London Loop Day 3: Petts Wood to West Wickham Common

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.

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.

Jubilee Country Park

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Holwood House

Fields of gold

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.

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.

Keston Ponds

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.

West Wickham Common

London Loop Day 2: Bexley to Petts Wood

Today was my shortest day on the Loop clocking in at 7.5 miles. Yet the walk still manages to pack in a lot of sights, following the River Cray to its end at Foots Cray, climbing up the edge of Cray valley to Sidcup Place and then following a succession of woods and commons to today's destination of Petts Wood.

7.5 miles today, 16.2 miles cumulative

As I started walking I noticed a twinge in my ankle. 'That's not good' I thought. 'It's only day 2, I have 13 more days to go.' Although the pain was fairly minor it was still noticeable and it stayed with me for about half the day. Thankfully there were no problems in the afternoon but I will be keeping an eye on it in case it returns.

The walk along the River Cray was particularly delightful today. The path directly followed the edge of the bank, sometimes even descending into the river, and was a verdant green tunnel, involving clambering over tree roots and once even squeezing between a tree that had grown in the middle of the path.

River Cray encroaching on path

Trees on path

Tree roots on path

The main beauty spot though was Five Arches Bridge in the heart of Foots Cray Meadows where I stopped to watch the fish that swam in the lake, and the ducks and swans that glided along the surface. It was very serene and my first wildlife encounter of the day. Unfortunately most of the wildlife doesn't deem itself confidant enough to pose for photos, and so eluded my attempts to capture them on screen. Yet I came across a small snake that quickly wriggled off into the reeds of the River Cray, a fox in the undergrowth of Scadbury Park, several squirrels, and the usual assortment of butterflies, dragonflies, birds and insects.

Five Arches Bridge

After passing through Foots Cray with its war memorial, clock tower and fairly striking church I made my way up to Sidcup Place designed to resemble a star fort, although with many extensions since added, that make it difficult to detect the shape. I considered stopping here for lunch but it was too early, so I continued on my way, navigating through the maze of footbridges and subways to get through Frognal Corner, where the A20 crosses the A222. Upon reaching the other side I entered Scadbury Park and left behind Bexley for the London Borough of Bromley. One London Borough down, 13 more to traverse.

All Saint Church, Foots Cray

Sidcup Place

Scadbury Park contains the highlight of today, the ruins of Scadbury Manor. These ruins of a moated manor are stumbled upon directly from a woodland footpath, looming up out of nowhere. Separated from the path by a small moat, the ruins feel intimate, enclosed as they are in the middle of the woods and yet strangely distant, separated from the world by both time and water. Scadbury Park is also where I make my first slight navigational error, having left the correct path to more closely inspect a pond, I turn onto a wrong path, that leads me through a very pretty meadow. Eventually noticing the distinct lack of trees, I quickly retrace my steps and return to the correct route.

Ruins of Scadbury Manor

Redwoods in Scadbury Park

Finally I reach Petts Wood and a memorial to William Willet, a passionate advocate for the introduction of daylight saving time. It is here in a clearing that I stop for lunch, yet I am faced with somewhat of a dilemma, where to sit? The bench facing the memorial is comfortable and the views are pretty, yet the sun is scorching and after a few minutes I cannot sit there anymore, moving to the shade and awkwardly perching on a narrow tree trunk. The arrival of bees moves me back to the bench and the wilting sun.

William Willett memorial

Me attempting to eat lunch

After lunch I make my way through Petts Wood (the wood), loudly singing snatches of songs from Galavant and then cross several railway tracks to reach Petts Wood (the suburb). Todays walk has been beautiful, with a lot more ups and downs through the woods than yesterdays river walk. One last thing to note, is that having completed two sections I have yet to meet another person walking the Loop. I wonder when I will?

I came across at least three different  abandoned shoes today. Perhaps left behind by defeated Loop walkers?

Petts Wood station

London Loop Day 1: Erith to Bexley

So today I started walking the London Loop. This is a 150 mile circular route around the outskirts of London, starting at Erith and ending at Purfleet on the opposite bank of the Thames. I've been thinking about doing this walk for roughly a year and have been eagerly anticipating today. Amongst other things my planning involved reading several other blogs of the London Loop. I highly recommend reading Des de Moor's commentary on the London Loop, he provides an incredibly detailed history that definitely enriched my walk. His blog can be found here. http://desdemoor.blogspot.com/p/london-loop_44.html

Today's section of the Loop (8.7 miles)

I arrived at Erith at 9:00 am and was instantly hit by the heat. I expect that the heat will be a constant companion for the duration of the walk, so I won't mention it too much but today was hot. Sometimes the heat was dry and dusty, sometimes the heat was tempered slightly by shady woodland, and sometimes the heat was humid but it was relentless. Why I decided to do this walk in July I can't quite remember.

