Thursday 30th April Maulden walk led by Tony Madeley

A gloriously fine day and wonderful company . A circular Walk of 6 miles starting and ending at the George pub! 

 

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

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 our 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 Air Force.

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.)

Track of walk, walked in clockwise direction

 

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.