Alan and Tim at the start of the London Loop
Alan at the start of the London Loop
Tim at the start of the London Loop
Deep water wharf on the Thames at Erith
Having lolled around far too much over Christmas, we decided it was time to break the New Year in with the first installment of our next long-distance walk. This time, we are following the London Loop, as a sequel to the Capital Ring, which we finished last year. The Capital Ring is 78 miles long; the London Loop is twice the length, at 140 miles or 224 km.
We took the train from London Bridge to Erith – not somewhere either of us had been to. We then followed the walk along the River Thames, briefly, until buildings intervene and you are forced onto a very dreary stretch of road-walking. Untidy terraces of houses give way to scrapyards and ‘waste management’ facilities. A track took us back to the River and a stretch by the Erith Saltings before turning South, along the estuary of the Darenth. After a mile, the Cray River branched off, and we followed that for almost all of the rest of the walk. As with the Capital Ring, short stretches of road walking were rewarded by much longer stretches on footpaths over parkland or rough terrain; along riverbanks or on narrow passages running between buildings or fences. Most of the time, we were in green space.
It was cold but fortunately we had picked a sunny day, and there was a little warmth in the sun. We covered the first official section from Erith to Old Bexley, and decided to carry on. The walk had been pretty much on the flat until now, but in the last couple of miles, we climbed out of the Cray valley up towards Sidcup, and ended our walk by Queen Mary’s Hospital, catching a bus to Sidcup and from there the train back to London Bridge. All in all, a promising start both to the walk and to 2010, this being New Year’s day.
By the Thames at Erith Saltings with the QEII Dartford Crossing bridge in the distance
Willow by the River Cray at Foots Cray
The parish church in Old Bexley, on the London Loop
Five Arch Bridge over the River Cray at Foots Cray, Bexley
