Evening Walk: One (or more) for the Road on a Historic Thames Journey (Cannon St. to Canary Wharf)

SWC Short 28: One (or more) for the Road on a Historic Thames Journey

Distance: 5 miles or 8 km for those more metrically minded

Difficulty: 1 out of 10

Meet: The Banker Pub – 200 meters from Cannon St. Tube and Rail Station (on the Thames)

Time: 18:30 – but if you miss our departure, you can certainly catch us up along the way…

This is a relaxed outing along the Thames that hardly requires any instructions, aside from, keep the river on your right. The route basically follows the Thames Path from Cannon St. Station to Canary Wharf Pier, passing through historic Wapping. We will pass three historic hostelries – the Town of Ramsgate, the Prospect of Whitby and the Grapes. At Canary Wharf Pier, you can catch a Thames Clipper back to central London or meander through the buildings to the DLR/Jubilee/Elizabeth line Stations.

More information and the instructions can be found here.

Enjoy the walk!

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Wednesday walk - Effingham Junction to Westhumble or Dorking

T=2.14 Polesden Lacy (dramatic NT country house) for lunch, steep woods opening out onto the North Downs Ridge, and an English vineyard for tea.

Length: 15.2km (9.4 miles)

Toughness: 4 out of 10

Trains: 10.03 from London Waterloo (10.12 Clapham Junction, 10.27 Surbiton) arriving Effingham Junction 10.51.

Return from Westhumble: xx.33 to Waterloo and xx.46 to Victoria

Buy a day return to Effingham Junction and a single from Westhumble to Leatherhead for the return journey.

Lunch: Polesden Lacey coffee shop has snacks and cakes and tables in the courtyard that picnickers often use. Its Granary cafe has more substantial plates.

Tea: Denbies Vineyard visitor centre has tea/coffee and cakes. The Stepping Stones pub near Westhumble station is another possibility.

For more details click the link L=2.14

Sunday Walk: Kelvedon Circular

Toughness 3/10
Length: 10, 12, or 14.4 miles (16.3, 19.3 or 23.2 km.)
Highlights for this recently requested walk include the Blackwater river, an old mill, Grange Barn (said to be the oldest timber-framed building in Europe), and the town of Coggeshall, with over 300 listed buildings, many medieval. The full walk gives the opportunity to visit Marks Hall Gardens but that might be a bit of a stretch today. The shorter walk is suggested.
Trains
The clocks went back today and, as usual, they’re a bit ticked off about it.

I've gone for an early start to make the most of the daylight – don’t worry, it’ll feel like it's later.

Take the 09:08 Ipswich train from Liverpool Street,(Stratford 9:15) arriving Kelvedon at 9:59.
Return trains at xx:41.
Lunch
There are many options in Coggeshall, see the walk notes. Some of the pubs (eg Chapel Inn, Woolpack) are ancient.
If doing the full walk, you can also visit Honywood Café at Marks Hall (01376 563 796). No admission charge for the café.
Tea
The Sun Inn, Feering Hill (01376 570 442) is recommended. There's also the earlier Bell Inn, in Feering (01376 570 375), and the later Railway Tavern in Kelvedon. (01376 570293).
Visiting
Paycockes and Grange Barn are both National Trust properties
You get a good view of Grange Barn from the outside. To look inside costs £5.50
Paycockes  An ornate 15th C merchants house The garden and teashop are free. Guided visit inside £9.50
Marks Hall Gardens entry £9
There is a Tudor Walk through Coggeshall that highlights some of the old buildings. (You will have already seen some of them by the time you reach Paycockes).
Walk Directions here.
This walk can be shortened by cutting out all or part of the Marks Hall loop.
In the afternoon, if there has been prolonged rain, you might want to stay on Old Road rather than forking right onto the bridleway (page 8). Just saying.... T=swc.216

Sunday Walk - Farnham to Blackwater: Farnham Park, Caesar’s Camp, Beacon Hill, Bourley Reservoirs, Gelvert Stream, Fleet Pond, Foxlease Meadows and Hawley Common

Length: 22.5 km (14.0 mi) 

Ascent/Descent: 313/330m 

Net Walking Time: about 5 hours 

Toughness: 5/10

 

Take the 09.05 Alton train from Waterloo (CJ 09.15, then Wimbledon, Surbiton, Woking etc.), arrives Farnham 10.13. 

Return trains are on xx.04 & xx.30 to Paddington (change Reading) and xx.09 & xx.35 to Waterloo (change Guildford). 

Buy a return to Blackwater and a single from Woking to Farnham.
 

The walk crosses Farnham Park to Upper Hale then enters remote MOD land (careful navigation needed) including a steep climb to Caesar’s Camp and equally demanding descent from Beacon Hill, overlooking a network of water channels and reservoirs. After lunch at The Foresters, you follow Gelvert Stream to Fleet Pond, get your feet wet in Foxlease Meadows, dry out over a cuppa watching cricket at the Crown and Cushion and view the boats from the sandy shores of Hawley Lake, before crossing Hawley Common to Blackwater station.

 

After Upper Hale the walk is largely within or close to MOD land until the outskirts of Blackwater. The area is designated on the OS maps by clear rather than red triangles, signifying managed access subject to the displayed by-laws, as opposed to danger areas. In practice this means that you are free to roam and the paths are clear on the ground, but there are no footpath or bridleway signs. The section through Foxlease Meadows is also not marked and is usually ‘spongy’ underfoot, so a drier alternative is given in the text.

 

Shorter Walk: Various options, check the webpage or the pdf for details.

