2012 December 20 Downley
Le de Spencers' Arms


Appropriate clothing was the order of the day because, as correctly predicted by the Met Office, this walk took place in steady rain. Plenty of mud of course but luckily no stiles to slip on. Good though to see plenty of water in the Hughenden stream for a change. Nice mix of woods & open ground. A few inclines but a good walk to repeat in dryer conditions. Last time we traversed Hughenden Manor we noted a hut round the back labelled 'Air Ministry Photographic Unit' but it was locked up. This time it was open & revealed itself to be a tableau of how it looked during WW2 - complete with ringing vintage telephone! See the pics below to get an idea. The slow going meant we had to cut a few corners off the planned route to avoid an over-run so we only managed a bit over 4 miles in 2 hrs.

Tony Richey

Walkers arrived dripping wet - the rest of us turned up in dribs and drabs, but dry, to make an eventual total of 12. The Le De Spencers Arms was pretty full with our group, another similar group and smaller groups but we were well looked after as usual. We had our usual table reserved for us and it was all very pleasant. I drank the Seafarer as usual and had a toasted cheese and ham as usual - both very good. We like this pub and it stays as one of the top rated in our list - and it was the only one of the 4 contacted that could fit us in this near to Christmas.

Pete Nash


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