We travel by public transport for up to about 45 minutes from central London, but many of our walks are much more local. In the summer months we walk further afield with some longer country walks. During the winter we have shorter ones, and tend to keep to parks and towpaths as we try to avoid muddy paths. We always have a coffee break during our walks and almost invariably end with an optional group lunch.

We don’t tackle any real hills, but there can be occasional fairly steep slopes or flights of steps to manage, and the odd stile, so a reasonable degree of fitness is helpful.

Shorter Walks is a very sociable, friendly group where new members are made welcome. To join the group, please either drop me an email (address as above) or register through Beacon. Once you have joined the group, you will receive an email a week before each walk with a signup form and details of the forthcoming walk. Information about our future walks may also be found below.

If you are not a member of Islington U3A then you must firstly join this before joining any Group. Go to the Join Us page and there click on the Membership Form.

Our experience of running walks has suggested a few common-sense guidelines, to ensure everyone’s enjoyment and safety on our walks. You can see them here.

Our Next Shorter Walks
Tuesday 20 June: Cassiobury Park and Whippendell Woods, a circular country walk of 5 miles from Watford

Monday 3 July: Walk route TBC

Thursday 20 July: Tewin and Welwyn North, 4½ miles through Hertfordshire’s old villages and rolling countryside.

Friday 4 August: Forty Hall and Myddelton House gardens, a gentle-paced walk of 4½ miles in Enfield

Wednesday 30 August: Walk route TBC

Links to walk details appear on this page as they are made available.


 
Photo Gallery
Launching a new feature. If you click on the following links you can see many of our photographs. They will scroll through automatically and you can see the walk number and title at the bottom. You need to select which year you want to see: 2017 2018 2019 2020  

If you want to find photos from a particular walk you can click here then from the thumbnails find the one you want then click on it. In addition we now have a map feature here — this shows where we've walked in 2018 and if you click on any of the pins the walk details will appear — should you wish to repeat a walk yourself. Hope you enjoy these new features and they bring back some good iU3A memories.

Recent Walks
June: Hampstead Heath: After a chilly start on the first official day of Summer, eighteen walkers quickly warmed up climbing Parliament Hill. Although the sun only put in an appearance as we approached Kenwood House, right at the end of the walk, we certainly saw the heath at its best. Not a trace of mud, trees in full leaf, and the accompaniment of birdsong. The gardens and pergola at Hill House took our breath away, especially the magnificent white wisteria. After a late coffee break in Golders Hill Park, where the gardens were almost as lovely, we crossed onto the much quieter Sandy Heath and continued through Kenwood’s rhododendron gardens and even managed to locate the handkerchief tree, though the hankies were sadly past their best, looking rather like crumpled Kleenex. Lunch in the sunny Kenwood cafe garden made its appeal to half the group, whilst the rest headed for the bus home.

May: Banstead Wood: Eleven of us, including three new “shorter walkers”, took the train from London Bridge to Chipstead and, within minutes of leaving the station, found ourselves deep in Surrey countryside. We followed undulating, occasionally muddy paths through mixed woodlands, chalk grassland and open farmland and were treated to some magnificent views. The highlights, though, were the bluebells in the woods, frequently interspersed with wood anemones, and the cowslips, violets and wild strawberries growing on the downs. And the birds were in wonderful voice!

May: Richmond Park and Isabella Plantation: Despite overnight rain, seventeen walkers had perfect Spring weather, with plenty of sun and a light breeze. We followed the Thames Path from Richmond to Petersham, just before high tide, with the river at its best. In Richmond Park we saw a herd of grazing deer, heard a whitethroat and other more mundane birds, and marvelled at the stunning azaleas and rhododendrons of the Isabella Plantation. We also discovered the endearing Japanese name of the picturesque Mandarin duck, (thanks Kiyoko). It’s Oshidolli for anyone who didn’t already know. After lunch in the Mediterranean terraced gardens of Pembroke Lodge, we diverted to King Henry’s mound to enjoy the protected unimpeded view through trees to the distant St Paul’s cathedral, and even spotted Windsor Castle through the telescope. Nine walkers added a further two miles along the Thames Path back to Richmond while the rest of us went for the softer option of the local bus.

