With Ulrike. We took the underground to Wembley. I had messed up packing for the weekend so the first thing we did was walk up Olympic Way to the stadium where there was a shop I could buy a couple of bits of clothing> Now we were ready. Back down Olympic Way, then Bridge Road and up Barn Hill. In Barn hill Open Space we quickly found the trig point, the first of three. From here much of the walk follows the London Capital Ring walk and the signs helped keep us right. As we headed north towards the railway a man chatted to us a bit mostly about how rich the people were who were employing him to walk their dogs. From here we more or less followed the Capital RIng, passing Preston Road Station, through Preston Park, on through Northwick Park.

On from there up the hill to Harrow where the children of the very rich go to school in what are manifestly some very grand attractive buildings. South from here still following Capital Ring signs to Sudbury Hill and south again from there to Horsenden Hil and trig point number two. A little south of here we abandoned the Capital Ring to follow the Grand Union Canal east till we passed a Sainsburys. Here we got back onto the road and followed the Ealing Road a short way north. A left down St James's gardens gave us access to one Tree Hill Recreation Ground where we hooked up with trig point number three. A quick look at the Hindu Temple and Alperton Underground gave us our train home. 

It is a very easy thing to get the DART train from central Dublin out here to Howth so, having a loose day in Dublin, I did just that. I didn't have a proper map but the tourist information kiosk a few yards from the station gave me something which would have to do. Visitors are invited to tackle a number of 'loops' of which the longest, the Bog of Frogs, was today's target, It begins as a walk along the top of a cliff, quite a crowded one, even in November, with a lot of foreign tourists like myself about - I heard a far bit of French being spoken. After a couple of miles there is a path up to a car park called 'The Summit' - though it is certainly not the highest point in the peninsula. The shorter loops head up that way so the cliff top path is suddenly, and pleasantly, a lot quieter. Soon thereafter I passed the road leading out to the lighthouse.

The well signposted route continues to follow the very attractive coast with wonderful views across Dublin Bay to the city and beyond to Sugar Loaf.The route comes very close to the prominent Martello Tower a little before which it turns right inland and heads north back towards the village. I crossed a road and climber up with the golf course off to my left. Heading through woodland a path branched off to my right. Here I abandoned the Bog of Frogs loop and went rogue, making mu own way, as I wanted to bag the Ben of Howth -which IS the highest point in the peninsula. Which I easily did before heading down into the village I had been told to try to Dublin Bay prawns at the Oar House on the West Pier. Yum. Seriously, yum.