June Day Walk: Dunstable Downs
Flaming June? 19 brave souls plus Ollie set off from the beautiful Whipsnade Tree Cathedral for what we'd hoped would be a sunny summer's walk along high ridges with long views! Sadly no-one told the weather-gods it was June and it rained, blew, chilled us to the bone and rained some more! But the company was good!
We went along the top of the deserted Dunstable Downs ridge to the Visitors Centre on to Five Knolls, down and then along a lovely wide, green path past the restored chalk and limestone quarries to Maiden Bower and the woods. We battled the wind to look out from the summit at the 360 degree view, but abandoned it as a lunch-stop and retreated instead to the outside shelter of the Cross Keys down in Totternhoe village for lunch. Suitably refreshed, we walked back across the fields and past Doolittle Mill, where sadly there were no gliders taking off or landing at the London Gliding Club in the rain to divert our eyes from the steep climb back up to the Visitors Centre.
On our soggy return to the car park, the Salvation Army were having a service in the Tree Cathedral and to the strains of Jerusalem we all piled back into our warm cars. Dick and Heather
We went along the top of the deserted Dunstable Downs ridge to the Visitors Centre on to Five Knolls, down and then along a lovely wide, green path past the restored chalk and limestone quarries to Maiden Bower and the woods. We battled the wind to look out from the summit at the 360 degree view, but abandoned it as a lunch-stop and retreated instead to the outside shelter of the Cross Keys down in Totternhoe village for lunch. Suitably refreshed, we walked back across the fields and past Doolittle Mill, where sadly there were no gliders taking off or landing at the London Gliding Club in the rain to divert our eyes from the steep climb back up to the Visitors Centre.
On our soggy return to the car park, the Salvation Army were having a service in the Tree Cathedral and to the strains of Jerusalem we all piled back into our warm cars. Dick and Heather
It was wet up on the ridge, and it was still wet for our lunch break!
