Evening Walk - Sculpture in the City: A short art trail in the City of London

Length: 2.9 km 

Net Walking Time: 1 hour

 

Meet: Liverpool Street Mainline Station, Liverpool Street Exit, Street Level, Kindertransport Memorial at 18.45 hours. (i.e.: NOT at the other Kindertransport Memorial on the concourse!)

Finish is at Leadenhall Market. Liverpool Street, Bank/Monument, Aldgate/Aldgate East, Tower Hill and London Bridge tube stations are just a short walk away, as are Fenchurch Street, Liverpool Street and London Bridge mainline stations. All are in Zone 1. 

 

The critically acclaimed Sculpture in the City is an annual exhibition showcasing contemporary works by internationally renowned artists in the confines of the City of London, on streets, in squares or on buildings. The exhibition usually opens around end June, and most sculptures are displayed until the following May. But in the current Covid pandemic, the exhibition has been extended to the autumn.

 

2021/22 sees the tenth incarnation of this popular attraction, displaying 25 artworks by 18 artists ranging considerably in scale – from large steel-, video- or fabric-works to small bronze plaques, thoughtfully placed between iconic architectural landmarks such as the Gherkin (30 St. Mary Axe), the Walkie-Talkie (20 Fenchurch Street), the Lloyd’s-Building (aka the Inside-Out Building, at 12 Leadenhall Street), the Scalpel (Lime Street) and the Cheesegrater (the Leadenhall Building). Wander the City's public spaces and stumble upon world-class public art, on an urban canvas recognised across the globe.

 

For more information on the exhibition, individual artworks and a map click here.
A printed booklet with a map, photos of – and information on – the art works can be picked up at the City Information Centre, located between St Paul's Cathedral and Millennium Bridge.

 

Eat/Drink: Leadenhall Market features more than 20 pubs, delis, bars, brasseries and restaurants. Some of whom may sell takeout drinks and snacks. For more details click here.

 

For walk directions, map, photos, and gpx/kml files click here. T=short.24

Wednesday Walk Gomshall to Guildford - Shere Village, Blackheath Forest, then along the River Wey to Guildford

Book 1 Walk 14 - Gomshall to Guildford

Length: 15.6 km (9.7 miles)

Toughness: 3 out of 10     Mostly flat, level walking today     Expect some muddy bridleways

Either 

London Victoria: 10-09 hrs   Southern service to Reigate    Clapham Junction 10-16 hrs

Arrive Reigate: 10-54 hrs     Change trains

Leave Reigate: 11-05 hrs   Great Western service from Redhill to Reading

Arrive Gomshall: 11-21 hrs

Or

London Bridge: 10-21 hrs  Thameslink service from Bedford to Gatwick Airport   East Croydon 10-37 hrs

Arrive Redhill:  10-53 hrs  Change trains

Leave Redhill:  11-00 hrs  Great Western service from Redhill to Reading

Arrive Gomshall: 11-21 hrs

Or 

London Waterloo:  10-30 hrs  South Western service to Portsmouth Harbour   Does NOT stop at CJ

Arrive Guildford:  11-02 hrs  Change trains

Leave Guildford: 11-13 hrs   Great Western service to Redhill

Arrive Gomshall: 11-30 hrs

Would Victorians and London Bridgers please wait on Gomshall station for the arrival of Waterlooers 

Return: Guildford to Waterloo:  at least 4 fast trains an hour, plus slower stopping services

Rail ticket:   Buy a day return from London to Gomshall Any Route Permitted (latter very important for ticket to be valid for both routes)

It has been a few years since this walk was given an airing. In bygone years I used to tag it on to the end of our Holmwood to Gomshall walk: now I'm a bit older the walk to Guildford suffices on its own !

Leaving Gomshall we soon arrive in the pretty village of Shere (the sort of village where you take your Aunt Agatha for tea on a Sunday). As you probably won't have your aunt with you today,  instead of tea I suggest we stop in Shere for an early lunch at the White Horse pub - given the one remaining pub on the walk, the William IV,  in Albury Heath, 2.2 miles into the walk,  can be bit hit and miss when it comes to food, although try it if you wish.  

