London November 2015, Part 3: London Day and London Loop Segment 5

Wednesday was devoted to some cultural highlights in central London.  To get to the Wallace Collection from our hotel involved taking a fast train to Victoria Station, a twenty minute ride, then transferring to the Victoria Tube for one stop.  At Green Park we transferred to the Jubilee Line one more stop, to Bond Street.  From here it is a five minute walk to Hertford House, home of the vast and incredibly rich Wallace Collection of art.  Today we were here to see paintings, and they have a lot of them of outstanding quality.

Approaching Hertford House, one of Europe's finest collections of art.  We had not visited in many years.

 Some of the painting galleries, Wallace Collection

One of many richly decorated rooms of the Wallace Collection.

A different room, but just as fine as the last one!

 The newly restored Great Gallery of the Wallace Collection.  Dutch and

Flemish paintings abound, along with French art.

Admission is free, and there is a gift shop and a dining room.  It is a splendid place to spend several hours.  Afterwards, we ate our lunch on a bench in front of the gallery, then wandered around the area (Marylebone) and into a few pubs.

Later we took the Central Line two stations to Holborn, transferring to the Piccadilly Line to Leicester Square.  From here it is a very short walk to Stanfords, a 3-floor travel and map bookstore.  It is just as much fun going here as it is to a gallery.  We browsed a very long time, then sat in the in-store cafe and had coffee and a much-needed sit down.

Sacred Cafe is inside Stanfords.  We sat and enjoyed some very fine coffee.  Michael Palin was appearing at the store in the very near future, promoting a new book.

After leaving the bookstore it is a very short walk to my favourite pub in all of London.  The Harp was soon located, and our usual table awaited!  I had the most amazing perry of my life, while Deb enjoyed an unfiltered country apple juice.  We should have remained here a lot longer, but the rush hour was approaching and we did not wish to get caught up in it.  We walked to nearby Embankment, took a District Line train to Victoria, then a fast train home.  

We dined at The George, our fine local pub.  In addition to a good selection of veg food, they have 18 ales on hand pull!  12 of the ales change almost daily, making it a one-pub on-going beer festival!  It was another early night for us.  Tomorrow was another long segment of the London Loop, along with two evening concerts in Greenwich.  It was going to be our busiest day of the trip!

London Loop Segment 5

We undertook this very long segment over two days, Thursday and Friday.  We caught the bus just up the road from our hotel, riding it for about 25 minutes back to Hamsey Green.  This might be the most scenic of the Loop segments completed so far, though I did not take a lot of photos.  It was a dark and dreary day, and rain caused us to stop for about two hours.

This signboard in Hamsey Green illustrates our walk on part of Segment 5 as far as Coulsdon South.

 The sun broke forth once along today's journey, as we looked back towards the chalk cliffs that we had just descended above Whyteleaf.

A signboard talks about Kenley Airfield, once a busy WW2 fighter aircraft base and now home to only gliders.  The Wattenden Arms, a fabulous country pub near the end of the old runway, is like a museum to the WW2 airmen and their planes.

A lovely thatched roof home near the Wattenden Arms Pub.

 After leaving the pub and crossing several muddy fields, we came across these two telescope domes!  No one was around to talk with.

 Looking back after crossing Happy Valley!  There was no sign of civilization back here--no homes, no wires, no roads.  Welcome to our little bit of secret London.

High atop Farthing Downs, before our descent to Coulsdon South Station. 

Once we reached Coulsdon South Station we travelled by train to Greenwich for two Early Music Concerts.  Our train went to London Bridge Station (during the school rush--we had two chatty, giggly school girls sitting ahead of us for much of the way), where we transferred to a line that took us to Greenwich (see next page).

On Friday we resumed our walk, finishing up Segment 5 of the Loop (now called Segment 6; we are using the old guidebook, and still will).  We walked from Coulsdon South Station to Banstead Station.  Though the first part of the walk, about a mile, was all urban, afterwards it was all green space.

