3 miles led by Hilary & the longer one of 7 miles led by Tony R.
As we had had several walks from Woburn towards Eversholt it was decided to do the longer walk in the opposite direction. 8 of us therefore left the Woburn car park by turning left & left again. We crossed the road & took the footpath by the side of the fire station. This led through woods, coming out onto farm tracks. After a coupe of "dog-legs" we arrived at a minor road junction. We followed the "No Through Road" signs to arrive at Potsgrove church. On finding the church open we entered & had our coffee/banana break inside.
As Diane used to live very near she gave us local gossip & even preached from the pulpit.

Diane preaching

After leaving the church we turned sharp left, following a footpath downhill to a bridge over a stream, then uphill to join Battlesden Avenue. Here Diane pointed out her house in the distance. We followed the Avenue to the large gate at the estate entrance where we stopped for a group photo.

Tony R, Dave, John, Janet, Diane, Torunn, Jean & Geoff in front of the gates

After passing through the gates we crossed the main road & followed it for a few hundred yards to leave it by a patch of bare earth which had been used as a lay=by. We did see the footpath sign but it was almost hidden by brambles. We followed the track parallel to the Woburn Park estate wall until we came to a gate through which we passed to exit very near to Paris House. From there we followed the yellow markers posted through the Deer Park to join Park Road by the cattle grid. It was then only a short walk back to the car park where we saw some cars belonging the those members who had done the shorter walk. We reckoned they were still enjoying the pleasures of the coffee shops in Woburn. As it had been a day with wonderful April sunshine we considered we had had a great walk in countryside unfamiliar to some members.

Track of walk, walked in anti-clockwise direction.

 

Thursday 26th March Ridgemont walk led by Debbie & Nick

 What a beautiful day, we felt very fortunate after yesterday’s weather. Nick & I were joined by 10 fellow walkers to commence that consisted consisted of Woburn park, a  field, small amount of road walking & woodland eventually passing Segenhoe church ruins. We had our coffee break slightly late as it was very difficult to find seating for us all!  But eventually we came across plenty of logs. 

Neal, Cathy, Tony P, John W, Sheila, Mike, David, Lynn, Debbie, Jean & Tony R on the logs.

Thank you to all that joined us.

 

Thursday 19th March Bedford Priory Park walk led by Sue

 7 members joined Sue at Harlington train station on a beautiful sunny day.
We caught the 10:20am train to Bedford. Beryl, Joy and John joined us at Flitwick station.
Lots of chatter on the train and lovely to see everyone. We walked through the busy shopping area towards the embankment, stopping for a coffee break by the flower bed, lots of colour and variety.  It was very tempting to stay longer in the sunshine. 

Hilary, Beryl, John, Janet, Debbie, Joy, John & Diane enjoying the sunshine

 We walked along old railway track and the River Great Ouse towards Priory Park, 2.8 miles, where we met Penny.  There were choices on today's walk which I'm pleased to say worked well. 

After sitting in the sunshine having our lunch 8 members walked around the lake. 1.5miles.

 

Hilary and Tony P decided to stay at the cafe and have lunch. Hilary joined us as we were nearing half way.   Tony P, Joy and John had returned home.

We then said our goodbyes to Penny and walked back along the old railway track to Bedford railway station crossing the Riverside Bedford Bridge.

John, Janet, Diane, Debbie, Tony R, Beryl & Hilary at the bridge

 

Thursday 12th March MK Historic walk led by Tony R

This walk was designed to include 3 periods of history ; Roman, Medieval & Modern.
12 walkers started their walk from Lodge Lake car park in Milton Keynes.  We had a leisurely, but windy, walk past the outlet from Lodge Lake & then along Loughton Brook under the noisy A5 before entering the grounds of Bradwell Abbey. 

The Abbey poster & Cathy & Hilary with a monk

Here we were joined by 4 other members who can only manage short walks. I had arranged that the medieval Abbey Chapel be opened for us. We had a guide who described the wall paintings inside the Chapel & also its history from a place of pilgrimage to a farm shed. Members kindly made donations to the charity responsible for its upkeep. 

As John & Jane were feeling cold they left us here, but the rest of us continued our walk under the railway to the Concrete Cows, a symbol of modern Milton Keynes. Here we had some photos with some members riding the cows!

Tony R & Beryl riding the cows

Tony R, Penny, Sandra, Joan, Viv H, Viv D, Tony P, Beryl, back of Cathy, Lynn & Hilary.

We continued along the path to arrive at Bancroft Roman Villa where we stopped for our picnic on some of the benches.

The interpretation boards at the Roman Villa

Afterwards the 4 short walk members took a short cut across a wooden boardwalk/bridge to the east side of Loughton Brook. The rest of us continued along the path, past the Petanque court to a more normal bridge, further north, over the brook. This was our furthest point from our start & here we turned south following the brook to meet the other walkers. As the temperature was dropping & the wind increasing a few walked more quickly with the aim of getting to their cars. We passed the cows on the other side of the brook & soon afterwards the short walkers left us to return to their cars in Bradwell Abbey. The rest continued on going under the railway on a wooden bridge above the river, a very interesting structure.
We emerged onto the our original path where we had entered the Bradwell Abbey grounds. Here we turned left to retrace our steps back to our cars. Part way we encountered a large branch blocking the path which had recently blown off a nearby willow tree. We cleared this off the path before continuing. Soon afterwards we arrived back at our cars after out interesting, but cold & windy walk.

Thursday 5th March Woburn / Eversholt walk 6 miles led by Beryl

This walk was down as a joint walk between Anna & Beryl. However Anna had a problem with her new hip joint & was unable to walk. Therefore Tony R assisted Beryl.

