BB3GGJ Minutemen leaving for the Battle of Concord Massachusetts 1775

Our Westport–Ridgefield Wandering will take place on this coming Tuesday, October 27. Our walking focus will be the Danbury Raid, a military incursion of the British that took place in April 1777, during the Revolutionary War.

We will drive to Westport and meet there at 9:30 AM on the 27th at the main Compo Beach Parking Lot.  The shortest and most direct route is to go on I-95N toward New Haven and get off at Exit 17. There go straight at the end of the exit ramp and through the railroad station neighborhood, over the old girder bridge, and then to South Compo Road and onto Compo Beach Road. When I made a trial run the other day, it took about 14 minutes after I entered at Exit 11.

The street address of the entrance to Compo Beach Park is 80 Compo Beach Road. There turn south into the park, past the gate house, which is closed for the season, and continue to the south end of the parking lot, adjacent to two large decorative black metal canons on the south end of the beach. There we will meet our guide, Edward Hynes, and will park and assemble for the beginning of our Wandering. There are public restrooms in the park.

After about an hour and a half walk in Westport, we will end up back at the beach parking lot, from which we will drive north to Ridgefield, following, at least in part, the general route that the invaders followed on their way toward Danbury. The second part of our tour will be centered in Ridgefield and will focus on the actions taken by the Connecticut based militias to attack, harass and deter the British forces as they marched north to their objective: the Continentals’ supply depots in Danbury. After walking through some of the parks and locations of the Battle of Ridgefield, we will have access to some picnic tables there to eat the sandwiches you need to bring.  There are no restaurants nearby.  You may also choose to return to Darien if you prefer.  Below is a list of our wanderers.  If you want to pair with somebody to drive please make your own arrangements.

Finally, please bring a mask, which is required in the parks.  I am assuming we can take off the mask when we do our walking.

If you have questions, you can reach me on my cell phone at 203-554-4201.  Below is the list of wanderers.

Looking forward to seeing you all on Tuesday. Happy Wandering!