Erith station

I had a slow start to the Loop as I decided to explore Erith's town centre. I was looking forward to seeing the library as it is supposed to be quite the ornate building but unfortunately it was hidden away behind scaffolding. The actual library can be seen below.

Hidden library

Now that's a library!

After wondering through the very pretty riverside gardens I climbed up some steps and had my first sight of the Thames.

Erith Riverside Gardens

The Thames at Erith is very wide and tidal, quite unlike the parts of the Thames I am familiar with. It is scattered with the decaying remains of heavy industry, and as if to enforce this point, a boat passed by emitting a stream of thick black smoke.

First glimpse of the Thames

Next I came to the Deep Water Wharf, the longest pier in London. Sitting on a bench at the end of the pier, in the middle of the Thames, I looked out at the opposite bank where I would be finishing my walk two weeks later. I stared at the red lighthouse of Coldharbour Point, where the walk originally ended before it was extended a few miles further along the Thames to Purfleet. I wondered what adventures I would encounter over my walk, what sights I would see, everything that was to come and thought about when I would be standing on that other shore, looking back at the pier, having reached it the long way round.

Deep Water Wharf

View from middle of Thames

You can just make out the red lighthouse at Coldharbour point.

After following the Thames for a while I reached my first obstacle, a closed footpath sign. And yet the footpath looked remarkably open and I could see other people using the path so I decided to forge ahead anyway. It would be too much to admit defeat only a mile or so into the walk! When I reached the end of this section I met two cyclists coming the other way who said there was a closed footpath sign at their end of the footpath too  and wanted to know if  the path I'd just walked was clear. I assured them that it was.

Is it though?

But back to the first sign. As I walked through the gate, I entered the wide and desolate landscape of Crayford Marshes. The marshes were full of wildlife, with the constant buzz of insects providing music for my walk, as butterflies flitted across the path and the verges were full of wildflowers. Although this area is industrial, filled with mangled car wrecks and giant shipping containers, it also beautiful, a vast and lonely place, a unique spot on the fringe of London.

Reeds and a windfarm

Petrified trees at Crayford Saltings

As I approached the confluence of the Thames with the river Darent, I spotted a horse lying down on the ground. At first I wondered if it had died, but upon closer inspection it was clear that it was just having a nap. It had separated itself from the horses on the other side of the path, and was enjoying a doze in the sunshine.

Zzz

Most of my day would be spent walking along rivers, first the Thames, then the Darent and lastly the river Cray. Whilst the rivers were pretty they were also fairly unchanging, and I spent a while working my way down the riverbank, walking through overgrown paths and disengaging a bit, watching my thoughts go by.

Dried mud near the River Darent

Needs just a bit of a trim

Eventually I came to some suburbia, with every house festooned in England flags. I wonder if some big football event is going on? Although from what I know of Bexley, I suspect that it would have England flags on display regardless of the World Cup.

The next animal friend I made was a ginger cat, we shared a footpath along the river Cray for a while, the cat running ahead of me and then pausing for me to catch up. We continued like this in silent companionship  until sadly it turned off from the Loop and back into a housing estate.

Farewell!

I continued along the river to reach Waterside Gardens, a beautiful little park, with a memorial to those who died in the first world war, as well as references to the fabric printers that used to print silks here for clients such as Liberty and Dior. The park is decorated with the Liberty Paisley pattern.

Waterside Gardens Memorial

Next I reached the absolute gem of today's walk, Hall Place House and Gardens. A welcome stop for a slice of lemon cake and a break for lunch, sitting in the gardens and looking at the topiary figures known as the Queen's Beasts. The house itself is very charming and literally made of two halves, an older Tudor building made of a chequerboard of grey flint, and then a newer red brick half.

Hall Place House

Seamless piece of work

Queen's Beasts

After navigating my way through the A2 I came to the first stile of the Loop and entered the first woodland of the Loop too. I very much enjoyed walking along this strip of woodland, with its clumps of mushrooms, ivy clad fence posts and a shimmering spiders web.

Churchfield Wood

Mushrooms in Churchfield Wood

Spiderweb

Finally the woods brought me to my final destination for today, the village of Old Bexley. It has a spectacular looking church with an overgrown graveyard and I eventually made my way to the train station only to discover it was closed! Disappointed to discover that a long bus journey was my only route home, I at least discovered some almshouses opposite the bus stop, something I would not have otherwise seen.

St. Mary the Virgin, Bexley

This first section of the walk has been remarkably varied and being flat, a relatively easy start to the walk. I am keen to see what is in store tomorrow.

Bexley Station