From Shere we walk through Albury Park, then cross the vast Blackheath Common on sandy ways to continue on the Downs Link path through woods until we come out beside the River Wey. We now follow the river on its tow path all the way to Guildford. We have lots of choice in the city for walk-end refreshments, with the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre cafe being comfortable and popular with SWC walkers. 

T=1.14

Walk Directions are here: L=1.14

Sunday Walk – Maidenhead to Marlow

Extra Walk 56 – Maidenhead to Marlow

Length: 14.2 km (8.8 miles). Toughness: 2/10

10:45 TfL Reading train from Paddington (Ealing Broadway 10:53), arriving Maidenhead at 11:25. Buy a return to Marlow, unless you've got a Freedom Pass and don't mind a longer wait at Maidenhead for a TfL service on the way back, in which case you'll only need a single for the return leg from Marlow to Maidenhead.

Return trains from Marlow are hourly at xx:55, changing at Maidenhead.

This is an easy walk along one of the prettiest stretches of the Thames, where the wooded escarpment below Cliveden is said to be “especially lovely when the leaves are turning in autumn”. If you want a pub lunch there are at least three establishments^† in Cookham to choose from, all summarised in the walk document.

The afternoon leg includes a stretch along a wooded ridge with fine views of the Thames. Marlow's independent tea places might have boarded up their shop fronts by the time you arrive, but the town isn't short of refreshment places along its High Street.

You'll need to bring the directions from the L=swc.56 page.

† Odd pub name: “Bel and the Dragon” is a biblical reference to two episodes added to the Book of Daniel, although neither tale provides a convincing explanation for the name of a gastropub.

Sunday Walk - A place and a walk like no other: Canvey Island (Benfleet Circular)

Length: 23.2 km (14.5 mi) [much shorter walk possible, see below]

Ascent/Descent: 40m

Net Walking Time: 4 ¾ hours 

Toughness: 2/10 

 

Take the 09.45 Leigh-on-Sea train from Liverpool Street (09.52 Stratford, 10.03 Barking, 10.12 Upminster), arrives Benfleet 10.32. 

Return trains: xx.18 and xx.48 to L’pool Street. 

A flat walk, that starts and finishes with a busy road stretch, features a fair amount of hard surface paths and some A-road noise near the end, and passes – in succession – a golf course, a static caravan park, an ex-landfill site, housing estates, another caravan park, a sewage plant, an LNG terminal, an oil product terminal, an oil refinery, the site of a never-finished oil refinery, another oil terminal and another – larger – landfill site?????? And yet, and yet…

This is one not just for the Industrial Romantic, or for fans of the Pub Rock legends Dr. Feelgood, or for students of the lives of the ex-East End White Working Classes.Without navigational challenges (as all you do is: walk to the seawall and follow it) you experience an ever-changing scenery of tidal creeks and mud flats, river marshes, salt marshes, flood barriers, sluices and sandbanks, get views of the Benfleet Downs, of Hadleigh Castle & Country Park, the Essex cliffs, Southend with its Pier, the North Sea and the busy river traffic, of ships big and small, boatyards, yacht clubs and marinas, pass sandy beaches and enclosed pools on the foreshore, jetties, extensive seawall murals telling Canvey Island stories and – post lunch – long tranquil stretches past grassy marshes with abundant birdlife.

Still a walk like no other.

Shorter Walk: Canvey Island is linked to Benfleet station by many regular buses, enabling you to start or finish the walk at almost any point along the way (in the first half of the walk), as bus stops are often just a short distance from the walk route. For a route map of the bus network you should check here: http://www.plusbus.info/benfleet. 

The most logical shortcut to a bus stop, right after the late lunch stop, is described in the directions. It results in a 14.6 km/9.1 mi walk (rated 1/10). 

