March 11: The Capital Ring (2)

I continued the Capital Ring anti-clockwise from Eltham Palace, where I had stopped the other week. The walk led through a succession of pleasant, though largely featureless parks and green spaces, and this area was not built up until the interwar period.

Early highlights included Beckenham Place Palace, now overlooking a municipal golf course, and a forbidding pre-1965 sign warning cyclists and tricyclists they could face a £5 fine for using the footpath.

Crystal Palace Park was the jewel of this part of the walk. The north end is particular fascinating, with the public architecture reminiscent of an English mini-Nuremberg. The whole complex now lies in sad decay.


Today: 12 miles
2006 total: 91 miles

Feb 24: Pen y Bannau and Pen Dinas hillforts

My final walk with Brenda Lees was to Pen y Bannau hillfort for the last morning. Naturally, some snow had fallen to make things more pleasant, and a howling wind added further interest.


Pen y Bannau is not a particularly steep climb, but it was tough going on the slippery snow. I also discovered that the summit was the only place in the area from where I could use a mobile. In any case, by the time we reached the summit the wind was too strong to ponder such matters for long. At least we enjoyed great views of the surrounding hills.



We parted in the afternoon, by which time the weather had changed completely. I had time to climb Pen Dinas, the hillfort south of Aberystwyth. The hill is now dominated by the monument to the Duke of Wellington, erected in 1852. There are superb views to the south from the hill.

From Pen Dinas it is clear the Aberystwyth is a strange name for a town that doesn't lie on the river Ystwyth. It lies on the Rheidol, while the Ystwyth flows harmlessly into the sea south of the town.

Today: 6 miles
2006 total: 79 miles

Feb 22: Strata Florida and Tregaron

I was staying with Brenda Lees in the small village of Pontrhydfendigaid, not too far from the famous ruins of Strata Florida Abbey. This was a typical Cistercian foundation, out of the way and a hive of economic activity. It is famous for its impressive gateway.

Besides the gateway, the abbey complex has many other points of interest, especially the mosaics and the graves of local princes. There is also a monument to the Medieval Welsh poet Dafydd ap Gwilym.

In the afternoon we went to Tregaron, home to the Red Kite Centre, and also home to one of the steepest churchyards I had ever seen. We then took a long unplanned (i.e. we missed the last bus back) walk home past Tregaron Bog, covering the last mile in pitch darkness.

Today: 9 miles
2006 total: 73 miles

Feb 21: Aberystwyth

I thought a week in West Wales would do me some good. Although I am Welsh, I had never been to this part of the country before, and accepted the invitation to stay with Brenda Lees.

Aberystwyth is a charming town on the coast, bounded to the north by Constitution Hill and to the south by the Pen Dinas hillfort. Constitution Hill, named after the Victorian habit of taking 'constitutional' walks, offers fine views of the town and the bay.

Other highlights include the extensive castle ruins, the nineteenth-century University of Wales buildings and the attractive rock formations in the bay.

Today: 6 miles
2006 total: 64 miles

Feb 12: The Capital Ring (1)

Managed to get out early, just in time to catch the start of the rain… A brisk walk down to Barking and a short bus ride past the industrial and trading estates to Beckton, then through the Beckton Corridor to the beginning of Stage 15 of the Capital Ring. This walk links open spaces in Inner London.

Stage 15 leads through New Beckton Park and past the Royal Docks to the Thames at Woolwich, and ends at the northern entrance of the Woolwich Foot Tunnel. I know the area well from my work on the brilliant Port Cities website www.portcities.org.uk but there was already much new building since my last visit in 2004.

The splendid Gallions Hotel, built in the 1880s to accommodate long-distance travellers using the ocean liners in the Royal Albert Dock, is now being dwarfed by insipid new building. Surely enough, the new development did not advertise the fact that this is one of the windiest and bleakest spots in London.

The swing bridge over the entrance to the King George V Dock is the ideal place to appreciate the vastness of this body of water. The Port Cities site contains fascinating photographs taken from this spot, showing the docks full of ocean-going liners. The dock now lies empty. To the left lies the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery, the largest industrial plant left in the area, while straight ahead are the buildings of the Canary Wharf complex. To the right is the runway of the City Airport.

On to the Thames, and a new of the new developments on the site of the Woolwich Arsenal complex. A Port of London Authority Marine Services barge provides a reminder of the days when London was the biggest port in the world.

Stage 1 of the Capital Ring begins at the Woolwich Foot Tunnel, and gives another chance to use this fine example of Edwardian engineering. At one time, the tunnel would have been used by tens of thousands of workers at Woolwich Arsenal, the Royal Docks and the many industrial plants of Silvertown and North Woolwich, but few people use it today.

South of Woolwich, the Capital Ring changes in nature and becomes a trail linking London’s many parks and open spaces. These included formal parks such as the Maryon Wilson Park in Charlton, and playing grounds full of rugby teams in muddy shirts. At times, it was easy to forget that I was in the middle of a major metropolis. The first big surprise was Severndroog Castle, a triangular folly erected in 1784 to commemorate Sir William James of the East India Company. This fine building is now under threat – it seems incredible, but there was even a recent proposal to convert it into offices – and really deserves protection.

The rain got stronger as I limped towards Eltham, where I was delighted to find what appears to be a ruined ice-house. I got to Eltham Palace a few minutes before it was due to close. By this time the rain got too much and my feet had had too much, so I decided to call it a day. This was my longest single walk of the year, and included over 12 miles of the Capital Ring, which is a surprisingly attractive and varied trail.

Today: 16 miles
2006 total: 58 miles

Jan 29: To the end of the Roding

Today I finally got to walk the Roding from Ilford to the Thames. I set off down through South Ilford, retracing part of my route from New Year’s Day. The Roding remained resolutely reclusive until south of the District Line, halfway to Barking.

There is little to be seen until just north of Barking, where a reed-filled stretch forms part of the Hertford Road flood defences. The most attractive part is the Mill Pond in Barking, where a surviving warehouse is a reminder that the Roding was once a working river.

South of Barking the Roding is still a working river, and wharves and warehouses hide it from view. Only in the final stretch, as it flows into the Thames, does it become visible again. Here it is dominated by the handsome structure of the Barking Flood Barrier. Less well known than its Thames counterpart, it is vital for the safety of this part of east London.

Today: 7 miles
2006 total: 42 miles

Jan 10: Luscious Leyton and Leytonstone...

More democracy in action - visiting 2700 addresses on behalf of the charming people at Electoral Services. This time I was delivering informational material to a second district in Leyton, so I expected a bumper total. I clocked up 31 miles over a long weekend – and because of the heavy bag I carried, it felt like a very long weekend...

The highlight of my Leyton round was the parish church of St Mary, with many interesting features and a superbly overgrown churchyard. For cricket fans, Leyton was the home of Essex CCC for many years, and the splendid pavilion from the 1880s still survives. It was here in 1932 that Essex endured its darkest hour, as the Yorkshire openers Holmes and Sutcliffe mauled the local bowlers to put on 555 for the first wicket.

Total: 31 miles
2006 total: 35 miles