Capital Ring Walk 3 – Grove Park to Crystal Palace

Yet another sunny autumn day (though quite windy), so time for another section of the Capital Ring Walk.

It was an easy journey to the start at Grove Park, though all trains were suffering from perturbations due to the wind, leaves or snow (delete as appropriate).

The first bit of this section is mainly road:

Then away from the road towards the railway:

and across the railway:

More suburbia, albeit with some trees and grass!

Then a nice (though thin) stretch of woodland towards the top of Bromley Hill:

From here, it’s not far to Beckenham Place Park, a lovely mixture of fields and woodland:


All too soon, more roads, then an underpass under the railway at New Beckenham Station:

Next is Cator Park, a pleasant open space:

Mostly road now, leading towards Penge:

And finally, into Crystal Palace Park, glorious in the sunshine!

I took the shorter route via the dinosaurs, which I’ve not seen for 25 years – they’re a lot cleaner now.

The park includes a famous collection of 1850s animal sculptures and their surrounding landscape, known as the Dinosaur Park.

Then past the Sports Centre, which wasn’t even there the last time I was…

and the iconic 900′ high transmitter mast:

Then to Crystal Palace station, nicely located at the edge of the park. This has also been revamped since the last time I was there.

8½ miles of Capital Ring walking today and no Geocaches found.

 

Capital Ring Walk 1 & 2 – Woolwich to Grove Park

Another sunny autumn day, so I find time for another London walk. The Capital Ring is a shorter (78 miles) “inner” version of the London Loop Walk that I finished earlier this year.

Two trains were needed to get to the nearest station at Woolwich Arsenal, then a short walk through Woolwich itself.

The Thames is soon reached; the Woolwich Ferry can be see on the right of this photo:

The walk officially starts at the Southern Entrance of the Woolwich Foot Tunnel – unlike the London Loop, it is possible to finish the Capital Ring at the start without using a boat.

The walk follows the Thames Path for a while:

Eventually, some green is reached at Maryon Park.
Maryon Park, and Maryon Wilson Park, were once owned by the Maryon Wilson family of Charlton House. This park was formed from sandpits and another nearby sandpit is now the home of Charlton Athletic Football Club.

For somewhere so close to a major river, it’s surprisingly hilly!

There is a small children’s zoo in Maryon Wilson Park:

And some nice autumn colours:

Charlton Park is next, just boring sports fields:

Then into something approaching open country as I walk across Woolwich Common:

After crossing Shooters Hill Road, I’m on Eltham Common:

With some interesting fungi growing on the steps:

Then into Castle Wood:

And Severndroog Castle:


Severndroog is an eccentric triangular castle standing 19 metres high. It was built as a memorial to Commodore Sir William James, owner of the land in the 18th century. The East India Company employed him to suppress piracy and he captured a fortress in India with this name. His widow built the castle after his death in 1784.

After the castle, the land drops away with extensive views to the south:

This is Castlewood Garden (Castlewood House is long gone):

Oxleas Meadow and the lovely Oxleas Wood are next:

But all too soon, it’s back to “normal” parks, this is Eltham North Park:

Section 1 officially ends here, with a link to Falconwood Station.

Section 2

The A2 Rochester Way needs to be crossed using a rather large pedestrian bridge:

There are so many waymarked walks here that some signs are quite extensive:

The route passes a preserved building that once supplied water to Eltham Palace:

Eltham seems to be devoid of footpaths, so it’s mainly road walking until Eltham Palace:

Then more paths past playing fields towards Mottingham:

The A20 Sidcup Road then needs to be crossed. This section used to be known as the “Mad Mile” before speed cameras became common:

Then yet more suburban streets and paths towards the Quaggy River:

Grove Park Station is soon reached after yet more road walking, and the train home.

11 miles of Capital Ring walking today and 6 Geocaches found.

For more information on the Capital Ring, see https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/walking/capital-ring

 

 

Green Chain Walk – Thamesmead to Lesnes Abbey

A nice sunny winters day today, so I’m off on the first leg of my next waymarked walk.

This walk starts on the River Thames path at Thamesmead, which is not terribly well served by public transport. Abbey Wood is the nearest railway station:

This station is being rebuilt as a Crossrail terminus, and the nearest bus stop is currently quite a long walk from the station with fences everywhere!

The bus then terminated short of my destination, so I walked the rest of the way to the Thames.


The Green Chain Walk itself starts a bit further down.

The path wiggles through Thamesmead, with some surprisingly nice open spaces and waterways.


An underpass leads beneath Western Way, a busy main road.

Then into Southmere Park, with a nice lake.


and an interesting picnic table:

This is the North Kent railway line, with a new Crossrail train parked in the background:

The route leads into Lesnes Abbey Park, with the ruins of a 12th Century Cistercian Abbey.




It’s then back along the streets to Abbey Wood station, and the train(s) home.

Only 4 miles of walking today!

For more information on the 50 mile Green Chain Walk, see https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/walking/green-chain-walk and http://www.greenchain.com/