Walking the London Loop: section 1
I’ve embarked on walking the whole of this circular walk around London. It’s broken into 24 sections and on 28 August 2023 I set off on the first. Read on to find out how it went …
At the beginning of 2022 I decided I was going to walk the Capital Ring. This 126km circular walk around London is handily broken down into 15 sections, each of which start and end at or close by a rail or underground station.
I thought I might complete it in three months or so, doing one section per week. But life isn’t like that and it took me just over a year. About four walks in, I realised that I should have written about it. But I decided it was too late by then.
Having completed the Capital Ring I wanted a new walking challenge. I decided on two: the Thames Path and the London Loop. The latter is much like the Capital Ring, but further out, making it a lot longer and with more sections: 240km and 24, respectively.
A summer of rain and rail strikes meant that I had to keep putting off starting both walks. The Thames Path was postponed to 2024. But I made a start on the loop on August Bank Holiday Monday. And this time I will be writing about it.
Long-distance travel
This first section was 14km. It started at Erith and ended at Old Bexley. With it being further out than the Capital Ring, the travel times to the start and end points are much longer. These south-east London railway stations were a good hour and a half away from Walthamstow and required at least one change.
And this is south-east – it’s going to take even longer when I’m over in south-west London. A few of the links require a bus journey as well rail or underground. This walk took around three hours, so I was walking for about the same time I spent travelling. For some of the further away sections I’ll be travelling for longer than I am walking.
The London Loop starts in Riverside Gardens, a short distance from the railway station. There are some short parts along the River Thames and then some road walking through Erith itself. Much of the walk, though, was off road, mostly around the edge of Crayford Marshes.
A spot of birdwatching
The path first follows the Thames and then River Darent. It was along this section that I spotted a singing Reed Warbler. You also pass the Dartford Creek Flood Barrier – a large concrete construction that came online in November 1982 to protect the area from rising tides.
This part of the path was quite popular and it was very pleasant saying hello to other walkers, families and cyclists as we passed each other.
After crossing a couple of very busy roads, which wasn’t fun, the route went off road again, following alongside the River Cray into Crayford. This involved more road walking. It was also where I encountered the first place to stop for a rest and something to eat and drink outside of Erith.
I popped into the Bear and Ragged Staff pub thinking I might have lunch there but the only vegetarian option was disappointing. So I walked straight back out again. Luckily it wasn’t far to Old Bexley now.
Next was a very pleasant riverside walk along the Cray into Old Bexley. The start of this lovely little village was marked by the St Mary the Virgin church and graveyard. The high street was pleasingly full of pubs and restaurants and I treated myself to lunch and a nice glass of rosé before heading to the train station to catch the train into Victoria.
