Sudbury Hill to Hendon Central

Hendon Central. The End.

We did it! We finished the 15 segments of the Capital Ring yesterday, on a blustery, chilly autumn day. Besides Nadia Bernaz and Penelope Soteriou, who have done the whole route, we were joined by Oscar Sotiriou (visiting us from Murcia, in Spain) and Joseph Mugalula (a new doctoral student at Middlesex University). It was the longest walk – about 17 km – because we had only managed to do half of the previous segment.

Entering Harrow on the Hill

Playing fields of Harrow

Harrow School

South Kenton Station

Stile at Harrow

Starting out in Sudbury Hill

Starting from in west London we walked for about  1km to Harrow-on-the-Hill, the lovely town that houses the famous Harrow School, which is apparently – in the 21st century – still boys only. Harrow School was established in 1572 by John Lyons, a local farmer and landowner. Its distinguished former students include Winston Churchill, Pandit Nehru, Lord Byron, Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Anthony Trollope. Lord Byron was at Harrow School as a boy and his little daughter Allegra (by Clair Clairmont) is buried in an unmarked grave outside St Mary’s Church, very near to the south porch; a plaque commemorates the place.

Swan in the Reservoir

After passing through the town on the hill, with the very attractive school buildings, we walked down Football Lane to the school’s enormous playing fields. Then the path goes through a wood and between the Northwick Park Hospital and a golf course, ending at South Kenton Underground Station. This is the end of segment 9 of the Capital Ring. We stopped there at the Windermere pub for a break. It is apparently listed in the National Inventory of the Campaign for Real Ale, because of its typical 1930s decor. I wouldn’t suggest anybody go out of their way to find it unless you are really an enthusiast for 1930s pub décor.

Panorama from Barn Hill

Barn HIll with 'trig point' and Wembley Stadium in the distance

From there the route winds through a pleasant residential neighbourhood and into the Fryent Country Park. At the top of Barn Hill (86m) there is a great view of London. There is also a ‘trig’ point, originally used in mapping the land. A few km further on is another very scenic hill known as Gotfords Hill. The route proceeds through Church Lane where there is the very pretty St Andrews Church with an old and rather abandoned graveyard.

St Andrews Church

Welsh Harp Reservoir

Then it proceeds to the Welsh Harp Reservoir. I’d seen it before, but only at a great distance, from the North Circular Road. The Capital Ring takes you on the north side of the reservoir, where there is plenty of wildlife and a sailing club.

At the end of the reservoir, it is a short walk through West Hendon and on to Hendon Central Underground Station, where we started this 125km circuit of London in February 2012.

Almost at Hendon

The fifteen Sundays we have spent walking around London have introduced us to parts of the city that we might never have seen. Much of it was in parkland. It is quite stunning how many green spaces are to be found in London. Although it is very well waymarked, and there are great explanatory guides to the segments of the Capital Ring on the internet, we only rarely met other people who were doing the walk.

Now we will start exploring the English countryside around London. But that’s for another blog. With this, I sign out.