Chilterns Weekend Walkers have completed a year-long trek round the Capital Ring, London’s 78-mile orbital footpath.
The 11 sections took our walkers to parts of the metropolis many had never explored, serving up new discoveries, contrasts between old and new, and landscapes ranging from suburban to remarkably rural.
The project was masterminded by Jon Hilton, whose forte for devising themed series of walks has enriched CWW’s programme over the years. He said: “Staying within 10 miles of Big Ben, the Capital Ring passes through surprisingly green spaces for an urban area and lesser known areas which still have plenty of sights and places of interest. It’s relatively close to the Chilterns and there are many stations, giving plenty of options for walk planning.”
The orbital adventure would also throw up some weighty public transport challenges as we criss-crossed the capital by tube, train and bus in the face of cancellations, signal failures and weekend engineering works.
Harrow to Hendon
On a brilliantly sunny March morning our party of 21 set out from Harrow-on-the-Hill in high spirits. It was the biggest turnout of all the walks, but anyone hoping to escape the Chilterns mud was in for a rude shock. The suburban swamps of Barn Hill and Fryent Country Park were up there with anything the countryside had to offer.
A garden centre by the Welsh Harp provided our lunch stop, but trying to wash our muddy boots we nearly caused a pollution incident in the reservoir.
Hendon to Finsbury Park
Section 2 from Hendon Central Station started unpromisingly beside the North Circular but became increasingly green and pleasant from Hampstead Garden Suburb to East Finchley where we enjoyed a sunny lunch stop at the Cherry Tree Woods café.
Crossing Highgate Wood and Queen’s Wood, the Ring links up with the Parkland Walk following a former railway line complete with two disused stations where the platforms are being steadily enveloped by brambles. Covering 4km, it’s London’s longest linear nature reserve. The reward for our exertions was a round of ice creams at Finsbury Park.
Finsbury Park to West Ham
A walk by water following the New River, Woodbury Wetlands and later the River Lea through Hackney Wick, finally leading us to the Greenway – a path and cycle track running along an embankment from Stratford to West Ham. Some pungent whiffs in the air gave clues to the embankment’s history as the route of the Northern Outfall Sewer designed by Joseph Bazalgette in 1865. With the final section of the Greenway closed for works, we had to divert through a maze of residential streets to reach West Ham Station.
West Ham to Woolwich
Highlights included a visit to the former Gallions Hotel at Royal Albert Dock. Once known locally as the Captain’s Brothel, the hotel was built in the 1880s to accommodate passengers joining P&O ships. These days it’s a cafe bar with a sideline in ice creams which, of course, had to be sampled.
Lunch on some dockside benches was a planespotter’s delight with close-up views of landings and take offs from London City Airport just over the water. We crossed the Thames on the Woolwich Ferry, undoubtedly London’s best free boat ride. From the ferry it wasn’t immediately clear where to go until we stumbled across the sign marking the Capital Ring’s official starting point, which called for yet another group photo.
Woolwich to Falconwood
Crossing Woolwich Common and Eltham Common, we puffed our way up to the high point of the section – Severndroog Castle, an 18th century tower with a rooftop platform offering sweeping views from Central London to the Thames Estuary.
Historic Oxleas Wood provided more greenery on the way to our finishing point at Falconwood where we enjoyed drinks at a bar conveniently located next to the station.
Falconwood to Ravensbourne
As we ventured ever deeper into South East London, our journeys to distant stretches of the Capital Ring were becoming as much of an adventure as the walks themselves. Early morning problems on the Metropolitan line meant a missed train connection at Victoria, with walkers finally reaching Falconwood on a bus from Woolwich.
The walk took us past Eltham Palace and its early 16th century conduit head, an underground reservoir where stream water was purified and sent down a mile-long pipe to supply Henry VII and his courtiers.
The eight-mile section ended with well-deserved ice creams at the Homestead Café in Beckenham Place Park.
Ravensbourne to Streatham Common
After another long journey south, we started with a welcome return to the same café at Beckenham Place Park.
Our lunch stop was at Crystal Palace Park where the famous dinosaurs cut ghostly figures shrouded in white sheets to protect them from winter frosts. The sphinxes on the Upper Terrace invited an exploration of their own.
Streatham Common to Wimbledon Park
Setting out on a bitterly cold January morning, our first landmark was the Streatham Pumping Station, a grand Victorian water works built in 1894.
Other points of interest included Wandsworth Prison and the River Wandle. As this was a relatively short section, there was time to visit Wimbledon’s Lawn Tennis Museum before most of the group stayed overnight at the local Premier Inn, having bagged rooms for £55.
Wimbledon Park to Richmond
This pleasantly green section of the Ring took us across Wimbledon Common passing the windmill and onto Richmond Park with a lunch stop at Pembroke Lodge. On King Henry’s Mound we peered through the telescope which offers a ‘protected’ view of St Paul’s Cathedral.
From Richmond’s newly restored 1930s station we embarked on another long tube and rail journey back north.
Richmond to Hanwell
Following the north bank of the Thames up to Isleworth, past Syon House and on to Brentford, we branched off up the River Brent to our lunch stop at the café in Boston Manor House, a 17th century mansion which has emerged pristine from a £5.7m restoration. The walk ended at Hanwell Station on the Elizabeth line – ideal for those travelling west.
Hanwell to Harrow
For the final section starting from Hanwell Station, the Elizabeth line should have provided the perfect Sunday morning transport solution, but it wasn’t to be. Because of engineering works, no trains were stopping at Hanwell. And it turned out that the rest of the service from Reading to Paddington was suspended because of a trackside fire. The rail chaos unfortunately left one walker stranded in Taplow while others piled onto a 282 bus at Northwood Hills for a lengthy ride to Ealing Hospital where we marched straight past various outpatients departments to the toilets.
At Greenford the Capital Ring passes through the Paradise Fields wetland which has become famous for the reintroduction of beavers. Although none were to be seen, we could easily spot the results of their nocturnal forays, building substantial dams and gnawing through a thick tree trunk.
With the tree seemingly close to collapsing, we hurried on to our lunchtime break at Horsenden Farm, home to a bakery, brewery and orchard run by volunteers – one of whom told us about her team’s work restoring the once derelict site.
After a climb past Harrow School we scaled the heights of Harrow-on-the-Hill, finally reaching the station where the first walk had begun 12 months before. Celebrations at the finishing line were cut short when a distraught walker discovered her credit card was missing, forcing her to hurriedly dig out cash for her tube fare home. Miraculously, the card was later found in her mud-spattered gaiter where it had somehow lodged itself during the walk.
But the festivities weren’t over. A month later, the Capital Ring veterans gathered in Seer Green for a walk and cream tea with certificates printed for everyone who had completed the trek which saw 26 CWW members walk a combined total of over 1,000 miles.
Summing up the adventure, Jon said: “It was a success thanks to the camaraderie, shared sense of challenge (the walking but more particularly the travel), the support for me and the positive feedback.”
Deb Whittaker, who completed all the sections, agreed. “It was an incredible, surprisingly green and cultural walk linking well known landmarks with parts of London I didn’t know existed.”
● Photos by Sara Condy, Anne Moore, Mark Percy, Sue Osbond and Jal Tippell. Fancy tackling the Capital Ring yourself? Have a look at the comprehensive guide by Inner London Ramblers.
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