Date: Location: Walk Leader: Participants: Distance: Parking: Lunch: | 16th December 2015 Burley Peter Peter, Clive, Ray, Rob Around 6 miles - to be confirmed! Queen's Head Car Park (note new parking charges) Queen's Head ★★★ |
Rob had made all the arrangements for the Walkers' Christmas Lunch at the Queens Head in Burley for the princely sum of £9.99. So we decided to park at the pub and have a walk around Burley and Burley Street. The walk was reasonably planned as far as the Smugglers' Road but after that it was "flexible" to ensure we arrived back in time for lunch at 14:30.
There is a decent path just beside the road out of Burley, past Burley Hill House and out onto Vales Moor. Approaching the gates of Burley Hill House it may seem hard to believe that there is a public footpath but it is clearly marked through a gate on the right. It was a little like wading along a small stream but luckily a very shallow one. Once out on the moor the paths were remarkably dry until we spotted a good place to sit and have our break off to the west of the Smugglers' Road. This involved athletic leaps over a small stream. Everyone enjoyed this adventure and the nice variety of ups and downs that contributed to the day's exercise.
Crossing the road close to Picket Post we headed around Vereley Wood, with its impressive stand of beech trees, and then out onto Ridley Green and Box Berry Hill. It was quite wet under foot in some places but not bad going really. We all remembered the small stream by Common Moor. A rather wet area that we had struggled to cross on a previous walk but we found a way through without too much difficulty. We followed the road back from Burly Street to the pub with fifteen minutes to spare.
The lunch was excellent value for money. The food was good and plentiful and the service efficient. The Christmas pudding was rather small but none of us wanted any more! The table had been nicely decorated and crackers provided. They get 3★s for the lunch and Rob gets 3★s for the suggestion.