The Spurs Way
Sun 16th Oct 2016
Walk Details:
A circular tour of historic sites associated with Tottenham Hotspur F.C., from Spurs' current training ground at Enfield to its old training ground at Cheshunt and looping back
Entry Details:
Walk Report
The Spurs Way, Sunday 16th October 201620 walkers, 24 miles - leader Julie Welch
The Spurs Way - a tour of some of the sites associated with the history of Tottenham Hotspur. 20 of us, including six newbies, set off from Tottenham Hale, well-waterproofed because of a somewhat pessimistic weather forecast, though in fact the early rain soon cleared and an overcast sky gave way to autumn sunshine. Don and Dick joined us at the mid-morning refreshments stop, the Narrowboat Cafe, which - though I'd alerted them beforehand - turned out to be sadly incapable of catering for such a large party.
Our route took us through what used to be Tottenham Marshes, where we viewed the expanse of grass where the schoolboys who founded Spurs played their first matched in 1882. We then carried on up via the Lea Valley Walk to Cheshunt, the halfway point, to join the New River Path, and then Whitewebbs Way, where we had a lunch break at the King & Tinker. (Full marks to those who brought sandwiches, as the kitchen was very busy.) We left two of the newbies there enjoying lunch and carried on to Hotspur Way, the Spurs training ground, then on to Crews Hill Golf Club to salute the memorial to a famous Spurs footballer, John White, who was killed by a lightning strike while playing there in 1964. The remaining four newbies were doing well, though none had walked this far before and inevitably the pace slowed to accommodate them.
I had recce'ed this route four times before the event, but there was obviously a glitch in my internal satnav and I took us on a much longer trek through Enfield than I meant to, which the result that a 20-mile walk was 24 by the time we reached the new Spurs stadium that is going up next to the old one. It meant a much longer day out than planned, and most had to abandon before the finale - free beer up the road at the Antwerp Arms. The four remaining newbies did admirably to last the whole distance and enjoy a pint or so of Hopspur Ale from the local microbrewery.
Thanks to everyone who attended - and sorry about the extra miles!
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