The Rough Guide to Walks in London & Southeast England

316 Pages·11.57 MB·English

by  Smith Helena.

The Rough Guide to
Walks in London &
Southeast England
written and researched by
Helena Smith
with additional contributions by
Judith Bamber
NEW YORK • LONDON • DELHI
www.roughguides.com
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Contents
Introduction ..........................4 6 The North Wessex Downs
to the New Forest ......183
1 London.............................13 The Ridgeway .......................185
Regent’s Canal ........................15 The North Wessex Downs .....195
The Parkland Walk .................20 Stonehenge ...........................199
Hampstead Heath ..................25 The New Forest .....................206
The Thames Towpath .............31
Richmond Park .......................37 7 The Thames Valley ......211
The Grand Union Canal ..........42 Windsor Great Park ...............213
Downe and around ..................46 The Thames Towpath and the
Limehouse Basin ....................51 Chiltern Way .......................219
Walthamstow Marshes ...........56 Roman Silchester ..................224
Epping Forest .........................63
8 The Chilterns and
2 The North Downs ..........69 Blenheim .......................229
Box Hill ..................................71 The Misbourne Valley ............231
Guildford to Compton .............76 The Northern Chilterns ..........236
Gomshall and the North Ivinghoe Beacon ...................243
Downs .................................82 Around Blenheim Palace .......250
The Pilgrims’ Way ...................86
9 St Albans to
3 The Weald .......................99 Bedfordshire ................257
The Eden Valley .....................101 The Lea Valley Way ...............259
The Greensand Way ..............107 St Albans and around............265
The High Weald Walk ...........112 Woburn Estate ......................273
Bayham Abbey ......................119
G Essex, Cambridge and
4 The South Downs ........127 the Fens ........................279
Along the Arun ......................129 Along the River Stort .............281
Cissbury Ring ........................135 Uttlesford ..............................286
Mount Caburn and the South Along the Cam ......................292
Downs ................................141 The Fens ...............................298
The South Downs Way ..........147
Index ...................................305
5 The Saxon Shore .........159
The Saxon Shore Way ...........161
The 1066 Country Walk .........168
Chichester Harbour ...............178
ff KENT COUNTRYSIDE f THREE WALKERS ON A GATE IN SUSSEX
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Introduction to
Walks in
London &
Southeast England
Few cities can rival London’s distinctive mix
of the urban and the pastoral. Despite being
the largest city in Western Europe, home to
a staggering 7.5 million people, the capital
preserves surprisingly extensive stretches of
green space.
In fact, over a third of it is made
up of greenery, not only in
the famous parks and gardens,
but also in less obvious places
– canalside paths, disused rail-
way tracks and reclaimed in-
dustrial land – as well as along
the banks of the Thames as it
winds through the city. These hidden footpaths are thoroughly
enjoyable in themselves, and also offer a fascinating insight into
the social, architectural and industrial history that went into the
making of one of the world’s most vibrant cities.
Despite the sprawl of suburbs that girdles the city, many parts of
southeast England remain almost miraculously unspoilt. Fast train
services make it very easy to reach open countryside from just about
anywhere in London – indeed, it’s surprising just how far from the
capital you can get in a single day and still have time for a rewarding
walk and a great pub lunch.
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introduction 
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To the south and west of the capital there’s sweeping down-
land: the lush North Downs and the barer and more open North
Wessex and South Downs. You’ll find spectacular stretches of
coast – from the towering sandstone cliffs at Hastings to the
wavy chalk formations further west – as well as areas of dense
ancient woodland, which are at their most extensive in the New
Forest. The Thames cuts a green swathe west of the capital, link-
ing a chain of attractive towns and villages, while to the north
are the pristine wooded hills of the Chilterns and the limitless
flatlands of the Fens around Ely. The striking variety of land-
scapes around the city is part of the attraction – from the prettily
manicured landscapes of the Kent Weald to the hauntingly bleak
chalk uplands of the Wessex Downs.
As with London itself, the southeast has always been a densely in-
