Give us a Sign - oh lawd!!!!

Tuesday 13 April 2010

Venue: The Rising Sun, Charlwood - but we moved to the Half Moon, which accepts, or rather, 'loves' dogs.

Walkers: Farty, T..B. 12 legs - one of whom (Chris) became a man magnet .Mrs Provincial, Clat. Windy was meeting us for lunch due to her bronichals, but that got changed. Sally is having treatment on a body part. Angela (Rahra Registrar) was at work.

Distance: 8 3/4 miles - phew

Find of the Walk: Mrs P's watch, which was found by T.B. before she realised it had fallen orf.

Weather : clear, bright and sunny. a north-easterly breeze made it feel cooler in exposed areas- and this depended on what you exposed.

What a lovely walk this was, and very quickly we agreed this could become a favourite. We set off through the churchyard at Charlwood, and over , on to a small road , at the end of which was Charlwood air museum - TB soon had his camera out. Here, WW2 and beyond, aircraft, are being lovingly restored and maintained, and bits of wings, tails, engines, etc. were very evident. This is where Farty left her stick, but recovered it at the end of the walk.

From here, we entered Glovers Wood Nature Reserve, and very soon we were in the peace and quiet of the place, save for the aircraft flying overhead for Gatwick Airport. Some gorgeous clumps of spring and woodland flowers, a little vole shot across our path, and then our route led us into some spectacular woodland, all of it bursting with life, and about to explode into fantastic floral splendour very soon. - sorry, got a bit carried away there.

We were doing very well, so we thought, until, once again, the farmer had removed an essential way-marker, and we found ourselves in the corner of a field, with no sign of a footpath, and a lake in view. This is where our man magnet found her first conquest, and very soon he came to our rescue and allowed us across his land and back onto the right footpath. Farty and I spied the back end of a deer ( a be-hind - ha ha ha)

We had already crossed a field with cows, and traversed a few smaller ones with friendly ponies , and not so friendly dogs. We stopped off for a look, at Tanhouse Farm, which has a cafe and a farm shop - Farty bought some homous. Time was ticking on, and we decided that we would not get back to the intended pub in time.

We walked on to Newdigate, and parked ourselves at the The Six Bells, which welcomes dogs, and charges 2 flippin' pounds for a pint of lime squash!!!!!!!! Our man magnet was soon in action, once again, and was found chatting to a local - what is her secret?!! This pub was also an old drinking haunt for Oliver Reed, judging by the photos and stuff, on the walls. Met a very nice chocolate-coloured labrador called Charlie Brown, who was taking his owner for a walk rather than the other way round. Mrs P had to 'phone Windy re change of plan, which meant no sighting of Windy - please come next week, we miss you!

Lunch was fine - scores: Ambience: 3 (bit cold and lifeless), Value: 4 (except for the squash - it was cheaper to have half a guinness. Food: 5, Service: 3 The intervention of the pub's landlord resulted in our plates being cleared away, the lights being switched on, and being told the barman was not doing his job properly. So this gives a score of 15/20

Not used to this, we set off AFTER lunch, and headed back towards Charlwood, past Cudworth Manor, and eventually back into Glovers Wood, meeting several dogs on the way. We 'landed' just after 4p.m. so a bit of a day out really, but in this weather, and with all the magical stuff happening out there, it was wonderful.

So, next walk is pencilled in for Tues 27th - Meet at the Dukes Head on the Tadworth Road, near the Walton on Heath golf course - FORE! or 'is that my ball in your hole?' !