Next walk?

Just had one of my members email me, keen to tell me they'd be on the next walk. Actually it would be their first one and I'm so pleased they're going to come along as I think that they'll also be a great asset to the group. I am so blessed that all these fabulous women have opted to be a member of East End Girls.

So where are we walking? Well, not sure yet. Due to the tube engineering works, I do tend to leave things to the last moment but I am thinking that I should organise more in advance and perhaps have a couple of options.

On Sat I took a good friend on one of the EEG's favourite walks from Mile End down the canal and onto the Thames Path. When there we were able to see the new 'Shard' in it's development. We had been discussing it on our Jan walk with many people not sure if they liked it or not.

Below is a photo of it in it's development and it's growth in conjunction with Tower Bridge which it makes look very small.

I like it and I like the way London marries together the old and the new taking on when it now in vogue but in no way demeaning the wonderful buildings like St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge etc.

In fact this walk made me realise how the views of the London skyline are forever changing as new buildings appear and others like the Gerkin, beloved by Teresa are fairly recent additions but now seem to have been there for ages.

On the left is another view of the new 'Shard' taken from the South Bank very close to Southwark Bridge.

Interested in your comments, what do you think? A few weeks ago there was a photo of the Shard published in the paper showing it more of less growing out of, or right beside St Paul's and it was taken from the top of Primrose Hill. I was up Primrose Hill a couple of weeks ago and it wasn't the view I saw, clearly it depends where the photo is taken from. 

The walk of parks and sight seeing

Yesterday, 23rd Jan was the East End Girls first 2011 walk and as usual there was a great turnout. Is it the fact that everyone is starting the year off with a clean canvas and is focused on more exercise, new hobbies, weight loss, toning up or perhaps it's just the opportunity to get out there again with a great bunch of women to laugh, chat, eat and explore.

At a time when the forest and other wooded areas are rather muddy and days are shorter, although it was nice to see it was still light at 4.30, I opted to do the big fun walk route that we'd done in December. Many were sorry they'd missed it then and this route does allow for lots of variety as well as opt out stops for those needing to gather their stamina again and for new members who are not used to longer walks as yet.

Well we had a good turn out as we gathered at East Finchley, 11 in all and it was lovely to have Marina with us again looking very petite and inspiring others with her newly found running skills.

Here we all are in the local park area before heading up to Highgate Wood.

Great to see all those smiling faces, ok it was only about 15 minutes in but I can tell you they were all smiling at the end too when 9 miles later we reached Embankment tube and said our farewells until Feb 19th.

So where did our route take us? It starts by taking a path opposite East Finchley tube station on the Northern Line through Cherry Tree Woods and then up into Highgate Woods. It was interesting that Sue asked me later in the day where the steep hill was that she and Teresa walked up the first time she did it as she remembered it being hard work. Well this time she's managed it with no trouble at all and in fact hadn't registered it. Below is Sue in 2010 on that very hill, she's clearly fitter now!

From the woods we walked on down to Highgate Village where Costa beckoned with refreshments and a loo stop. From there it was on to the Heath which you can see below in sunnier weather.

It's always good to explore new areas so for me the first time I did this walk I found myself in a very different part of Hampstead Heath. It's a vast area which has lots of different parts, open space, woodland and lakes. Worth exploring on your own, plenty of walks you can do there.

From the Heath we headed up past the Royal Free, down Belsize Park and on to Primrose Hill where the view over London is fabulous. 

Again the girls realised how much fitter they now were than in the past.

After Primrose Hill comes the quartet of parks - Regents, Hyde, Green and finally St James, all so different and all beautiful.

We had decided on the S Bank for lunch but it was now 2.10 and stomachs were rumbling. The East End Girls like their food so it's a mistake to keep them apart for too long so we made a stop in Baker Street for soup and rolls before finishing the parks and then heading along the north side of the Thames to the Embankment tube and the parting of ways.

As usual, on the way home there was lots of chat and texts pinging into my inbox with thanks and comments. Today I emailed asking for feedback so have a look tomorrow and see what occurs.