Greater Beginnings
Another random Friday off for S and so he accompanied me for another London bound jaunt. It was a sleepwalk into beginning the London Loop, unofficial, of course. We have done the Capital Ring in central London and this one takes you in a wider circle with an intended start at Erith in a clockwise direction. Naturally, we began between legs and in an anticlockwise direction. The route does not cross the Thames here, so I have already cobbled a sufficient alternative for next time but I think it will either be on a very frosty day or wait for the bluebells. Watch this space.
Part of the appeal of the Capital Ring is the potential to visit London's interesting places but for a 150 mile plus route, The London Loop has surprisingly few solid landmarks. Instead, its just as well to note the landscapes, suburbs and backwaters, embrace the potential 'bleak' that lays ahead. All the more reason to mix it up a bit and craft a route to my whims.
More of an issue doing this route will be the length of travel getting there from Burgess Hill and cost. There might be potential for overnighters later. However, Orpington proved quite easy via London Bridge. Rail Travelcards are economic for some routes but being in zone 6 makes this leg at peak time not helpful. I ended up with two singles with the overground return leg via Bexley and I think this was the cheapest option.
From Orpington Station, follow the Crofton Road west to the junction with Ormande Avenue, passing the remains of the Roman villa. You will see a rather odd-looking church built in 1958 by A B Knapp-Fisher. Here we make our unoffical entry onto the London Loop and enter Sparrow Wood and Crofton Heath. The Kyd Brook becomes the Quaggy, itself a tributary of the Ravensbourne. Kyd means something like Kite over the Brook and so from one bird to another towards the Thames and the direction we're ultimately heading. You are beginning in a clay-based, wet wood and you will indeed see the surprisingly clear waterways with the pebbly Blackheath beds at the bottom. The Quaggy, which we've met before, has seen much culverting and subsequent release, to respectively restrain and flood, as it should wish. Leave the Kyd and cross the perplexingly-named East Kyd Brook, as you travel west.
You leave the wood and turn right on to Farringdon Avenue which merges with Oxhawth Crescent. Go over Southborough Lane and enter Jubilee Country Park. The place acts as a wildlife corridor on the route to Petts Wood. Thornet Wood was the site of much 'Dad's Army' home guard related activity and anti-aircraft guns. Follow the edge of the park and the path as it crosses a complex rail junction that made it a target during the war. Enclosed by the park and railway is Basil Scruby's 1920s planned garden suburb, including the church of which Pevsner was, apparently, not too complimentary. The church itself is furnished with wealden clay Keymer bricks, no less.
Once over the railway footbridges, cross the Kyd Brook, bear right and enter the National Trust managed Petts Wood. William Willett, the Chislehurst Edwardian builder and daylight-saving advocate, along with the donors of the Hawkwood Estate, are memorialised within the wood. Together, they have helped preserve the semi-rural character of the area. Way back in the 1500s, the wood was owned by a William Pett and managed for ship-building on the Thames. As you walk along, the very old lines of trees mark a thousand year-old estate boundary. The bridleway turns north.
Cross St Pauls Cray Road and enter Park Wood on The Drive. Leave it on the footpath on the right. This follows the edge of the open access area known as The Gorse before bearing east into Scadbury Park. The path makes a diversion to examine the medieval Scadbury Moated Manor. While the original was a medieval manor of the Walsinghams, what you can see is largely the enthusiastic rebuilding of a Hugh Marsham-Townshend in 1930. You are walking on one of the many trails within a local nature reserve and many fine old trees that might date to the de Scatheburys. We sat on a bear seat on what is also the Chislehurst Bear Trail and ate pistachios.
You will hit a footpath after the manor, going north and then going right. The path turns to parallel the Sidcup bypass before entering the subway at the junction. If you follow the signs carefully you will have crossed the road and continued on the right side of Chislehurst Road. Just opposite the sixth form college, turn right and walk alongside the Star at Sidcup Place. The original design was a bastioned-star shape fort design from the 1740s. Some decrepit interpretation boards here reference the London Loop and abandon you to the grounds. Just head roughly east and follow the byway that now runs alongside the allotments.
The signs will take you in to Foots Cray. The village of Foots Cray takes its name from Godwin Fot, a Saxon chieftain. Cray is the river, whose ancient name derives from that meaning 'clean' or 'fresh'. Suffolk Road joins Cray Road, going north. Straight over the junction, you reach All Saints Church where you turn right into the meadows. Make your way across and ford the River Cray. Follow the bank of the river. This is one of only 200 chalk streams that suffer similar health challenges. It remained fresh enough on the day to support the various herons, moorhens, coots and ducks feeding on this stretch. The Five Arched Bridge is attractive but provides a natural barrier to fish that might find their way here. In other parts, the river is too shallow but looks (almost) inviting for a paddle. Knowing that Thames Water operate here is a deterrent. Continue as far as you can on this bank. We then followed Water Lane to North Cray and The White Cross Inn with its origins in the 18th Century and an excellent lunch stop.
Return to Water Lane and now cross the Cray to exit on to the Riverside Road. Turn right and enter the land of Upper College Farm. Cattle were grazing on the grass of this unimproved former gravel pit. Bexley pumping station is on your right and Albany Park DC Traction Substation is on your left beyond the pylon. FP 146 is Manor Way and that takes you into Bexley, crossing the Dartford Loop Line twice on the High Street. Over the river is St Mary the Virgin. On Manor Road, take the footpath on the right and then join FP 127 on the left. This follows the edge of Churchfield Wood to the side of Rochester Way where you join the FP 194 going left. A rather complex path takes you first under the carriageway and then back up to cross it before descending on the other side of the railtrack. Now on the FP 125, follow it round and cross the flood channel and continue to the car park of Hall Place. Turn left and enter the gardens for free. We stopped for a disappointing coffee at the cafe before taking a look at the building, its two periods of construction in flint salvaged from Lesnes Abbey of the 18th and the 19th Century brick that followed. The topiary is also impressive.
We didn't linger but did a quick lap before catching a bus back into Bexley from the roundabout. As we walked on the road in front of checkerboard Hall Place, we may have forshadowed a future walk to the Abbey ruins. Who knows.
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