 

Lunch: The Labworth Beach Café (9.7 km/6.0 mi), in its modernist building with panoramic views of the Thames estuary; The Lobster Smack (13.2 km/8.2 mi, food all day) is the oldest surviving building on Canvey and a classic pub which has so much history it even features in the Dickens novel ‘Great Expectations’. 

Tea: Three pubs and two sub-continental restaurants on High Street, just past the station (see pdf for details).

 

For summary, map, height profile, photos, walk directions pdf and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.258

Saturday walk - Wadhurst via Bewl Water - The Wadhurst Bonfire (your last sunbathe of the year)

Length: 17km (10.6 miles), with options of 12.9km (8 miles) or 19.6km (12.2 miles)

Toughness: 4 out of 10, mostly gentle gradients, but this is the Weald, so expect mud. 

9.30 train from Charing Cross (9.33 Waterloo East, 9.39 London Bridge) to Wadhurst, arriving 10.52. Just for you, I have also asked Southeastern to route this train via East Croydon (depart 9.56) today. (This is engineering works obviously, but only adds marginally to the journey times.)

Buy a day return to Wadhurst.

For walk directions click here, for GPX click here, for a map of the route click here. T=swc.5

It has been three years since we went to the Wadhurst Bonfire and Fireworks (in 2019 it was cancelled due to high winds). For those that don't know it, it is a lovely village event: big enough to have a proper fireworks display and the usual hot dog/burger/mulled wine stalls, but intimate enough that you can get close to the great big blazing bonfire without heavy-handed crowd control. Gazing into the hot flames, thinking ancient fireside thoughts, is your last sunbathe of the year...

You can pay on the night for the bonfire using contactless payment on entry to the site, but to avoid queuing you are advised to book online here (up to midnight on 5 November). This also gets you in for £6.50 rather than £7.50. (Note: local shops will NOT be selling tickets this year.) Gates open at 5.30pm, the bonfire is lit at 6.30pm and the fireworks are at 7.30pm. See ** below for information about "après-feu" activities.

If you don't want to go to the bonfire, fine: many don't. You can still come on the walk, which is a nice Wealden outing, with short, main and long options to suit all leg muscle arrangements. This is the Weald, though, and it is autumn, so mud is to be expected.

Your lunch stop is the Old Vine in Cousley Wood, just 3.3 miles into the walk. This charming pub has had many incarnations over recent years - 1970s timewarp, gastro, Latin American. Now its website talks of "pub grub done properly", which sounds good to me. It isn't the largest place in the world, but we usually squeeze in. Those doing the short walk could have a late lunch instead in Wadhurst, which has two pubs and two cafes. It wouldn't be beyond the wit of man to divert to there even on the main and longer walks, come to that.

Wadhurst is also your tea stop. The Wealden Wholefoods Cafe sadly now shuts at 1.30pm, while the nearby Piccolo Cafe gives up the ghost at 4pm. So one of the two pubs - the Greyhound or White Hart - is your likely venue. Those of us going to the bonfire traditionally assemble in the former, but the latter can't be ruled out: it depends which has room for us.

After tea you have a choice of 1.4 mile walk down the main road (with a pavement all the way) to Wadhurst station, or the much nicer 2 mile walk down the back roads. I always say allow 40 minutes for the main road and an hour for the back roads, but then people post comments saying how they did it quicker. I suppose the worst that can happen is that you just miss a train and have to wait half an hour on a bare platform for the next one.

Trains back from Wadhurst are at 00 and 29 past until 21.29, and then 22.29

** Après-feu: the fireworks are usually over by 8pm. It is then is a tradition of some of us to walk the back roads in the dark - very atmospheric. When I say "dark" here, I mean DARK. There is no moon to help us this year, and the use of torches is discouraged because it spoils your night vision. This might sound nuts but it is actually an enchanting experience and the perfect introduction to winter. If you are not comfortable with this, you can walk down the main road, as outlined above: there is pavement all the way and a lot of it is lit. The back roaders will probably be aiming for the 21.29 train.

Saturday Walk - Harpenden to St Albans (plus Fireworks?)

