London Loop Walk: Section 2 - Old Bexley to Jubilee Park

Off message but photos are from the 2nd London Loop Walk last Sunday. This was just under 8 miles and much more attractive than the first. The riverside walk along the River Cray was very muddy but it was fun watching daft dogs jumping into the freezing cold water to chase balls or ducks.

I used the guidebook "The London Loop" by David Sharp/Colin Saunders (2012) which is much better than the rather useless directions on the Transport for London website.  London Mayor, Boris Johnson, has withdrawn funding for the walk I believe.

We had lunch at Georgian Country home, Sidcup Place, which is now run as a restaurant by Brewers Faye. Hot burgers and chips, tasty because of the cold but nothing much to write home about. It was interesting to look inside Sidcup Place and imagine what it looked like in the past (bottom right).

The last part of the walk was the best. Scadbury Park and Petts Wood was beautiful and peaceful. Only 13 more walks and about 134 miles to go.

London Loop Walk: Section 1 - Erith to Bexley

Off message but today Ms Grayee and I started on a long distance walk around London. The "London Outer Orbital Path" (better known as London Loop) is a 240 Km (150 mile) mostly sign posted route around outer London. It is divided into 24 linear sections which vary between 6.1 and 16.8 km accessible by public transport within London (tfl) Zone 6.

We are going to try and complete all the sections within the next year. The first section was 8.5 miles long from Erith to Bexley.  It took about an hour from Forest Gate (East London) to get there. This part of the walk involved walking along the River Thames which was the best bit by far. The water, salt marshes, the light and "big skies" was marvellous. But this is also in an industrialised part of London with more than its fair share of road noise, litter, scrap yards and rubbish tips.

We met up in Crayford with a group of young people who were nearly finishing the loop after 2 years of weekend walking and they said this was by far the worse section, which they had left till last. They were a cheerful bunch who admitted that they had already enjoyed the hospitality of a number of pubs on route and were looking forward to their next pit-stop. My type of people!

We agreed that the instructions on the official "Transport for London" route here are pretty rubbish (shame on you Boris).  So tonight I have ordered "Capital Ring' by Colin Saunders and "The London Loop" (Recreational Path Guides) by David Sharp. The youngsters were the only obvious ramblers we saw all day. 

We started about 11.15 and finished at 3pm. It took a while to get back to Forest Gate but had Sunday newspapers to read. 

I am looking forward to the next section which is Old Bexley village to Petts Woods and only 7 miles long.  I will make further posts and even create a London Loop Facebook page. I will be busy, busy in the run up to the general election in May but will hopefully be able to snatch a few days to retreat to my hinterland. 

Update: London Loop 2015 FaceBook page