The Capital Ring Walk consists of fifteen segments that completely encircle London. The total distance is about 125 km, with each segment consisting of from 7 or 8 km to 15 km or so, easily manageable in two or three hours. The start and finish of the segments coincide with Underground or rail stations. Maps and guides for each segment are available here.

We will organise this as a group, walking every two or three Sundays, weather permitting, with an 11 AM start, and either conclude with a lunch somewhere at the end of the walk, or stop along the way. Perhaps in the warmer months we can plan on a picnic.

We will not walk in the rain, or if there is a strong likelihood of rain or similar foul weather.

Participants are encouraged to make comments and post photographs. If a walk is to be postponed because of bad weather, this will be announced on the blog a few hours before the start.

08 September 2013

Greenford to South Kenton

The entrance to the wetlands.
Bridge over the Grand Canal.
For the first time on our walks around London, we got rained out. We only finished half the walk. We’ll pick up where we left off on the next – and final – segment of the Capital Ring.
It looked like a beautiful early autumn day, without a cloud in the sky, when we started this morning. There was quite a shlep to Greenford Station because of Sunday closures of some of the underground lines.

Canal boats.




From Greenford Station the route enters the Paradise Fields Wetlands and for more than a kilometer we walked along the towpath of the Grand Union Canal. Then we entered the Horsenden Hill Visitor Centre which is a cluster of old farm buildings.
The path climbs Horsenden Hill, where there are quite spectacular views of much of north and west London. The guide to the Capital Ring describes it as follows:

Horsenden Hill at around 275 feet (84m) provides one of the finest natural viewpoints in London and is a popular kite-flying spot. On a clear day, looking west, you can see the Chiltern Hills, while to the north lies Harrow-on-the-Hill with the spire of St. Mary’s Church. During World War I, the summit came to the fore with the siteing of an anti-aircraft gun pulled by a horse – a defence against German airships. 2,500 years ago, Iron Age people settled on Horsenden Hill leaving behind large amounts of pottery. The Iron Age settlement is now a Scheduled Ancient monument.
A major change in the area occurred in the 1800s with the opening of the Paddington arm of the Grand Junction Canal. This enabled hay, the area’s main product, to be shipped into London in great bulk and in return London sent Horsenden ‘Mack’ – an unpleasant mix of street sweepings, fish and meat offal and horse droppings – to be used as manure for the fields.
Going down the hill just before the rain began.
When we got down the hill, there was some sprinkling and soon a real shower. We made it to a bus shelter but we are already fairly wet and decided to return home. We finished at Sudbury Town underground station. It seems there is about 4-5 km remaining on the segment, which we’ll add to the 9 km for the final part of the Ring when we resume in a few weeks.

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