After a long break due to a) Covid, b) family events and c) the heatwave, I have resumed this walk. However, I am doing another long walk for charity in September and going on holiday, so no Loop post then.
Both Section 6 & Section 7 are short - under five miles a piece. My guidebook in fact recommends combining the two in one walk, so this is what I did. The route takes you from Coulsdon via Banstead to Ewell, crossing into Surrey on more than one occasion and indeed ending there.
I made my last visit to London Bridge for the Loop walks, getting a Thameslink train to Coulsdon South. They run every half an hour on a Saturday and the journey doesn't take that long either as it's a semi-fast service. These trips can even easier on a weekday due to higher frequencies, but you do have rush hour to contend with.
Two pictures from my walk are here:
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I completed both stages in under four hours, including a 40-minute break for lunch. They're pretty unchallenging provided you dress appropriately (I have walking boots) - there's no steep hills, the route is mostly well signposted, and you also have quite a lot of residential street bits that you can complete quickly. The stage also lacks some of the great views of London from previous sections - the best I got was the sight of the TV transmitters at Crystal Palace and Croydon.
The drought also meant that the Mayfield Lavender Farm's fields were looking distinctly wilted and, in any event, they want you to get permission for photography there. You can walk through on the right of way for free, but you have to pay if you go off it.
The lunch bit is difficult if you're doing both stages together. After Oaks Park, there's nothing easily off route until you get to Ewell itself. I had some chicken curry at Oaks Park and left dessert until later as I didn't fancy taking ice-cream around on a fairly warm day.
Once you get to Bourne End Park, there is a free local history museum in the local library. From there, it's a short walk to Ewell West station for the train to Waterloo but bear in mind the older non-air-conditioned Class 455s are still in use until they can get the new 701s into service. Had a 14-minute delay in any event, due to signalling issues.
Curious dog count was four if you're interested. And a half as one was recalled by their owner before reaching me.
