Ruislip woods history walk

Seventeen (Anneke D J, Anita D, Brian F, Dave H, Dipa R, Erika W, Ian S, Jane R, Keith L, Kevin, Mark B, Mark O, Mary T, Mathilde K, Michelle S, Mick W & Victor T) from the Harrow & Wembley Outdoor Group [2] met outside Northwood Hills station at 10:15am for the start of a relaxing 8 mile circular walk around the woodlands of Ruislip.

Download a Google Earth path overlay.

Firstly we paused on Joel St opposite the tube station to take in one of the many locations used in the filming of the 1970's BBC series The Good Life. Despite being set in Surbiton it was actually filmed around the local area with houses in nearby Kewferry Road used as the Good's & Leadbetter's homes. In one particular episode Tom & Barbara delight in finally having no money left but Barbara is thwarted when she needs to 'spend a penny' at a public convenience. Fortunately Margo takes pity & provides her with a penny to spend. The toilets were bricked up a few years ago but the Wimpy & John Terry curtain shop seen in the episode are still there.

Passing Northwood Football Club and Haste Hill Golf Course we headed towards Copse Wood pausing briefly to look at a large badger set and then stopping at a small pond on Poor's Field to see if any dragonflies were still around.

The leaves in the woods were vivid colours and in places fell like snow flakes, sometimes it wasn't obvious where the paths were due to the leaf litter. Mark O came equipped with a book and chart on mushrooms & so became the official walk mycologist as he attempted to answer the recurring question of 'is that one edible?'

In Copse Wood we located the place where the woodsman's cottage once stood. To add privacy the woodsman planted evergreen bushes around the outside and these can still be seen.

Crossing Ducks Hill Road we moved into the unusually named Mad Bess Wood. Apparently "Mad Bess was the wife of an 18th Century gamekeeper, a demented old woman who prowled the woods at night looking for poachers. 'Beware Mad Bess' was the poacher's motto" [3]. Fruits of Sweet Chestnut trees lay on the ground and we followed part of the Hillingdon Trail before crossing over North Breakspear Road into Bayhurst Wood Country Park. Here we walked around the outskirts adjacent to the new cycle trail & even managed to bump into a friend of Jane R's out walking with friends in the opposite direction.

Returning to Mad Bess Wood we skimmed along the South side passing the former game keepers cottage and the area now used by Scouts for camping before stopping at the Scout's open-air chapel made in the shape of a cross; a memorial to Ruislip Scouts who lost their lives in the world wars.

To our South we passed Breakspear crematorium the resting place for a number of famous people including Morris Barry (director of a number of Dr Who episodes), Brian Connolly (lead singer of Sweet), Kenneth Connor (actor, Carry On films, etc), Pat Coombs (actress, Till Death Us Do Part, etc) and Doris Hare (actress, On the buses, etc) [4].

Lunch took place at the Waters Edge pub next to Ruislip Lido where those who had brought packed lunches sat outside drinking tea & beer while others sat in the restaurant and enjoyed the relative warmth. The Lido was built in 1811 as a feeder reservoir for the Grand Junction Canal and in the process a small village called Park Hearn had to be flooded [5]. The Lido has been used in a number of films including Cliff Richard's The Young Ones [6] and A Night to Remember [7] + more recently a Tic Tac commercial [8].

After lunch we visited the Ruislip Lido Woodlands Centre [10] taking the opportunity to find out more about the area and also warm up. Walking past one of the capped bore holes [11] we headed to the site of the Battle of Britain House hidden amongst the trees in Copse Wood. There we managed to locate a concrete staircase & compare it to a photograph taken in 1953 [9].

The American Secret Service trained agents at the house between 1940 - 1945 and on our way to Poor's field passed mounds of earth used as bullet traps. In Poor's field we found the foundations of an old stone cottage & successfully managed to identify a number of mushrooms including Fly Agaric & Parasol. Next we walked around the Lido and some of the more physically fit amongst us tried their hand at the assault course close to Ruislip Lido railway Woody Bay station.

Stopping to feed the swans, geese & ducks we walked past the site of the 1991 sink hole at the Lido and then climbed to the top of Haste Hill through Park Wood where we were greeted with a superb view of the surrounding countryside. Finally we returned to Northwood Hills tube station at 4:10pm.

All in all a very enjoyable day which seemed to pass quickly. Thanks to all who came along including our youngest walker, eight year old Kevin who stayed at the front of the group right until the very end.

References & Links

[1] Google Earth:
http://earth.google.com/

[2] Harrow & Wembley Outdoor Group (HAWOG):
http://www.hawog.org.uk/

[3] Mad Bess Wood:
http://www.ruislip.co.uk/madbess/

[4] Breakspear Crematorium:
http://www.findagrave.com/php/famous.php?page=cem&FScemeteryid=1358687

[5] Ruislip Lido History:
http://www.ruislip.co.uk/lido/history.htm

[6] Cliff Richard's The Young Ones (1961):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNufA_ZUQOo

[7] A Night to Remember (1958):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okgLvnAh8Gg

[8] Tic Tac commercial:
http://www.friendsofruisliplido.net/2007/12/11/tic-tacs/

[9] Battle of Britain house, photo courtesy of:
http://middx.net/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/8241/cat/500/ppuser/19

[10] Ruislip Lido Woodlands Centre:
http://www.friendsofruisliplido.net/woodlands-centre/

[11] Bore-holes:
http://www.ruislip.co.uk/lido/demise.htm

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