 The first part of today's walk began at Coulsdon South Station, at the very bottom of the above signboard map.

 The Jack and Jill Pub wasn't open yet when we passed by.  We soon entered the woods on the right.  Deb is standing beneath a stately oak tree.

 View from today's Loop walk.  Central London buildings can be glimpsed, now about 15 miles away.

 Lavender fields, which are passed on approach to Oak Park.  Try this website:

www.mayfieldlavender.com

 We stopped for tea and lunch at Oak Park Cafe before finishing up our walking for this trip.  Hopefully next year we can continue the Ring and Loop.

Single track between Banstead and Sutton is crossed along the Loop.  Our goal today was Banstead Station.

Continued....

London Nov. 2015, Part 2--London Loop Segment 4

London Loop Segment 4

Tuesday was our longest walk, at 9 miles.  It began at Hayes Station, deep in the suburbs.  We took the Tramlink service from in front of our hotel.  One of the lines terminates at Elmers End Station.  From here we transferred to National Rail.  We crossed a rail footbridge from within the tram station to get to our platform.

 Another tram arrives at Elmers End Station.  This wonderful service stops at our hotel, and this line terminates here.  Our train to Hayes arrived seconds later.

Today's walk from Hayes Station to Hamsey Green.  We ended at "You are Here."

The Loop crosses 0 degrees latitude near the start of Segment 4, 
marked by this mini-Dalek.

There is about half a mile of linking to do from Hayes before the Loop is resumed.  Though there was some urban walking today, a vast portion of it was across open fields and through deep woods.

 St John the Baptist Church sits high on a hill.

 The Loop soon passes through adjoining woodlands; Spring Park and Three Half Penny Woods.

 Deb tries to find the yellow brick road.

 Just when you think the woods will never end, they do.  What's that up ahead?  Do I see a pub?

     After an hour or more of walking we came to our first pub stop of the day.  The Sandrock was a really nice mix of traditional pub and modern one.  Deb enjoyed a J2O (juice), while I sipped on a glass of Sharps Doom Bar.  We also ordered some spring rolls to share.  This is the kind of cozy pub in which I could spend an entire afternoon.

     After our rather long stop we resumed our walk, soon finding ourselves deep in several more parks and woods.  It is a steep climb to Addington Hills Lookout, but the view that awaits is a splendid one! 

View to central Croydon from our lookout atop Addington Hills.  Our hotel is near the central

dense area of tall buildings, and we could actually see it from here with our binoculars.

 Looking deep towards central London from Addington Hills Lookout.  London now looks like an

American city!

 Sheep, cows, and in this photo, horses; the London Loop has it all!

 London green spaces often include several smaller parcels that combine into one large area.  We entered from the top right (red dot), ate our lunch on a bench in the middle of Foxearth Wood, then continued south and exited at Foxworth Road Entrance.  Our next pub awaited.

     It was raining, cold and miserable as we entered the Julian Huxley Pub, a Wetherspoons.  We got cozy in the back conservatory.  Sir Julian has ties to Selsdon, where we now were.  He helped establish the nearby Selsdon Nature Preserve, and he was a founding member of both UNESCO and the World Wildlife Fund.  It was an honour to toast him with a glass of Adnams Broadside Ale in my hand!  Deb enjoyed espresso.  Our seats gave us views into the lovely back garden, which today was rain-soaked.

     By the time we were ready to depart the rain has turned to a fine mist.  We decided to push on and complete the final one third of the segment, and soon had rejoined the main path.

Another deep, dark woodland awaits. 

The Loop path descends a steep, slippery slope into this beautiful, wide valley.  Way off in the distance we noticed a very large country house overlooking it all.

 A telephoto shot of the house, which turned out to be a hotel and golf resort in Selsdon.  It was a country house many years ago.
 

