Capital Ring Walk 4 & 5 – Crystal Palace to Earlsfield

A sunny (but cold) day today, so it’s back on the trains for another section of the Capital Ring Walk.

I returned to Crystal Palace, this time via Beckenham Junction.

Not surprisingly, the area is quite hilly:

Westow Park is soon reached:

More streets, then Upper Norwood Recreation Ground:

Allotments and a view across London near Biggin Wood:

Then the first bit of (almost) countryside, Biggin Wood:

Then more street walking, finally reaching Norwood Grove. The Great North Wood once covered all this area, hence the name Norwood.


The Grade II listed mansion, Norwood Grove, was built in the 1840s by Arthur Anderson, joint founder of the P&O Steam Navigation Company. It is now an education centre owned by Croydon Council.

Norwood Grove leads to busy Streatham Common:


The common, not surprisingly, leads to Streatham itself and the end of Section 4.

Section 5

The first bit of this section goes under the railway (The Sutton & Mole Valley line for those interested in such things):

and past an ornate “Southwark & Vauxhall Water Company” building:

More street walking, then the extensive Tooting Bec Common and (open!) Lido:

Tooting Bec Lido has one of the largest swimming pools in Europe holding a million gallons of water. It was opened in 1906 as a conventional pool, but rebuilt as a lido, Italian for beach, in 1936. Its iconic blue pools, diving boards and sunbathing areas have been used in films such as Snatch with Brad Pitt.

After this, more street walking through Balham:

This leads to the very pleasant Wandsworth Common:

Complete with a couple of small lakes:

After the common, it’s a long and boring walk to Earlsfield past Wandsworth Prison and Cemetery:

And a train to Waterloo from Earlsfield Station:

Section 5 actually finishes a mile further on at Wimbledon Park station, but Earlsfield is much easier for the journey to/from Orpington.

8.5 miles of Capital Ring walking today and 1 Geocache found.

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