Midsummer delights

Six walkers left The Fox pub on Coulsdon Common on June 28 to retrace a walk last done on a crisp mid-winter's day in  December 2018. This time it was glorious mid-summer with shorts and sunhats the preferred attire.

Midsummer walkers prefer shorts

Local expert Dick Jones supported Dave the Navigator as the group descended into Happy Valley and up to Farthing Downs, where Dick's daughter Myfanwy joined the group.  We traversed the Downs ridge then descended to cross the A23 Brighton Road.

From there it was gradually uphill,  first on  Hollymeoak Lane (which caused a discussion on pronunciaton), then on a narrow path and finally along Starrock Lane as far as Vincent's Green Pond. The White Hart pub was visible across Chipstead Recreation Ground and the pace increased in anticipation of refreshment.

The choir six plus Myfanwy at White Hart

There was another family connection at the pub: John Marshall was lunching there with his brother Frank and wife Helen. We collapsed into the garden with a pint and mulled an appropriate song for tree surgeons at the next table. We settled on Jacob's Ladder.

The return leg started past the expansive Elmore Pond, now no more than a couple of muddy puddles in the summer drought. A woodland path beside Elmore Road led to St Margaret's Hooley, across its pretty green, then down and across the A23 again. More ups and downs passed through the site of the old Netherne Hospital before Dick and Myfanwy left the group on Ditches Lane. From there it was a mile or so back to the Fox and dinner.