Walking at Drove End Woods, Ringwood Forest 

on Tuesday 7th January 2025

Happy New Year to everyone, hope 2025 is a healthy one for all of us.

After a few weeks break over the Christmas season, eleven of us met up at Drove End Woods, Ringwood Forest car park for a very gentle but somewhat muddy walk. We welcomed a new volunteer today and hopefully after a few hours in our company, he'll be keen to join us in the future.

Apologies from me, I have let the side down and have forgotten to take photos of our walk or catch up later. Definitely still in the holiday mode. Have included some evidence of where we walked. On Tuesday it wasn't quite so dry or sunny but we had plenty of opportunity to catch up with each other and some of us learned so much about bats!

After our walk we headed to Wolvercroft Garden Centre where we enjoyed our usual coffee/tea and cake in Sticky Bun tea room.....we were not disappointed. Again, not quite as sunny in January.

Sadly today we said farewell to a long standing volunteer who has acted as our treasurer over recent years, who joined us for refreshments. Thank you John for all the work you have done to support our small walking group, you will definitely be missed. We are all wishing you and your family all the very best for the future.

 Tuesday 3rd December 2024 

Our final walk of the year was on the Forest and then back to The Potting Shed for a Christmas themed lunch of delicious sandwiches, sausage rolls and mince pies, with our usual coffee and tea.

We also took this opportunity to invite Graham and Val along to say farewell to Graham who has walked with us for many years and has decided to hang up his boots for now. Graham entertained us with one of his funny stories and as ever, we appreciated the visual aids he brought with him.

Whatever plans Graham is making for the future, we wish him and Val all the very best and thank him for all the support he has shown us over the years. Thanks also to Val who has assisted us when we were short of drivers and her input prevented a cancellation of a walk. 

We chatted and took part in a couple of quizzes...again with a Christmas theme of chocolate and carols.

The delicious chocolates given to us were shared and enjoyed by all of us....thank you to our chocolate donors.

We have had another fabulous year and we are already looking forward to our first walk in 2025 on Tuesday 7th January.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.

 Visiting The Longest Yarn at the 

Royal Garrison Church, Aldershot on 

Tuesday 5th November  2024

Instead of our usual walk, we decided to travel a bit further today and we visited the above display in Aldershot. It meant an earlier start than usual, arriving at the Royal Garrison Church by1pm.

The Longest Yarn is an 81m long knitted 3D depiction of D-Day. Scenes included troops landing on the Normandy beaches, paratroopers being loaded onto planes and a French family at home awaiting news of the invasion.

Our first stop was in the church hall where we were able to enjoy sandwiches and mince pies with tea and coffee before we began our tour.

With 80 different displays to admire, we spent a reasonable time in the church surrounded by people like ourselves obviously quite overawed.  Some images below capture the minute detail on display.

                        

                                  

A different day for us but we all agreed it was a lovely way to spend a beautiful autumnal Tuesday. The journey may have been a bit longer and our walk a bit shorter but the experience of sharing this outstanding display together was a treat.

       

   

                         Walking at Hengistbury Head on Tuesday 29th October 2024

What a beautiful day for a walk at Hengistbury Head...some of us stopped off at Friar's Cliff beforehand but that's another story. Half term school holidays meant it was busier than usual, however, a lovely walk was had by all eleven of us...whether we did the short or the longer walk.

We appreciated the mild dry weather and no wind today, allowed us the opportunity to admire the wild life and beautiful scenery. Of course, as we usually do, finishing off our walk at the Hikers Cafe where we had delicious cake and coffee or tea was enjoyed by all. Some of us have missed the past few walks for a variety of different reasons, so catching up today was a treat.

 Walking from Old Station Tea Rooms, Holmsley, Burley  on 

Tuesday 3rd September 2024

Although a bit overcast, nine of us arrived at the tea room, parked up then walked about a mile or so along the old railway track towards Burley. We met a few cyclists and people out walking dogs. Having found a ball a quick game of football took place...missed a photo opportunity though. The heather is beginning to bloom and we commented on the variety of different hues. 

The weather stayed fine, in fact got a bit warmer as we arrived back at the tearoom where we all enjoyed our usual chat, coffee/tea and delicious cake. The staff were ever so helpful and will definitely add Holmsley to our list of places to revisit.

Castleman trail

 Loverly walk in the sunshine this afternoon with the Pals, finishing up at the Boston Tea Party. 

 Walking at Lady's Mile, Godshill then coffee and cake at Woodgreen Community Shop Cafe on 

Tuesday 6th August 2024

What a lovely day for a walk!! After a heavy rain shower in the morning, it seemed much fresher today when thirteen of us met at Godshill Enclosure and had a lovely walk with beautiful views along Lady's Mile.

Nothing unusual today with the variety of topics we chatted about ranging from the abundance of berries on trees to an absence of ponies on the Forest. Back to the car park and then a short drive to Woodgreen where we had lovely coffee/tea and some delicious cake. A big thank you to the staff on duty who made us all feel very welcome and assisted greatly. We were told we had been there biggest group ...ever!! We will definitely be back.

 Walking in the Forest on Tuesday 30th July 2024

Well yesterday was hot, hot, hot so we were very careful not to walk too far for too long. So having met at Hyde we had a lovely gentle stroll, resting a couple of times under the large fir trees that were available also.

Despite the high temperature of close to 30, we drank enough water, wore enough sun cream and hats and had a lovely catch up as usual.

There wasn't much call for hot drinks at The Potting Shed though this afternoon. Thank goodness they were offering some refreshing soft drinks with their usual delicious cake.

As usual, the ten of us chatted, laughed and retold stories we hoped others would enjoy.

Walk with Pals at Blashford Nature Reserve

 

A lovely afternoon’s walk in the summer sunshine. Followed by tea, coffee, cake, conversation and lots of laughter at Hockey’s farm shop.

 Walking from Tuckton Tea Gardens to Hengistbury Head Nature Reserve 

on

Tuesday 2nd July 2024

Although we were short on numbers today for a variety of different reasons, what a lovely time eight of us had as we walked from Tuckton Tea Garden, past the Wick Ferry towards Hengistbury Head Nature Reserve and back again. The weather was kind to us, neither too hot or too windy. 

As usual there were several different conversations taking place about several different topics. There was lots of activity on the River Stour and we all enjoyed watching the canoeists, paddle boarders and sailors. 

Our walk finished when we returned to the tea gardens and enjoyed our usual coffee/tea and cake. Sadly, one of our PALS is moving out of the area so won't be able to join us every time now. But we have all promised to keep in touch and hopefully meet up some time in the near future.