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| 8.2 miles today, 24.4 miles cummulative |
Today was an amazing day. The walk was idyllic, the scenery was spectacular and the weather was perfect. Reading back on my last two blogs I've noticed that quite a lot of the blog has been a little bit moany in nature, which has reflected my mood during the first two days. Whilst I've certainly enjoyed the Loop so far I have also been rather nervous about it. Will I be able to pull off a walk of this magnitude? What if everything goes wrong? And so when the weather has been too hot, or my boots hurt my feet I have been focusing on them above the pleasure of walking. Yet today was different. I found my groove, the walking was easier and I had a truly stunning experience.
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| Today's walk truly was a paradise. |
I started the walk by meandering through the Jubilee Country Park where I was greeted by a very enthusiastic dog who jumped up at me until his owner called him away. The walk then encounters its first long residential stretch, down Faringdon Avenue before encountering the pleasant Sparrow and then Darrick woods.
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| Jubilee Country Park |
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| Darrick Woods |
Next up is the first outstanding view of the day at Tubbenden Meadow which looks out over the village of Farnborough and High Elms Country Park. The meadow is full of wild flowers and I am reluctant to leave. I spend a while wondering through the different paths that cross Tubbenden Meadow, with the grass reaching almost to the height of my chest.
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| View from Tubbenden Meadow |
Eventually I made my way out of the meadow and into the village of Farnborough with its beautiful old cottages and the church of St Giles the Abbott with a sprawling graveyard that includes the grave of Urania Boswell, the last queen of the Kent Romanies and daughter of Gypsy Lee.
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| Grave of Urania Boswell |
The walk entered High Elms Country Park where I spent an enjoyable break at Bromley Environmental Education Centre at High Elms (BEECHE). After a delicious hot chocolate and slice of chocolate cake I wondered through the gardens of BEECHE, which included an apiary, a Kentish orchard and a roof top garden full of wildflowers. The centre is closed to the public on weekdays but they did have a school visit whilst I was there.
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| Roof top garden at BEECHE |
Returning to the Loop I wondered through the ghostly remains of High Elms house. Nothing remains of the house except for a few tiles in the ground that indicate the positioning of the rooms and gives an idea of the scale of the house. The Loop passes straight through the site where the house once stood. It was a strange experience, walking through the reclamation of human endeavour by nature.
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| Remains of High Elms |
The Loop now climbs up to the Wilberforce Oak, and this stretch of the walk was the best of the entire days walk. It starts by passing through Clockhouse Community Orchard, and then up Bogey Lane, a tree enclosed holloway that winds its way uphill in a verdant green tunnel, cut off from the rest of the world. The holloway bursts out into the open to the sight of fields full of blinding yellow flowers. Walking along these, with glimpses of the austere mansion Holwood House. This house kept itself quite aloof from the Loop, set on the top of a hill, as the Loop meekly made its way round the side of the hill. Finally the Loop climbs up to the Wilbeforce Oak where I stopped to rest for a while.
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| Holwood House |
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| Fields of gold |
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| Bogey Lane |
The Wilberforce Oak was a tree, sitting under which William Wilberforce had a conversation with Pitt the Younger where Wilberforce resolved to abolish the slave trade. As I sat and looked out at the rolling view, a couple walked by. One of them said 'a fine spot you've got there.' Indeed it was.
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| Wilberforce Oak |
The Loop then makes it way to the beautiful ponds at Keston where I had a leisurely lunch, watching an angler cast his fishing rod. It was here that I met my second excitable dog of the day, Winston. Winston bounded from side to side, splashing through the pools and barking joyfully.
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| Keston Ponds |
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| Duck and ducklings, Keston Pond |
At last I ended my day at West Wickham Common. As I made my way down the steep heathery hillside, I noticed smoke and a crackling noise. A fire had started on the common. I watched the blaze start to spread and hastily made my way past the flames to a gate at the bottom of the common and the end of my walk for today. If I had been undecided on the question of whether walking the Loop was worth it, then today confirms that it is in spades.
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| West Wickham Common |
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