      Of course after descending into the valley we had to climb out of it on the other side!  Then came some very muddy field crossings before we emerged into a lane which led us eventually to a main road and the end of the segment.  The Good Companions Pub used to stand on a corner here, but no longer exists.  We took a bus a few stops north and came to Warlingham Green.  Once a little independent village it is now part of the London metropolis.  Our travel cards still worked way out here.

      Two pubs awaited our arrival.  The White Lion is a classic old pub, filled with dark wood, low ceilings, tiny snugs, cozy fires, and of course several fine ales on hand pull.  We had a tiny room all to ourselves, down a few stairs.  The room would hold perhaps 5 people, but no more than two were in it today.  We had our own fireplace, but luckily it was not on.  We were plenty warm enough from our walking.

Deb prepares to enter Ye Olde White Lion, Warlingham.

     With our long walk complete we had now finished five segments of the Loop.  One more segment remained for Thursday and Friday (we split it into two because of its length), with ten more needed to complete the circle.  We got a bus from the Green and it took us right to our hotel!  It was a bit of a long ride.  To begin the next segment we would have to catch the same bus and get off where the Good Companions used to stand.

     Tuesday evening was a rest night, a well-deserved one at that.  Tomorrow was our visit to London, and would be a somewhat easier day on our bodies.  We were looking forward to it!

Continued in Part 3....

     

London November 2015: Part 1--Arrival Day; Capital Ring Segment 4

Arrival Day

Our 2nd trip to London in six months was essentially a direct continuation of the April one.  We completed two more segments of the London Loop, and one more of the Capital Ring.  We are nearly halfway through these incredible long distance trails that encircle London.  For the 2nd time we chose to fly Air Canada from Windsor, which is ultra-convenient for us.  We had most of Saturday at home to pack, and we left for our local airport around 3:45 pm, a 25-minute drive.  Security at small airports is a breeze, and relatively stress free.  Our bags were checked through to London, and we boarded our first plane with just small backpacks.

The wait in Toronto is only about an hour before boarding.  The plane was gigantic, and it was full.  Our flight was quiet and smooth, and we slept a few hours, too.  We managed to get our vegan meals.  We were through customs and had our bags in record time, and soon were heading for the Tube.

In London, it is a long way from Heathrow to Croydon.  We had 7-day transport passes for 6 travel zones, beginning today.  Piccadilly Tube Line to Barons Court; switch to District Line to Victoria Station.  Fast train to East Croydon (only 1 stop); short walk to hotel.  We arrived about noon, and they were able to give us a room right away!  Room 1017 gave good views west over some expansive landscape.  We cleaned up a bit, then headed out on our first adventure.  We wanted to stay active, per our jet lag program (infallible; we've used it successfully countless times), and we wanted to use our transport cards some more.

Walking Adventure #1

We caught a train at East Croydon Station, one of London's busier suburban train stations, and one of the main reasons we stay at the Jurys Inn, Croydon.  The area near our hotel is also packed with shopping, cafes, pubs, and has excellent transport connections everywhere, including a tramlink stop directly in front.  The hotel itself is very well managed, and modern and comfortable.  The branch line to Tattenham Corner took us to Chipstead Station, not far from Croydon but well away from the madness of London.  We were dropped off at the quiet suburban station.  Just around the corner was a restaurant, and we were famished.

Tandoori Takeaway was quiet except for us.  We were given royal treatment, and served a number of superb vegetarian dishes.  This is a restaurant worth a return visit--inexpensive and absolutely delicious food, with service above and beyond excellent!

 Looking out the window from our table, Tandoori Takeaway, Chipstead

It was drizzly and gloomy when we emerged, but we felt so wonderful from the food that we didn't care.  Just around the corner was Banstead Wood, a large forest filled with pathways.  Despite the fine English weather, a number of people were out walking on the muddy trails, most with dogs.  Some of the dogs looked as if they might have once been white.  On the other side of the woods we emerged at a farm, and soon found ourselves on a country lane.  Our destination was the next village over, Kingswood, with its train station to take us home, and the promise of a nearby pub.