habited area, and the impact of human activity on the land, while
more diffuse, is no less profound, visible in Iron Age forts, medieval
field terraces and grand country-house estates. All the landscapes de-
scribed in this guide, even the bogs of the New Forest and the wind-
swept crests of the South Downs, bear the marks of cultivation: a vast
testament to the people who cleared, drained, shaped and even – in
the case of the prehistoric chalk figures that dot the region – drew
upon the land for millennia.
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 introduction
How to use this book
T
g he walks in this book
SILC have been designed
HE to be accessible from
STER the capital as day-trips
using public transport;
we’ve also included some
two-day weekend walks
(although these can also
be broken down and done
as separate day-trips). Each
walk includes a map, route
details, background his-
torical information and a
recommended lunch stop,
often in one of the fine old
pubs that dot the region.
The walks are geared to
public transport, either
starting from one train sta-
tion and finishing at an-
other, or circling back to the
station where you started. At the beginning of each account we’ve
given details of the relevant train services; we haven’t recommended
specific trains, partly because timetables are subject to change, and also
to avoid being prescriptive. Most walks outside London are within an
hour’s train journey of the city, although we’ve stretched this crite-
rion where we think a really great walk justifies a longer journey. For
all but the very longest routes, starting your train journey at around
10am will ensure that you can get to the specified pub for lunch and
do the walk in good time.
There’s at least one circular walk in each chapter, convenient if
you’re driving, although virtually all the non-circular walks can also
be done by drivers, who need only make a short train trip back to the
beginning of the walk to pick up their cars.
For information on train times, journey durations and costs call
t08457/484950 or see Wwww.nationalrail.co.uk. For travel in the
capital, go to Wwww.tfl.gov.uk.
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introduction 
Five of the best: buildings
Blenheim Palace Vanbrugh’s magisterial monument to the victory of
the Duke of Marlborough over the French – part stately home, part
mausoleum. See p.254
Ely Cathedral The “ship of the Fens”, whose mighty bulk is adorned
with delicate stone tracery, dominates the surrounding country from
its clay island. See p.302
Hampton Court One of the most spectacular sights along the
Thames, this Tudor masterpiece was home to Henry VIII and Oliver
Cromwell, amongst others. See p.35
Ightham Mote Half-timbered, moated and packed with fascinating
artefacts: the quintessential English manor house. See p.109
Watts Chapel A Byzantine-style chapel in the Surrey countryside,
whose interior features a lyrical and lovely decorative scheme.
See p.79
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 introduction
Five of the best: pubs
The Garden Gate A cheerful,
buzzy place with a big garden,
on the edge of Hampstead
Heath. Generous portions of
food and farm cider on tap.
See p.30
The Harrow Inn An arche-
typal Kentish village pub,
which serves award-winning
grub. See p.109
The Ram Spectacularly located at the foot of the South Downs, with
good lunches, local ales and a ghost upstairs. See p.144
The Stag & Huntsman A cheery and busy place, located in the attrac-
tive brick and flint village of Hambleden in the Chilterns. See p.222
The Swan Tasty organic food is the draw at the seventeenth-century
Swan, on the edge of the North Wessex Downs. See p.197
Ticket prices can be surprisingly high, even for shortish journeys,
so it’s worth investigating the range of discount railcards on offer,
which give discounts of up to a third. Young persons (aged 16–25;
Wwww.16-25railcard.co.uk) and senior (60 years and over; Wwww
.senior-railcard.co.uk) railcards are accepted on all train lines; both
cost £24 per year. Network Railcards (Wwww.railcard.co.uk; £20
per year) give the holder and three other adults savings of a third
on off-peak journeys. Other types of travelcard, from one-day two-
zone cards to annual all-zone ones, should get you some discount on
the price of your train ticket – it’s always worth asking about this,
as you’re unlikely to be told. It’s best to buy your train ticket be-
fore getting on board;
on many lines, you
aren’t permitted to
buy a cheap-day return
from the conductor and
you can get stung for a
ticket that costs almost
twice as much.
In the interest of
making every walk a
great day out, we’ve
recommended the
very best pubs and
cafés along the way.
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