Winter solstice outing

The group conducted its traditional winter solstice walk on Monday December 19. Dick Jones was waiting anxiously alone at the Coombe Lodge Hotel as walking colleagues were delayed by a choir meeting and heavy traffic.

Sostice seven at Croydon viewpoint

However the magnificent group of seven left only slightly late and made their way up to Addington Hills. The weather was clear enough for them to see London skyline from the viewpoint before walking along to the tram stop and crossing into Heathfield.  They followed London Loop signposts along Bramley Bank and through Littleheath Woods before arriving at Seldon and the familiar Beer ‘n’ Ditties venue of the Golden Ark micropub. The audience (of one) in the pub enjoyed a few of our songs before we set off again, initially down Farley Road before crossing onto Upper Selsdon Road.

Leafy underfoot on solstice walk

The group was pleased to get back onto a footpath again which led between the Croham Hurst outcrop and the eponymous golf course, where many of the group remembered a previous stop there by invitation of then choir member Tom Jones. We also had performed a concert in the clubhouse and were scheduled to hold on 2023 choir dinner there.

After crossing Farley Road, we followed Conduit Lane back to the Coombe Lodge. All but one of the group ordered the special Christmas Lunch and eagerly pulled each other’s crackers. The excitement of donning party hats and reading out the cracker jokes was diminished when we discovered all the jokes were the same…