Finish is at one of: Ladywell Rail, either of the Catford Stations, Lewisham Rail/DLR, Cutty Sark DLR or Greenwich Rail/DLR. Return trains from these stations go to either London Bridge, then Cannon Street or Charing Cross, or to Blackfriars via Peckham Rye and Elephant.
The route connects a number of attractive parks and green spaces in South East London, while following the Pool and Ravensbourne Rivers. It follows parts of the well-waymarked Waterlink Way, the London-part of the National Cycle Network Route connecting Eastbourne to the Thames. Large stretches of those rivers have in recent years been re-naturalised or at least sympathetically embedded in landscaped linear parks such as Ladywell Fields and Brookmill Park, and as such the route makes for a pleasant outing in a densely populated part of London, even though some formerly highly industrialised areas such as Deptford as well as some densely built-up areas such as Catford and Lewisham are passed through.
Walk Options: The walk route runs past a few Railway and DLR stations (Catford/Catford Bridge, Ladywell, Lewisham, Elverson Road and Deptford Bridge), enabling an earlier finish or later start.
Refreshments en route: the Catford Bridge Tavern in Catford, The Ladywell Tavern in Ladywell, The Brookmill in St. John’s and The Birds Nest in Deptford. Plus, plenty options in Greenwich.
For summary, walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here.
#2026-09-22T18:33 t=short.36
3 comments:
Local intel (aka Ladywell Man) tells me that the bridge over the Pool River where it meets the Ravensbourne is blocked and in any case impassable. If true (and I don't doubt it is), we will have to divert through resi streets from a little before that bridge (I'd still like to see it first though, I'm always keen on a scrambling opportunity...).
If you don't like the sound of that, maybe start from Catford Stations and await any Lower Sydenham starters there?
Ladywell Man has now delivered not only photos of the quite sturdy barriers that prevent even access to the spot the bridge did occupy, but also a gpx with a suggested diversion which looks to be not too offensive and also not much longer either. We'll walk that.
3 off the train, with 1 other joining in Catford. That's after the diversion (see below comments), which was fine and easy to follow. 2 of the 4 had surprisingly never walked this route, although being SE Londoners, and we decided to go to The Brookmill in St. John's for dinner. A pub quiz was on but we had the furthest table from the PA system so could still have a conversation. Nice pub and decent food.
1 then left to take the bus home after finishing her drink, and after dinner 1 other took the train from St. John's to LBG.
2 walked on to the Cutty Sark (21.45) and split onto DLR and bus.
n=4 w=warm-and-muggy
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