A Walk in the Forest with a Surprise !

On Sunday we had some lovely weather and decided to head to Ruislip Woods to take advantage of the Autumn colour.

After a quick sandwich and surveying the enormous variety of doggies on display, we got a bit of walking done. We found some logs to sit on, a den made of logs, plenty of squishy, muddy puddles and a few wooden bridges, none of which had trolls underneath them. Phew !

Eventually we walked over the brow of a hill to see on the other side the silvery strip of Ruislip Lido shimmering in the sunshine. There was the beach and playground too, but all of these wondrous sights paled into insignificance at the sight of the Ruislip Lido Railway !!!

We literally ran to catch the departing train and got on. Sam was almost as excited as his parents were at getting on board this 12" gauge railway. The train pulled out with every seat taken and the blue engine pulled us all smiling up into the forest and around the Lido. At the other end of the line we watched enraptured as the engine de-coupled, trundled onto a turntable and was rotated - by hand - to face the other way. It swept past us on a parallel track and then reversed back to couple again at the other end of the train of carriages. Off we went again back to the start, the wind in our hair and diesel in our lungs. Happy days.

After the train ride, we had a look at the beach and playground, and headed back to the car.