18.00
miles
And so to the final sections of the Capital
Ring, the round-London walk we started back in the autumn of 2016. Initially,
we’d intended this to be a winter project, but the loss of my father in the
early part of this year meant these final few miles had been necessarily put on
hold.
However, the opportunity to complete the walk presented itself when we booked tickets to see Tears For Fears at the Royal Albert Hall and decided to book an extra night’s accommodation and “make a weekend” of it.
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| On King John's Walk |
So, bright and early despite the late night the night before, we transferred out to Falconwood to pick up where we left off before, where our initial move was to tackle the loop through Shepherdleas Wood that we couldn’t complete last time due to rapidly-fading light.
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Coffee break, with a distant view of
The Shard |
That done, we picked up Section 2 of the Capital Ring, passing through Eltham Park and Avery Hill Park (where we were navigationally challenged for a few minutes) and beside Eltham College on the way towards Grove Park. It was good to be out and about again, and once again we seemed to have struck luck with the weather.
After the parkland and residential streets of Section 2, the next section followed a similar pattern of park areas connected by suburban streets. All of this area was new to us, and despite offering little in the way of challenge, the walking was pleasant enough.
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| Dinosaurs in Crystal Palace Park |
We stopped for a quick lunch break at the café in
Beckenham Place Park, then continued on through Penge to reach Crystal Palace
Park. All I really know about Crystal Palace is that it used to be the location
of the cast-iron-and-glass structure of the same name that was destroyed by
fire in 1936, and is currently home to a bunch of large, lumbering creatures
whose best years are well behind them. No, not the players of the under-performing
football team of the same name, but dinosaurs!
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| Upper Norwood Recreation Ground |
Originally, we’d only planned to walk as far as
Norwood today, but with the weather good and time on our side we decided we
could make a couple more miles so pushed on to Streatham.
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| Norwood Grove |
Crossing the Common,
we eyed up the buses on the High Road. We had set our sights on eating in
Brixton, which was just a few minutes away with transport. Well, you can’t come
to one of the country’s premier international food centres and not give it a
go, can you?
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| Fading light over Streatham |
If you’re a bit of a foodie and you’ve never
been to Brixton Village, I recommend you give it a try sometime. The Souk-like
interior harbours all manner of curious foodstuffs and enticing ingredients, the
narrow alleys reveal something of interest at every turn, and the exotic
ambience definitely has a touch of “abroad” about it. We chose a selection of
terrine and charcuterie from Corsica – delicious!
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| Charcuterie! |
Day 2: Streatham Common to Richmond
Bridge
14.00 miles
Next day, we made our way back the Streatham on
a cool but bright morning. The stage between Streatham and Wimbledon Park
crosses Tooting Bec and Wandsworth Common, but is primarily walking on
residential streets.
So, although the going is easy enough, there is
perhaps a little less to enthuse the walker than on some other sections. Still,
there were plenty of leaves to kick through on this autumn morning, which
helped pass the time and eat up the miles.
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| Wandsworth Common |
Having passed HMP Brixton on the bus, it was
now time to walk past Wandsworth Prison, situated incongruously between the
green of the Common, the well-to-do houses and Wandsworth Cemetery.
We stopped for coffee in Wimbledon Park, in a café
just down from the station. On the morning of the fall-out from Catalonia’s unilateral
declaration of Independence from Spain, we found ourselves at a Spanish bar.
The papers were full of the story: needless to say, politics was off the
conversation agenda.
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| Wimbledon Park |
The final section took us through Wimbledon
Park, across Wimbledon Common and via Richmond Park to reach Richmond Bridge.
We had covered some of this section before with our friends Celia and Nick,
back when we were just scoping the route. The Common was much quieter than last
time, when we got caught up with the Wimbledon Half Marathon.
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| Pen Ponds |
Richmond Park was looking splendid in the
afternoon sunshine. After taking a break on one of the park benches, we
followed the route between Pen Ponds and on to Pemboke Lodge where we picked up
a late lunch. It was busy, and although it was nice to retrace our steps from
last year, see the protected view of St Paul’s Cathedral from Harry’s Mound and
enjoy the wide view of Twickenham, Windsor Castle and the Thames as we
descended towards Petersham Meadow, it was marred somewhat by dawdlers and
path-hogs.
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| Heading for Pembroke Lodge |
We had a final sit beside The Thames,
reflecting on the weekend and the walk in full. And overall, we were very satisfied
with both. The big advantage of a walk like the Capital Ring is that it is a
good choice for the winter months, when the generally easy going and relatively
mud-free walking really come into their own.
OK, so it had taken a bit longer than initially
planned, but that couldn’t be helped. Having completed both, I think we are of
the opinion that we’d tackle the Capital Ring and the London LOOP again
sometime – perhaps even as soon as next winter.
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| Descending towards Petersham Meadows |
Whatever the future brings, we are very glad to
have completed these routes – routes that have had the ability to surprise us
in many different ways. We’ve seen a lot more of London than we ever had
before, grown to appreciate the history, geography, culture and diversity of
our capital, and in the process got to know it’s character a whole lot better.
And do you know what? We’re all the better for
it too.
