I have known about Tolworth Court Farm for a while, but had never been there. A friend recently suggested we visit a mural at Tolworth station and we set off on Tuesday. What a gorgeous place. Lots of meadow, wild flowers, trees and a glimpse of the Hogsmill River that runs through part of it. Y9u can gain entrance to the Hogsmill River walk from here too.
After a lovely walk through the nature reserve we had lunch in the Garden Centre opposite. We spent time walking around the shop as well as admiring plants for sale. A really nice walk that was only a short bus ride away.
Wild Singing in the Surrey downs
I have not sung properly with a choir since March last year. I’m not a Zoom person, so I have felt quite alienated from my choir. I have taken part in three virtual choirs (videos on YouTube) in that time, and then I heard about this. The day was organised by two former musical directors of the choir I belong to. A day of walking and singing outdoors. I could not resist.
I went along with a friend from choir. Around 24 of us set off into the wilds of the Surrey hills – Farthing Downs, New Hill and the aptly named Happy Valley. The walk just over three miles with a couple of hilly places – one was particularly strenuous. Every so often we stopped to sing. Our first stop by a sign post, is where we limbered up and did some physical and vocal exercises before singing our first song. Most of the songs were written by the guys and were new. They were mainly short repeating lines. The guys are brilliant at teaching, and due to where my friend and I stood we took the alto part (both of us are sopranos). There are always more sopranos than altos anyway, and this made a nice change.
We had breaks for refreshment (and the all important toilet stop). One session we sang in the middle of the woods. We entered the clearing in silence and then were taught a short four line song. When we stopped singing all we could hear were the birds singing!
It was lovely to sing about trees whilst surrounded by trees, and throw our arms to the sky during ‘Let the sun shine.’ The fields were a mass of wild flowers. One lady spotted a pyramid orchid (fairly rare) and then there was the giant snail!
What a lovely way to spend four hours. It was special to once again sing with others. A group of passersby even applauded us! Hopefully, we shall all be able to sing inside again soon. However, this was a wonderful combination of two of my favourite things to do – walking and singing.
My London+ 