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Those were the days...
Thanks to everybody who responded to London Group committee's invitation to comment on improvements they'd like to see in our club. If you haven't yet got back to us but would like to, there's still time - you've got till Friday 11th June. Send your suggestions to London@ldwa.org.uk
To recap, these can either be improvements for the short-term - while we’re all trying to get back into form and getting used to meeting for walks once again - or it could be a more long-term objective. Let us know by completing the following sentence:
'Our club would be even better if…' It would also be interesting to know whether you refer often to Strider to find details of walks or whether you normally look for this information on the website. We want to find out how necessary it is to advertise these details in Strider.
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The Andredsweald Circuit is happening!
I don't know if it's the first group to stage an event since the great shutdown, but Kent is organising the Andredsweald Circuit on 11th July 2021 (Yes, THIS year!), just 5 weeks away. Approval has been received from NEC and hall booked. The event is now live on SIE and the national website page has been amended.
There's a choice of distances - 15, 20 or 27 miles. Current planning is that checkpoints will only provide cold drinks, and entrants must bring their own food, but if restrictions/regulations permit a late decision may be made to switch expenditure from PPE to catering. The event is open only to LDWA members, and no entries on the day are allowed.
I've done this event myself and can thoroughly recommend it.
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Still on the topic of events, our own Capital Challenge 2021, available as an Anytime, received a rave review from Essex & Herts member who walked it recently: 'Great new route... A big new adventure south of the river - and it didn't disappoint... Who knew there were so many beautiful green spaces?'
Incidentally, a report on the 'old' Capital Challenge route that Team London and Team Essex & Herts walked last month is due to appear in August Strider.
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The Loops 100 2021
Many thanks to Gail and John Elrick for sharing this report of their Hundred
'We decided to plan a flexible 100 that needed no support, a DIY 100! It actually worked OK but a bit frantic at times! We decided on a series of 4 Loops, circa 20 miles each, with a separate lateral start of 20 miles from Crystal Palace to home in Hampton. Perfect for planning during lockdown. The walks would take us to the places we lived in since arriving in London in the 70s and show off some of the really good urban walking London offers.
'Routes were recced , measured in advance and tracked on the faithful GPS (Gerry the Pacemaker). Hampton home became the HQ and all the checkpoints with provisions all laid out on the dining table (all favourite 100 food). John became official photographer to provide proof and Gail was tracker.
'Multi-tasking was quite fun but hard, particularly when we returned to the HQ/checkpoint and would dearly have liked a cheery checkpoint worker to make us tea and wash up!
'We were surprised to find during the first day and night that we got ahead of our schedule and we could see this was going to cause a problem for the coming Loops Each Loop was time sensitive for a number of reasons including security and COVID concerns. We aborted one planned Loop during the event so, as we walked, we planned 2 more different routes to replace this one! It kept us awake sorting all this out and was quite good fun.
'So the newly planned final Loop of our 100 quite fittingly included Ann Sayer’s training run, a six mile circuit from her house in Teddington which she said was her favourite route. John had the honour of doing this final stretch. Sadly John was on his own as the dreaded ‘leaning syndrome’ had overtaken Gail on an earlier Loop She was able to welcome him back home (the Finish) in the early hours of Monday morning with a large glass of Argentine Malbec!'
Gail and John Elrick
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New books!
Above and below: Two new guides by London Group's former chair Peter Aylmer cover the 25-mile Forest Way and the 60-mile Three Forests Way. Both start at Loughton tube and dive straight into Epping Forest before taking different routes to Hatfield Forest.
The linear Forest Way ends at another LDP, the Flitch Way. Although there are bus stops nearby it's not the easiest place to get back from, so I've added an optional three-mile extension to Bishop's Stortford.
The circular Three Forests Way adds Hainault Forest to Epping and Hatfield. It was originally devised in the 1970s as a 24-hour challenge, jointly for members of the LDWA and the (then) Ramblers Association - indeed if it were not for Covid, a 50-mile version was due to feature this summer as a qualifier for the 100.
Both guides, plus the earlier guide to the Stort Valley Way, have colour photographs and professionally-drawn maps. Each is priced at £6, and there's a multi-buy discount on Peter's website too. They are available through his website www.trailman.co.uk.
Peter is also starting the task of traipsing round local bookshops and similar, so hopefully they'll be more widely available soon.
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