Welcome to Halesowen Ramblers

Wednesday 18th October was the big day on which John's organised trip to the botanically famed Westonburt Arboretum, in deepest Gloucestershire, was to take place.

Weatherwise, the day was a rather sullen one from the outset, but no matter! A rather smart and pristine Greenline coach arrived on time at Halesowen to collect the eager and anticipatory throng, for a good time to be had by all, no matter what!

An uneventful journey got the party to its destination well before lunch, then decanting into two groups, one to undertake a bracing walk in the surrounding countryside, the other to undertake more detailed botanical studies in the Arboretum, John having first obtained the necessary authorisation for entry.

Although the dullness of the day persisted, fortunately what rainfall there was remained sparse.

The thirteen strong walking party then set off on its scheduled eight mile circular route, with progress initially being slow, with, moreover, wet weather gear needing to be deployed at an early stage. A coffee break was subsequently taken in the shelter of a wood chip shed.  

Thereafter the pace quickened and by lunchtime the Cotswold village of Doughton had been reached. Here, advantage was taken of lunch in the luxury of a sheltered area featuring table tennis and snooker facilities, which were duly sampled! This was followed by a photoshoot at the manor house at Doughton, currently on the market, a snip at £4m!

An improvement in the weather then occurred, with a relaxation of the dull conditions, and the sun even deigning to put in an appearance. Quite possibly by order!...as the next port of call was the environs of Highgrove House, home of HM himself, who, by the appearance of the Royal Standard flying there, was actually in residence. To everyone's disappointment, though, no flunkey appeared with an invite to step inside for afternoon tea! 

The final leg of the walk was completed back to the Arboretum just in the nick of time before persistent and heavy rain set in, with some of the walking party repairing to the shelter of the restaurant there, the more resilient members opting to traverse the "skywalk" feature, at treetop level, to view some of the Arboretum's remarkable trees and their formation from above.

Those of the party of a less strenuous disposition fragmented into smaller groups at the outset, in order to savour at leisure the impressive array of arboreal wonders, for which Westonbirt is renowned. A botanical expert would have been a great asset to assist in the identification and categorization of the vast numbers of trees around this enormous scenic site. Some of them almost defied adequate description!

Due to area covered by Westonbirt, those minded to do a complete coverage of all of its ramifications could quite easily have covered six miles or so, thus rivalling the distance undertaken by the walking element of the party!

Towards mid-afternoon, in concert with the weather conditions experienced by the walking group, intermittent showers began to give way to progressively heavier rainfall, resulting in shelter and refreshments at the restaurant being the preferred option for most prior to the coach pickup time for the return to Halesowen.

Our coach driver rendered a stalwart performance on the return journey, with weather conditions and failing light combining to give him a less than easy time, exacerbated by an advance warning of the prospect of M5 traffic congestion south of our destination. This we deftly avoided with a detour via Bromsgrove and Hagley. A slightly late return, but no drama!

Thanks to everyone who conceived, organised, and participated in making this outing such a success, particularly John, and also his cohorts who designed and recce'd the walking route.

Here's to the next one!