April: Regent's Park: This walk should have been to the spring gardens of Forty Hall and Myddelton House, in Enfield, but we re-routed to Regent's Park, as the Turkey Brook path was extensively flooded. We certainly didn’t miss out on the spring flowers and cherry blossom though. Regent's Park is deservedly on the list of ‘Best Places in London for blossom’. However, the recent rains had been serious enough to waterlog the lawns of the beautiful St John’s Lodge garden, leading to locked gates, which was a great shame. But we enjoyed the Japanese water gardens, the always immaculate flowerbeds, and a stroll beside the boating lake, where a trio of remarkably tame Egyptian goslings entertained us. We then left the park to follow the Regent's Canal, marvelling at the waterside mansions, until we reached Primrose Hill, where some of us walked up to the viewpoint, leaving the others to head back home. The Enfield gardens will probably be in their summer glory when the path finally dries up and we can return.

March: Wimbledon: Seven of us travelled via Vauxhall to Wimbledon to walk this six mile loop around Wimbledon Common. Unfortunately, the weather in the morning was not good, so we walked in rain through the woods, encountering riders on horseback, but scarcely any walkers, along the Beverley Brook, past Putney Vale Cemetery (which houses several notable celebrities, including Howard Carter, discoverer of the tomb of Tutankhamun, Sandy Denny, Sir Jacob Epstein, David Lean, and Roy Plomley), along a path which is part of the Capital Ring, before turning right past the pleasant Queensmere Pond, and managing to avoid any steep paths. We arrived at the Windmill Cafe just in time to avoid the pouring rain, and enjoyed a convivial and tasty lunch before returning down the hill to Wimbledon Station.



February: Crystal Palace to Dulwich: A group of fifteen walkers explored the unfamiliar territory of south east London, last visited in 2016! We had a bracing start along the terraces of the former Crystal Palace as the windchill reduced the already cold temperature. After touring the dinosaurs (or the Victorians’ misguided concept of dinosaurs) and the stadium, we soon warmed up as we walked on uphill through lovely Sydenham Wells Park and into Sydenham Hill Wood, an atmospheric ancient woodland. After that it was plain sailing on level paths through attractive Dulwich Park after which some walkers peeled off either to the Picture Gallery or to head back to North London, while a few enjoyed the lunch opportunities of salubrious Dulwich High Street.


February: Lee Valley: Starting from Cheshunt, sixteen of us had a gentle wander through the Lee Valley Country Park, starting in heavy mists. The wooden forms of the sculpture park seemed even more mysterious than usual as they loomed out of the fog. The paths here are good under foot and we made our way easily to the village of Waltham Abbey and rested awhile in the many tea shops in picturesque Sun Street. Emerging, we found the fog had magically disappeared and the rest of the walk was in bright sunshine. We admired the 12th century church and ruins of the old abbey, then returned along the River Lea, with many birds to be seen including a red kite, cormorants, blue tits, herons and swans. So back to the station and the Overground home.

February: Pymmes Brook Trail — On the mildest day of the year so far, 19 walkers tracked the Pymmes Brook through the leafier parts of North London. Beginning in Oak Tree Park in East Barnet, we followed the trail south through Brunswick Park and Arnos Park, where we paused to admire the magnificent Victorian engineering feat of the Arnos viaduct. How many times had we travelled on the Piccadilly Line without noticing it? We left the brook to wend its way towards the River Lea, while we explored more Victorian splendour among the walled gardens of Broomfield park, with its delightful community cafe and the cheapest filter coffee of any Shorter Walk, plus delicious cakes. A short walk took us on to Palmers Green station and the train home.

January: Thames Path, Richmond to Kingston — Fifteen walkers enjoyed perfect winter weather for our walk along the Thames Path. It was a frosty day with blue skies and sunshine all the way down from Richmond down to Kingston. After a coffee break in the Buccleuch Gardens cafe we were soon out of Richmond and on the rural stretch of the Thames with views across to Marble Hill House on the North Bank. Cormorants, swans, Egyptian geese and a Little Egret were spotted en route to Teddington weir, after which we were soon back in civilisation. A riverside lunch at the Boaters Inn in Kingston rounded off the walk very pleasantly.

