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