We started for the main car park in Woburn opposite the church & walked to the village centre & then along George St.  

After passing a glorious view of the house we turned left onto the narrow footpath into the park.  At the end of this path we continued uphill past the abbey & all the works being carried out there.  

 

 We followed the track passing Linden Lake to leave the park & join the Eversholt - Milton Bryan road. We followed this into Eversholt passing the school & entered the church grounds. We entered the church through the south door to find several people enjoying refreshments. We took our places in several pews & were served coffee & cakes. Anna, Wendy & Penny joined us in the church. 

 

 After leaving a donation we left the church, crossing the cricket pitch to ascend Hills End where we stopped at the summit for a short breather. We continued into Froxfield  before entering the park through the gates.  

 We followed the path through the park, past Stump Cross, to eventually join Park St & hence the car park. 

 

Thursday 12th February Bedford walk led by Sheila & Mike Briggs

Eleven members met at the Priory Park car park on a very overcast but dry morning. We set off walking round the lake, however we were intending to include the Finger Lakes but when we arrived at the entrance the path was totally flooded. We carried on hoping to visit another part later & indeed we turned off the main path along a smaller path leading to the other side of the Finger Lakes. However when we arrived at that lake we encountered another flooded area so we retreated, thus we completed a full circumnavigation of the Priory Lake. We then stopped for a group photo.

The walkers by the lake.

We then decided to walk towards Bedford itself along the old railway track, now a cycle path.  After crossing the Great Ouse, which was in full flow, we stopped for a coffee break. Some went into the coffee shop whilst others sat on the tables outside having their own drinks.

Richard, Wendy, Sheila, Mike, Denise & Sandra in the coffee shop.

At this point some members decided that they would leave us here & return to their cars, however most carried on into Bedford. We passed the hydro turbine but noticed that despite the full flow of the river only one screw was operating. Further we passed some work going on to refurbish the Bedford Lock, which is rather unique as it has a vertical lock gate. We arrived at St Mary's St. noticing the footpath under the bridge was flooded. We crossed the river & walked down The Embankment to it's end then followed the cycle track back to Priory Par car park. We had a very enjoyable dry 4.5 mile walk despite flooding problems, however the rain started whilst in the car on the drive home so we were very lucky with the weather.

 

Track of walk, walked in anti-clockwise direction

 

Woolstone & Willen Lake walk led by Penny. 3.5 miles.

It was a grey day after several days of heavy rain but 5 members braved the weather forecast to meet up in a car park off Newport Rd in Woolstone, Milton Keynes. However the weather was dry when we set off to walk south along Newport Rd before turning off left into the Ouzel Valley Park. We soon crossed the Ouzel noting how wide & fast flowing it had become. We continued along well marked & well surfaced paths until we came to an underpass with Brickhill Street. This was flooded but as both Tony & Penny were wearing wellies they tested the depth. At the deepest it was about 3 inches but slightly shallower near the walls. It proved a good test for walking boots, but I heard no complaints.

Hilary, Penny, Tony & Anna in the underpass. (taken by Sue)

We carried on passing a car park where we sometimes park when walking around Willen Lake, then across a bridge over the fast flowing Ouzel. We continued under Childs Way, no flood there, to arrive at Willen Lake where we turned right & followed the footpath. We met plenty of joggers before arriving at a bench where we briefly stopped for a drink. We continued along the eastern bank of the lake before crossing the bridge at its halfway point. We had been worried that this bridge may be flooded, but were pleasantly surprised that although the lake level was very high with much water flowing over the weir into the northern lake, the bridge was dry. We continued along to the bird hide where we stopped for a break. We observed many herons on the shore of the island. Most of us had never seen so many at once.
Leaving the bird hide we continued along the footpath to reach the path along the western side of the lake.  When we came to the Lakeside pub we went inside to have a coffee & sample the facilities. On leaving the pub we walked south but turned off the main path with a signpost saying Woolstone. After several dry underpasses we then came to the original starting point having had a very enjoyable walk with about 5 minutes of drizzle despite the terrible forecast.

Track of walk, walked in anti-clockwise direction

 

Rushmere and the Grand Union Walk 22nd January 2026 led by Neil and Kathy

 Rushmere and the Grand Union Walk  22^nd January 2026

Ten ramblers met at the Brickhill /Stockgrove car park. We walked the north side of Rushmere country park then continuing down past Partridge hill and the Paper Mill before joining the Grand Union towpath. A young Heron seemed oblivious to us when we stopped at the Three Locks pub for a water break.

 After clambering over the lock gates we continued along the canal leaving when we reached Old Linslade, making our way to the Rushmere visitor centre for a coffee stop.

 

 

Small Cathy on the chair

Once refreshed we continued to Stockgrove country park before crossing the road and followed an uphill path back to the car park. The walk was approximately 7miles

  

Thursday 15th January Maulden walk led by John & Janet

Eleven hardy walkers met at the George car park in Maulden anticipating a muddy,  wet walk in the woods. The forecast of heavy rain was not welcome news but it turned out not to be as bad as feared. We set off up hill past the church and into the woods walking on a mix of muddy paths and hard track. We shortened the walk to 4miles rather than the planned 5-6 miles given the forecast. We had a short coffee stop after walking through a field of nosey sheep and 4 gentle bullocks. 

John, Richard, Janet, Neal, Wendy, Beryl, Diane, Cathy, Tony R & Geoff

Near the end we passed about 10 horses in fields and a small group of alpacas. 8 of us then enjoyed lunch in the George.
Although only a shortish walk everyone enjoyed getting out in the damp air!
The map diagram is not quite complete as the app didn’t pick up the first half mile.
Leaders Janet and John