January 2023: Four Royal Parks — We thanked our stars that we’d postponed our walk from the torrential rain of the previous day. Blue skies and sun smiled on us as we walked through St James's Park, Green Park, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. The water sparkled, the Egyptian geese entertained and there was the bonus of the changing of the guard as we rounded Buckingham Palace. It’s not often on a Shorter Walk that we see the Household Cavalry resplendent in red uniforms proceeding on horseback while the Irish Guards complete with kilts and bagpipes march along the Mall in the opposite direction. Worth the wait to cross the road. Urban walks sometimes have their advantages.


December: Finsbury Park to Islington via New River — This was a winter wonderland of a walk through snowy parks under sunny blue skies. The temperature was still freezing and it was icy underfoot but we quickly worked out that walking on snow-covered grass would keep us upright. The coots were skating on the frozen New River and chilly ducks impersonated frozen statues in the wetlands. We made it — only five minutes late — to La Divina on Upper Street for our Christmas lunch and thawed out convivially.


December: St Paul’s to Blackfriars — This slower-paced walk certainly had the festive vibe with Christmas Trees and lights the whole way. The installation in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern had very mixed reactions through to Borough Market that was abuzz and a welcome coffee break. Then the sun came out so Tower Bridge and the Tower of London also looked ‘lit up’ from across the river. Continuing over the bridge and along the North Embankment the 12-strong group gradually peeled off until a smaller group made the lunch stop at Old Watling pub in Bell Lane that was in celebration mood.

November: Hampstead Heath — In a week of particularly rainy weather, thirteen walkers managed to stay mostly dry for a breezy walk on the Heath. From Gospel Oak we climbed Parliament Hill, spotting first a rainbow, then the clearly visible rain over the city, fast approaching. The shower hit us as we arrived at Viaduct Bridge but was not long-lived and we had blue sky and sun by the time we had left the Heath temporarily, to visit the wonderful Hill House garden and pergola. We continued into Golders Hill Park, where the roses were still blooming, and had an al fresco coffee break at the cafe, then enjoyed a lovely woodland walk across Sandy Heath on a carpet of autumn leaves, rejoining the main Heath above Kenwood, where some of us stayed on for lunch in the garden.

October: Bushy Park — Eleven of us enjoyed the lovely and unseasonably warm weather on this five mile walk around Bushy Park, beginning at Hampton Wick. Although we did not actually see any deer rutting, we saw several stags, including the unusual sight of a stag apparently standing guard over two hinds on a small island in the lake, as well as herons, a cormorant, and an egret flying up into a tree. We had coffee in the very pleasant Pheasantry cafe in the woodland, with some wonderful autumn colours, before visiting the baroque water garden, where the group photo was taken, before re-entering the woodland gardens, which has fantastic rhododendrons and azaleas in the spring. Unfortunately, we were unable to visit the Hampton Court Gardens as they are no longer free to visit in the winter months, apart from on open weekends, but six of us enjoyed a very good lunch at the Mute Swan before returning from Hampton Court station.

October: Forty Hall and Myddelton House gardens — The first of our slower-paced walks was rated a success by the nine walkers. From Gordon Hill station we were soon following the course of the Turkey Brook through Hillyfields Park, then open country past fields of sheep and cows, until we reached the parkland surrounding Forty Hall. Refreshed by a coffee break in the stable yard cafe, we diverted to stroll around the beautiful walled garden, resplendent in sunshine and with the bonus of gardeners who filled the gaps in our horticulture knowledge. Then we walked on to the nearby Myddelton House garden where summer roses were blooming alongside autumnal trees and helpful labels forestalled any arguments about plant names, returning from Turkey Street on the Overground.

October: New Barnet to Cockfosters — The weather for our Autumn walk could not have been better. The sky was a clear blue and mellow sunshine dappled through the leaves as we walked through Hadley Wood, with the trees beginning to change colour. After a photo at the always beautiful Jack’s Lake we continued into Trent Park, a former royal hunting ground, for a coffee break, then visited the water garden and walked through more woodland, ending at the Cock Inn for a welcome lunch in the garden.


Previous Walks
These links take you to archive information and photos of our previous walks:
2021/22 (October to September) here.
2020/21 (October to September) here.
2019/20 (October to September) here.
2018/19 (October to September) here.
2017/18 (October to September) here.
2016/17 (October to September) here.
2015/16 (October to September) here.
Our first iU3A year 2015 (May to September) here.