Weather in a morning. This has been an interesting winter so far – pretty dry but some snow, storms and beautiful sunshine too.
Last week the 7.30am walk saw snow then bright skies and finally cloudy skies all in a few hours
Latest Graduates
On January 13th 4 people gained their Nordic Walking UK passport having completed the Learn to Nordic
walk course with Anthea Osborn-Jones of A Foot in the Chilterns Nordic walking.
They are now able to walk with any NWUK accredited instructor.
Classes took place in Hambleden village https://www.visitchilterns.co.uk/market-towns/hambleden-valley.html and Greys Court National Trust Property https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/greys-court near Henley on Thames https://www.visitchilterns.co.uk/market-towns/henley-on-thames.html
Wormsley Walled Garden
Following a steep and long walk around Ipsden and Wormsley we enjoyed a visit to the Walled Garden
http://www.wormsleyestate.com/wormsley-estate-the-walled-garden/
Dating from the mid-1700s, the 2 acre gardens were originally designed by Richard Woods, a contemporary of Capability Brown.
Neglected for the better part of a century, the gardens were brought back to life when Sir Paul and Lady Getty commissioned distinguished garden designer Penelope Hobhouse to reimagine this beautiful space. Hobhouse divided the space into garden rooms, enabling visitors to move from “room to room” as they explore.
Wildflowers at Greenfields
What a wonderful evening we were treated to at Greenfields where Andrew Ingram gave us a guided tour of his wildflower meadows. The weather was perfect – sunshine with a light breeze providing some respite from the day’s heat and Andrew’s enthusiasm and knowledge of the flora and fauna in the Chilterns is infectious.
A Foot in the Chilterns goes to Austria
In June this year a group of 20 Nordic walkers from A Foot in the Chilterns travelled to Seefeld in the
Tyrol. We were lucky to be guided by Friends who live there for much of the year – Gillian and Klaus Sichau whose knowledge of the area, the walks and just as importantly the best Alms was invaluable in making the holiday such a success.
A recce last year had identified Hotel Charlotte https://www.hotel-charlotte.com/tyrol/ to be the accommodation of choice and they certainly came up trumps. The location and facilities that the hotel offered and the way that they looked after us was fantastic. They managed a fairly diverse group with a variety of dietary needs and accommodation preferences and the presence of the spa with swimming pool greatly enhanced our health and wellbeing.
Outside Hotel Charlotte Seefeld
Flying to Innsbruck from Heathrow with British Airways was ideal and we were met by our hosts and a very effcient taxi service run by Mr Haslwanter http://www.taxihaslwanter.at/. There is an easy train journey with spectacular views from Innsbruck to Seefeld direct which is always an option especially if you are travelling light.
Seefeld is a charming village with a wide variety of walk options including some organised by the village. Our trip coincided with Corpus Christie festivals and we were treated to processions and religious ceremonies, Heart shaped fires lit on the top of the mountains and a host of other Tirolean traditions.
Lots of traditional dishes had to be sampled – the walking was neccessary to counteract the effects of all the extra calories. This all combined with near perfect weather conditions led to a most enjoyable week in the Tyrol.