Harpenden to St Albans (plus Fireworks?) T=swc.351

Length: 10.9 miles, 17.6 km 

3 out of 10

"There is attractive common land, a forest with countryside views, a country estate, and finally a pleasant approach to St Albans which takes you through the old town past sites of historical interest. The morning highlight is the brand-new forest called Heartwood. It will be interesting to see how this part of the walk changes as the forest grows and develops. The afternoon takes you through the pretty Childwickbury country estate, with views also out to another estate, Gorehambury. 

The route through Verulamium Park, might have minor diversions because of the fireworks - see below.

Trains: Get the 0935 Bedford train from London Bridge (St Pancras 0950) arriving Harpenden 1017. This is a Thames link train from Gatwick, so has many options for where you can catch it. Return is from St Albans City with frequent trains. There is a St Albans Abbey station, but that is a different train line into Euston & needs a separate ticket.

Buy a Harpenden return

Lunch: is in Sandridge, with three pubs (The Queens Head has been the choice of previous walkers), a tea room and a churchyard for picnics. 

Tea: The Cathedral Cafeteria or The Fighting Cocks pub amongst others.

Fireworks: The St Albans charity display is in Verulamium Park from 6pm with the display at 7.30pm. Tickets at £10, are only from the Cathedral Box Office (closes at 6pm) and only physical tickets are available. Apparently large bags may be searched. My memory of the park layout is not good enough to know if there are possible vantage points outside of the enclosed area.

Saturday Walk - Autumnal Walk with two magnificent lunch pubs to choose from: Haslemere to Midhurst via Lurgashall or Lickfold

Length: 21.8 km (13.4 mi) or 20.9 km (13.0 mi)

Ascent/Descent: 469/587m; 

Net Walking Time: 5 ¼ hours

Toughness: 6/10 

 

Take the 09.00 Portsmouth Harbour train from Waterloo (09.25 Woking), arrives Haslemere 09.53. 

From Clapham J take the 08.57 Frome train and change at Woking (09.15/09.25). 08.52 Portsmouth & Southsea train, arrives 09.50.

Return to Haslemere Station from Midhurst by bus number 70 (roughly hourly, 26 mins journey, £5.00-ish fare, relevant buses: 16.05/17.05/18.10/19.15) or by taxi.  

Return trains from Haslemere are on xx.02, xx.14, xx.30, journey time from 50 mins.

 

The route leads from Haslemere station through the town’s centre and along the waymarked Serpent Trail through a small Nature Reserve to rise steeply out of town and back down through Camelsdale to then rise with the Sussex Border Path through pastures and pine and heather covered slopes up to the Black Down. Following the crest through open heathland, with far views across West Sussex and out to Hampshire, you reach the Temple Of The Winds viewpoint, with further panoramic views over the Rother Valley to the South Downs escarpment and easterly across to the West Weald. 

A long descent through the sloping open grounds of Blackdown House and through bluebell-carpeted woods leads to either the classic Sussex village of Lurgashall, with its pub and church at the corner of a picturesque village green and cricket pitch, or to the hamlet of Lickfold with its super-duper Inn. 

The afternoon takes you through a mix of flat farmland and wooded hills to the Cowdray Estate, with its golf course-with-views as well as several polo fields, to the romantic ruins of Cowdray House, as captured by JMW Turner. Climbing from the River Rother’s banks, Midhurst's Norman castle ruins are passed en-route to the old market town's attractive centre with its many tea options. 

 

Lunch: The Noah's Ark in Lurgashall (10.3 km/6.4 mi, food to 14.30, booking recommended), The Lickfold Inn in Lickfold (11.0 km/6.8 mi, a la carte food to 14.30, bar food all day, booking essential!). 

 

Tea: lots of choice en-route to and in Midhurst (see the pdf for details), recommended are The Halfway Hut (3 km from the end), Cowdray Farm Shop & Cafe (2 km from the end, open to 17.00), Garton’s Coffee House, The Wheatsheaf, The Angel Inn, The Olive & Vine or Fitzcane’s. 

 

For summary, map, height profile, some photos, walk directions and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.48