INSIDE THE WORLD OF MEETUP

  Despite being a similar distance from home as Leicester, Derby, Nottingham I hardly ever go near Burton On Trent. I nearly pulled out after getting soaked before even catching the bus, but it had forecast sun by the time I arrived. Burton marina was a scenic although I almost missed the start of the walk by approaching it from the wrong side. It was about as simple a route as you could get, walk north alongside the canal stopping at the Bridge Inn pub. We did a circuit around Branston Water park before retracing our steps for the last third of the walk. Hardly the most creative route but OK.

  A part of Nottingham I'd never been to before near Broxtoe which was the start location. We headed on a mostly flat route that took us through Strelley village. Then it was across small woods and fields pass the water tower pictured above to Swingate then back to the start location. Had a drink in the Holly Tree farm before heading home.

 Missed the bus so ended up cycling to the start point at woodhouse eves. I actually got there a lot quicker than waiting around for a bus connection in Loughborough. It had been years since I'd been to the top of Beacon hill and never by this route. We headed along Brook road to Deans lane before heading off road to the final climb to the top of the hill.  It was downhill all the way back going on a footpath parallel to Beacon road. We turned right and went across some fields before heading back to woodhouse eves.  Then it was the uphill ride home.

 This was a repeat of the Matlock trip we did 2 years ago.  MATLOCK BATH ILLUMINATIONS/FIREWORKS BEER FISH AND CHIPS (insidetheworldofmeetup.blogspot.com) A lot of people dropped out leaving only 5 of us which was unusual for an event like this. We met at the Merry Widows pub opposite the train station and got the train to Matlock Bath. Had a few drinks at the Midland and the fishpond before loading up with fish and chips. As I wasn't sure until the last minute that I'd actually be going I didn't get a ticket to the light show and fireworks display. I waited outside for 90 minutes while the other 4 went in, loads of people watched the fireworks display from the road and entry to the pubs anyway.  We had the same conversation as last time about not paying to watch the fireworks. Missed the pubs to make sure we got on the train, didn't stop for a drink in Derby. Fairly good night despite low turnout.

 I was in London for the weekend with a plan to walk with meetup on the Saturday then watch the London marathon on Sunday. Downe on the Downs - An Origin of the Species walk from Zone 6 (14 miles) | Meetup I woke up Saturday morning to find the walk had been put forward to Sunday due to the heavy rain forecast for that dinner time. Since I had nothing planed as most of the standard tourist attractions I'd seen or now required pre booking. I choose to do a modified version of the walk myself with the plan of bailing out as soon as the weather got bad. I got the train down to Orpington then walked through High Elms country park avoiding stray balls from the golf course. I walked past Charles Darwin's house pictured above before taking a footpath in the general direction of the nearest train station. I ended up in a small village called Hazelwood where the road was fast and a bit dangerous. By this point the rain was slowly getting worse.   I managed to find another footpath runni