Introduction
My parents go for a monthly walk with some relatives; the walk has to be very short and near a pub for lunch. Mum had been wondering about a walk around Stanwell Moor, near Staines. So she and I walked out there to investigate the prospects.
Staines Moor
After visiting the greengrocer‘s stall in the town market, we entered Staines Moor by the cattle bridge from Moor Lane, which crosses both the current railway and the disused line.
We walked across the moor to the edge of a reservoir and then into Stanwell Moor. (Confusing names here: Staines Moor is an actual moor, Stanwell Moor is a so-called village.)
Stanwell Moor
Stanwell Moor is a small cluster of streets squeezed between the M25, Heathrow Airport, and some reservoirs. It isn‘t completely devoid of amenities, the most unusual of which is an amateur pipe organ museum that Mum is planning to visit with the aforementioned relatives. We first located the relevant road for that, and then went to look at the nearest pub.
Giving up on that, we next went to a footpath that runs beside the Colne and some old gravel pits, which are now used for fishing.
This was actually a pleasant walk, visually, although planes taking off over us every minute made conversation periodically impossible.
We left the footpath and made our way to the high street.
There is a still-functioning pub, which serves Thai food - but not on Monday lunchtimes, which is what they‘re after.
More moor
We returned across the moor by a different route.
We walked a little way on a bridleway beside the M25. Hand-painted signs on a fence by a field to our left prohibited, among other things, ‘fly grazing’. I didn‘t even know that was a thing.
The path by the motorway is certainly lovely, but when we had the opportunity to take a side path that cuts off a corner and runs beside the river instead, we took it.
The path was a little overgrown, especially toward the end, with nettles taller than me. We soon discovered why: it ends at a railway crossing, which has helpfully been closed (supposedly temporarily and supposedly for safety reasons). So we backtracked a little and took a side path leading back to the moor.
As we approached, the horses helpfully blocked our way. They didn‘t seem inclined to move (possibly because there‘s a foal there) so we gave up and returned all the way to the motorway path.
There weren‘t any more mishaps; we made it to Moor Lane and back into Staines.
Staines
Here’s a quick couple of pics from a walk in the rain on the next day.
