Length: Length: 14.2km km (8.8 miles). Toughness: 5/10. For a shorter version, you could omit the afternoon loop to Croham Hurst and Breakneck Hill
11:00 Brighton service from London Victoria (Clapham Junction 11:07) arrives East Croydon 11:16 then take the 11:21 Tram (New Addington service) from outside the staion main entrance to arrive at Lloyd Park 11:29. A good meeting point is the cafe near the entrance to Lloyd Park (although note that it is closed today).
If you have a local connection, you could instead catch the above same Tram from West Croydon Tram Stop at 11:16 or the 11:17 Tram from New Addington Tram Stop arrives Lloyd Park 11:30. Trams also run from Beckenham Junction, Elmers End and Wimbledon but for those you'll usually need to change.
Lloyd Park and Coombe Lane are both within London Zones so you can use Oyster or Contactless.
Return trams from Coombe Lane to East and West Croydon are frequent (approx 6 trams per hour) and return trains from East Croydon are at xx:16, xx:24, xx:46, xx:54. Return trains from West Croydon to Victoria are ar xx:16 and xx:46.
This map-led walk explores parts of the Shirley Hills and is mainly through parks, heathland and quiet woodlands, where deer are sometimes seen. It climbs up and across Lloyd Park then explores the woodland and heathland of Addington Hill, a Site of Nature Conservation Interest. The walk then leads you through Heathfield House gardens, Bramley Bank Nature Reserve (home to stag beetles and woodpeckers) and Littleheath Woods. Then it's on to the ancient wood of Croham Hurst and Breakneck Hill, a Site of Special Scientific Interest with a Bronze Age Barrow and a view to the south from the top. From there, the walk takes you around Coombe Wood, where there are ornamental gardens, a small woodland and a cafe, before a final stretch along Addington Hill to Coombe Lane.
There are some nice spots for a picnic lunch on the route, with the benches in Heathfield House's Walled Garden probably being the most practical. Lloyd Park Cafe is closed today (so you won't be able to sample the bacon buttie, rated as "best of the decade" by one walker). The Royal Garden Chinese Restaurant is also not open but refreshments are available near the end of the walk at The Coach House Bistro Cafe in Coombe Wood, 020 8686 8914, which offers hot food as well as cakes, ice creams etc...
There isn't a walk leader and this walk is map-led so you'll need to bring the map or GPS route, which can be downloaded from the L=swc.411 page.
1 comment:
#10 walkers met outside East Croydon Station on a #sunny-but-cold winter's day, that was perfect for walking off the previous day's gastronomic excesses. We caught the New Addington tram to Lloyd Park. It was soft underfoot in the approaches to Addington Hills, with a few waterlogged patches that we skirted around. There were plenty of families and dog walkers around to enjoy the favorable weather. Everyone had brought sustenance of some kind and we consumed this in the walled garden of Heathfield House. One walker omitted the Croham Hurst leg near the end. The rest enjoyed the fine view from the top, before returning via Coombe Wood to Coombe Lane tram stop for the short return journey to East Croydon. At Sandilands - mid-route - we were reminded of the fatal accident in November 2016 on the Croydon Tramlink... a sobering moment on what was otherwise a very pleasant Boxing Day trip.
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