 

Lunch: The Foresters , Church Crookham (11.3 km, food served to 18.00). 

Tea: Crown & Cushion, Minley (after 17.3 km).

 

For a summary, map, gpx/kml files and the walk directions click here. T=swc.160

Balcombe Circular via Ardingly Reservoir - Summer walk

Length: 19.5km (12.1 miles), or 17.5km (10.9 miles) if you do the winter ending, or as little as 14.2km (8.8 miles) if you do the winter ending and don't go to the lunch pub T=swc.22

10.05 Thameslink train from London Bridge (9.50 St Pancras, 9.54 Farringdon) to Balcombe, arriving 10.46. Only the front eight carriages (of twelve) open their doors at Balcombe.

For walk directions click here, for GPX click here, for a map of the route click here.

It is the last day of British Summer Time, so here is one last "summer" walk. Actually, it only has that designation because parts of it can be very muddy in winter. If it didn't rain too much during the week, it hopefully won't be too bad yet... This is pretty territory with a plenty of trees to display whatever autumn colours are on show so far.

For a long time this walk has been stymied by the closure of its lunch pub, the Ardingly Arms, but it has now been resurrected and I thought it would be nice to check it out. The Ardingly Cafe next door also seems to be still operating (until 2.30pm) for those that want a lighter lunch.

After lunch you can do the full summer walk (the 12.1 mile option), with the possibility of tea in the Seed Cafe of Wakehurst Place (the last time until spring you will be able to have tea mid afternoon on a walk!) or you can opt for an easy walk along the Ardingly Reservoir instead (= the winter walk afternoon, the 10.9 mile option). Sandwich types can cut out the climb to Ardingly village altogether, have lunch by the reservoir and carry on to Balcombe on the winter route (the 8.8 mile option).

Once in Balcombe the Half Moon Inn usually does tea and sometimes cakes.

The walk down the back lanes to Balcombe station is recommended: very atmospheric in the dusk, as the Great Darkness closes in around you...

Trains back from Balcombe are at 25 and 55 past

Wendover Circular via Coombe Hill

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Length: 21km (13m)
Toughness: 7 / 10
Transport: Take the 9:27 from London Marylebone arriving at Wendover at 10:16. Return trains at xx:24 and xx:54

This is a great walk at any time but particularly nice in autumn when the leaves turn. The walk provides spectactular views and it passes what is in my opinion the most beautiful part of the Chilterns escarpment after Pulpit Hill with its iron age fort. Lunch is at the cozy Red Lion in Whiteleaf.

Saturday Walk - Epping Forest Centenary Walk: Manor Park to Epping via Chingford (half-length options available)

Length: 24.2 km (15.0 mi) [shorter options available; see below] 

Ascent/Descent: 266/193m

Net Walking Time: 5 ½ hours 

Toughness: 5 out of 10 

 

Take the 09.26 Crossrail train (aka the Elizabeth Line) from Liverpool Street (Whitechapel 09.28, Stratford 09.34), arrives Manor Park 09.41. [A Shenfield train from Paddington (09.15) via all Central London stations.] 

Return:

 -     Central Line from Buckhurst Hill and Epping: frequent (with journey times of 24 mins or 37 mins respectively, to Liv Street). 

-      Overground from Chingford: every 15 mins on xx.10 etc, with 26 mins journey time to Liv Street. All possible start and end points are within Travelcard Zones 1-6.

 

Epping Forest stretches for 19 km from Manor Park in East London north to Epping, with the main body of the Forest being north of Chingford. It is never more than 4 kilometres wide, but is London's largest Open Space at 2,400 hectares. It lies on a low ridge between the Lea and Roding Valleys and is an area of ancient woodland which has been protected since the 12^th century as a Royal Hunting Forest, though more recently it has been managed by The City of London after the passing of the Epping Forest Act of 1878.

The Epping Forest Centenary Walk runs the length of Epping Forest and it is the 100^th anniversary of the Epping Forest Act that the Centenary Walk was devised to celebrate. An annual organised walk along the route - in September - keeps attracting well over 100 people, though many of those only join for parts of the route from alternative start points along. The Centenary Walk has never been waymarked but its (approximate) line has been shown on OS maps.
The Centenary Walk (now: the Big Walk) in the southern parts crosses some commons and public parks and travels along a few residential roads as well as going through woodland, but north of Chingford goes mostly through ancient woodland. The woods in the southern half of the route are well frequented and the paths here will be very muddy after prolonged wet weather, but the northern part of the walk is mainly on well-made gravel forest trails which despite some heavy usage by cyclists do not tend to get exceptionally muddy.

Due to the annual Centenary Walk/Big Walk attracting a very large group, it often choses wide gravel or tarmac tracks over more interesting lesser paths nearby and for the same reason choses to pass cafés and pubs with facilities even if that requires some road walking. These considerations are not that relevant for the SWC, so our route differs in places from both the Centenary Walk and the Big Walk. The route of the Big Walk is shown on our route map though and also available as a gpx (note: it finishes at a bus stop on the very busy High Street and away from any tea options).

Shorter walk: Walks of about half the length can be obtained by finishing or starting at either Chingford Overground (500m off route along a road) or Buckhurst Hill Underground (2.5 km off route, map-led). See the webpage and the route map for details.

Lunch & Tea: Lots of choice for elevenses, lunch, late lunch and tea, on or just off the route in cafés, bistros, a seafood bar and even a gastro pub, and a normal pub and more on a diversion into Epping. Check the webpage for details and the route map for their locations.

For walk directions, a map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here . T=swc.259