Distant farmhouse from our lane way.  We are still within the boundary of London!

 Our lane led us down into a lovely valley, passing through the edge of another wood.  This photo reminds me of a painting by Hobbema, a favourite Dutch painter.

The lane led us to another footpath, up out of the valley we had just reached, then up to another lane leading into Kingswood, a second quiet and distant suburb.  We eventually ended up on a paved road, and followed it downhill to the station.  The lovely and welcoming Kingswood Arms was just across the road.  It was pretty lively here on a Sunday afternoon, but we snagged a table and got comfy.  The walk had only been 3 miles, but we'd only slept 2-3 hours so far.  I had a glass of ale (see pub page, at the end of this update).  Later, we caught our train back to East Croydon and went to our hotel and rested for a time on the large, very comfy bed.

Deb is outside of the Kingswood Arms Pub.  Two fires were on, and the place was busy on a Sunday afternoon!

Kingswood Rail Station opened in 1897.  We had train times with us, and knew when to exit the pub to catch our train home.
 

 

Walking Adventure #2: Capital Ring Segment 4

We had left Segment 3 incomplete last April, choosing to stop just before entering Crystal Palace Park.  We returned to Penge West Station next day to begin where we left off, and were soon immersed in one of London's most famous parks.  The Capital Ring, like its bigger sibling The London Loop, attempts to connect as many of London's parks as it can by pathway.  The routes also take in historic houses, and the scenery, whether urban or parkland, is always of interest.

Crystal Palace Park signboard

The park is 200 acres, and once housed one of the man made wonders of the world.  Crystal Palace burned down in 1936, and though the park is still popular, its heyday was when the Palace was open to the public.  The front pediment of the Palace is still in place--it was 1750' long when it was built, and the park is about to undergo some much-needed restoration.  There is a maze and a dinosaur display, original to the park.  We essentially marched round the perimeter to the railway station, where Segment 4 officially begins.

 The central avenue of Crystal Palace Park.

Walking a quiet, forested section of the park.

 A train from London emerges from a tunnel on approach to Crystal Park Station.  Built to handle thousands of visitors to Crystal Palace at a time, the station is still impressive today.

The next part of the Ring passes through a residential section first, then a small but fun commercial district.  The hill climbing is significant, though some really fine views make the effort worthwhile.

Looking east from the summit of Belvedere Road, one of several hills climbed on our walk today.  We are not too far from the station here.

My table at the White Lion, first of two back-to-back pubs at noon hour today. 

We diverted from the Capital Ring, Deb to visit a bookstore and then a cafe, and me to pay my respects to two fine pubs in very close proximity (see pub page for fuller details).  Crow on The Hill Bookstore, according to a reliable source, was quite a fine establishment.  By the time I was finished at the White Lion, my reliable companion rejoined me for my visit to The Alma, across the road.

     Returning to the Ring, we ate our lunch at a picnic table just within the next park before resuming our walk.  We ended up at Streatham Common Station, after passing through a half dozen large parks, including some lovely woodlands and the striking Norwood Mansion.

 Looking towards central Croydon from the Capital Ring.  We weren't that far from our hotel.

 Norwood Mansion, or at least the part of it that still remains.

 Once the gatehouse to the Norwood estate.  We would love to move in!

 Helpful signs along the Ring.  At this point we had now walked 21 1/4 miles since starting out several years ago.  The Ring is 75 miles altogether, but we have also walked three segments further along.

 We finished up with coffee and ale at The Railway, across from Streatham Common Station.  A full report on this wonderful pub will come in the final segment of this trip report.

We got comfy at The Railway after our walk, resting our feet and talking about what we had seen and encountered today.  There was one more pub in our future, as we eventually left for Parsons Green.  Jennifer G. had chosen a pub for us to visit from her copy of The Good Pub Guide, and we headed there next before returning to our hotel to rest up for tomorrow's longer walk.  The White Horse turned out to be a fabulous pub!  More on our visit there later.

Continued in Part 2