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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Sunday 26 January 2020

Sunday Walk - Hayes Circular + Whyteleafe to Hayes (SWC 38) in reverse or parts thereof

Length: 22.6 km (14.0 mi) [Shorter Walks possible, see below]
Ascent/Descent: 344/293m
Net Walking Time: ca. 5 ¼ hours, Toughness: 5 out of 10

Take the 09.33 Hayes (Kent) train from Cannon Street (London Bridge  09.37, then all stations via New Cross, Lewisham & Catford Bridge), arrives Hayes (Kent) 10.15
For the shortest option, the Hayes Circular, take a train an hour later.
Return trains from Whyteleafe: xx.07 & xx.37 (Tulse Hill train, change at East Croydon for Thameslink services or for Victoria). [There are no trains from Upper Warlingham today.]

Commons, ponds, woods, Iron Age structures and hills, all in Oyster Zones 5 & 6.
(Pick up the Whyteleafe route where the two walk routes cross)

Walk Options:
·        Walk just the full SWC 281 Hayes Circular (9.3 km)
·        After lunch in Fickleshole, turn down to New Addington for a tram to East Croydon station (cut 3.5 km), directions to be found in the pdf of SWC 38, or reverse-walk the alt. start from Addington described there

Lunch: The White Bear (15.4 km/9.6 mi, food all day) in Fickleshole, or any of 3 pubs in Keston  (after about 6 km) on the Hayes Circular only option.
Tea: I haven’t a clue.

For  walk directions, maps, height profiles, some photos  and gpx/kml files click here and here. A tailor-made gpx file for the posted route can be found here. [Right-click and ‘Save Link As…’]
T=swc.281

Stargazer is away…

5 comments:

Thomas G said...

As regards Tea Places, my (not so extensive) network of local spies now tells me - of the ones open on Sunday afternoon - they are:
Pavilion Cafe (01883-770666) in the Recreation Ground, open to around 16.30. Walker-friendly. Some home-made cakes. Seating inside plus a couple of tables on a patio.
The Whyteleafe Tavern, on the A22 roundabout, open all day. A 'locals' pub.
The Radius Arms, in the parade of shops, a former shop converted into a micro-pub. Closes at 17.30.

[Thanks, Sean.]

Anonymous said...

Does one buy a return to Hayes or Whyteleafe for this walk?

Thomas G said...

Neither, it is Oyster pay as you go. Stations are in Zone 5&6.

Anonymous said...

Anyone would like to do only the Hayes to Whiteleaf walk with me? Starting at the same time?

Thomas G said...

n=8 off the train, which soon enough, after the initial ascent onto the Common, turned into 5 + 3, walking at different paces. The weather was overcast only initially, to just before lunch, then with rain, then with a long break in the rain, and then steady rain to the finish, i.e. w=grey-with-some-rain-after-lunch.
Interesting route through the commons and woods between Hayes and Keston, and not too muddy despite the many streams, ponds and a river.
To Whyteleafe then, and this was much more muddy, the route consisting mainly of well-used bridleways (horses more than bikes, seeemingly). Mostly one could hang off tree stumps or hedges to get past the deep bits, but not always, as the two sneaker-clad walkers found out. We got to The White Bear just before 14.00 hours, and it was fully booked. Unfortunately the front-of-house (it is a well-oiled machine, The White Bear, the margin clearly overwhelmingly coming from the food custom) refused to sit us at the one table that was free on account of a later reservation at 15.00 hours, as "we don't sit people just for an hour". Arguing was a waste of time, so we settled down at the one table that was kept for drinks-only customers, for beer and crisps.
At Whyteleafe, 3 marched straight to the station, 2 frequented the Pavilion Cafe at the Rec (this opened at Easter last year, and is recommended: fine cakes and nice interior, and warm!) and then also the Micropub, The Radius Arms (est. 4 1/2 years ago, the man behind the bar says). Nice selection of beers, as you'd hope, Wantsum's offering was our favourite. 17.13 train for us two.