I did Section 4 of the London Loop on the May Day Holiday; that resulted in me doing over 30,000 steps for the day and breaking my all-time personal record in that department. It's over nine miles with the walk from Hayes station, although proper stretching resulted in a good deal less pain afterwards than previously.
It's been over a month in any event and so memories are a bit hazy. You're in the foothills of the Downs at this point and can see the towers of Central London or the Docklands from a few vantage points, depending on conditions.
These walks vary between large parks where there are plenty of people (and their dogs) about and more remote wooded areas where you might be the only person for half a mile or so. There are patches of civilisation though, sometimes outright suburbia.
Had a very good lunch at the Surprise Inn, where the waiter/manager noticed and remarked on my book. "I've walked from X" never fails to impress.
The route was a challenge in places, especially once you're into the fifth hour of walking, and I was glad when I reached the road that marks the end.
Section 4 ends at Hamsey Green, a village you haven't heard of and without a railway station, so you need a bus to get to one. That will be East Croydon if you're going a longer distance due to more frequent and faster trains. There is a Wendy's there and yes, I did post something about that on Reddit.
I did the next walk on Wednesday - getting it done before the Jubilee weekend made the trains really busy. I also took my new camera along. Bit bulky though and I will need to consider carrying methods going forward.
Section 5 entails a half-hour bus ride back from East Croydon and then you start the walk from there. It's a shorter walk at just under seven miles... if you don't take a wrong turning and end up in the middle of Whyteleafe due to a bent sign (which I reported to the people who maintain this).
The area goes past RAF Kenley; once a Fighter Command base (with some bits still there and marked with information boards) and now used for glider training. I had lunch in the Wattenden Arms, which has a bunch of memorabilia, mostly but not all RAF.
As walks go, this was comparatively easy - some mildly steep bits, but nothing as bad as Crofton Wood...
You also have the rather nice Happy Valley, even if that name does make you think of James Norton reversing over someone these days. The conclusion is the excellent Farthing Down, with great views of the communities on either side and with history going back to the Iron Age.
You stop just outside Coulsdon South station, served by Southern and Thameslink services. While I was waiting for the latter, a baby tit decided to land on my foot.
Speaking of animals, no less than six dogs came over to me. None of them did more than that though and were called away by their owners with an apology. I'm used to it by now.
Plan is to do Sections 6 & 7 in one go at the beginning of July. I aim to do a blog post shortly after that.
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