Oaks Park - Carshalton

The London Fruit Loop

Tuesday: 26th July

Walkers: Farty, T.B., Windy, Registrara, Lil and Clat - a group of 6, which just fitted in nicely at the circular picnic tables. However, our other members were very missed - aaaaaaaaah

Distance: 5 1/2 miles

Madd-eyed as well!

Find of the Walk: a crucified teddy bear and Hannibal Reflector

What a grey day - the odd patch of sun did try and struggle through, but it was quite warm and then quite cold - i shall proceed.

OaksPark, Carshalton This is an unexpected oasis in the middle of suburbia. Easy to miss if you are batting along the roads, and well worth investigating if you've not been. Plenty of parking spaces, a respectable cafe, loos, views, and arty places (closed today unfortunately)

Downwards to begin the loop, with views in the distance of Croydon and London areas - we later spotted Crystal Palace towers,the Ikea towers for the shoppers among us, and later on, we even got an eye-full of Canary Wharfe. A tree-lined walk then led us towards Bushells farm shop, where the owners were cooking up the steak and kidney to pop into their delicious pies. We went upwards then, and passed some rather quaint wooden houses, kept in good condition, and we discovered from T.B., that these were given to folk after the war. We noticed how advanced the hedgerow fruit is, and Wind commented that she had some lovely brambles at home - stop there i think.

Are they really slow?

The track was narrow, and we had to keep heading for the verge as many cars and vans traversed these parts. The ones containing kids were heading for the Heritage Fish Farm, and a lot of them were getting lost - T.B. pointed them in the right direction, and we verged some more. Past the Plymouth Brethren school with its shuttered windows and on towards some more unexpected leafiness and easy walking.

Road crossing here is rather dodgy as they are very busy with fast cars, but we have discovered a hidden talent in Lil. She only has to raise her hand to wave, and the traffic comes to a complete standstill - marvellous, and we herded ourselves across these frantic byways.

We frequently found trees laden with fruit. Tiny plums -like a lot of little bottoms dangling about, and in colours of red, green, purple and orange. They had quite a nice taste, but a certain wooliness about them, so we didn't pick. We found mushroom piles which looked liked the medical version, and glorious wild flowers growing in abundance - what a treasure trove we were in.

The Clockhouse Estate next - the kids are on school holidays, and i shall say no more, but the sight of shuttered shop windows and graffiti did not really match the paragraph above. i shall stop there again..........

Into another green area, with a gipsy encampment near by and then, like having cataracts removed, we came to the open and wonderful vista of the lavender fields. It was still grey above, but the ground positively popped with colour - and quite a few Japanese folk
who had flocked to this place.

We had a good rummage around and a few purchases were made before we returned to the car park, and sorted ourselves out for the picnic. Unfortunately the text 'bring a picnic' had led Windy to suppose it had to feed everyone. A massive cool-box appeared, and enough food to feed Oaks Park followed. We noticed an archaelogical dig going on - apparently they were looking for an old cock pit. Here, you have a chance to snigger/titter, or try and work out why they were digging for a section of an aeroplane - ha ha ha ha.

A goodly amount of chat ensued, and a visit to the caf to get the coffees in. After this lot, we then trotted round the Park a bit, and then decided to call it a day.

We are hoping to walk in the Horsham/Warnham area next week, in the hopes that Sally can join us. She has had her op., and we wish her a speedy recovery.

Au revoir for now x