1.8.2013 Section 3
01/08/13 22:50
Weather is fine so off I go to start the next leg of the LOOP: Jubilee Park ( Petts Wood ) to West Wickham Common.
10 miles including station links are in font of me.Starting point as usual is the 51 bus which gets me via Orpington to Petts Wood Station the previous leg's finish point.
It starts with a pleasant walk through Jubilee Park with it's dense woodland.
The path gets me to Crofton, a part of the London Borough of Bromley, where I am entering the Darrick and Newstead Woods, a local nature reserve, reaching hilltop with fantastic views south over the last suburbia.Crossing the busy A21 one gets after a short walk into the lovely village of Farnborough with its ancient buildings and its beautifully set church St.Giles the Abbott, dating back to times even before 1640 when the church was rebuild after storm damage.
Crossing the churchyard with and passing a huge open field with fantastic views of the downs I am reaching the High Elms Country Park a 400-acre estate, now owned by Bromley Council but ones the home of the Lubbock family ( the Earls of Avebury ). Unfortunately the house burned down in 1967 and only the stables and an Eton Fives Court. Heading on through the woodlands with its specimen trees from around the world one reaches the High Elms Golf Course and passes the High Elms Clockhouse. The bell was rung to tell farm workers of the Lubbock family when their lunch break started or finished.. Walking along farmland with farmers busy harvesting and ploughing, all part of the Holwood estate who owner at one point in time was the younger William Pitt, Prime Minister at the time. In the estate and at the LOOP way is the Wilberforce Oak where William Wilberforce and Pitt discussed in 1788 a parliamentary bill to resolve the slave trade.
From here the path drops gently towards Keston Common ( Keston also being a part of Bromley Borough). On the common the earthworks of an old iron age fort are still visible but the one finds here also Ceasar's Well, the source of the Ravensbourne.
Along three connected ponds, used in former times as a water reservoir for the Holwood estate but used for fishing these days, I am getting into West Wickham Common, owned by the Corporation of London. A delightful walk gets me to the other end of the common where a huge sign proclaims the end of the third section of the walk also marked by several incredible pollarded oak trees. According to my tour book the "Domesday Oaks".
A little stroll gets me to Hayes station from where my return bus to home will be leaving.
Some more pictures of this section can be found here.
This concludes the 3.section: 10 miles, 125 ½ m still to go.
10 miles including station links are in font of me.Starting point as usual is the 51 bus which gets me via Orpington to Petts Wood Station the previous leg's finish point.
It starts with a pleasant walk through Jubilee Park with it's dense woodland.
The path gets me to Crofton, a part of the London Borough of Bromley, where I am entering the Darrick and Newstead Woods, a local nature reserve, reaching hilltop with fantastic views south over the last suburbia.Crossing the busy A21 one gets after a short walk into the lovely village of Farnborough with its ancient buildings and its beautifully set church St.Giles the Abbott, dating back to times even before 1640 when the church was rebuild after storm damage.
Crossing the churchyard with and passing a huge open field with fantastic views of the downs I am reaching the High Elms Country Park a 400-acre estate, now owned by Bromley Council but ones the home of the Lubbock family ( the Earls of Avebury ). Unfortunately the house burned down in 1967 and only the stables and an Eton Fives Court. Heading on through the woodlands with its specimen trees from around the world one reaches the High Elms Golf Course and passes the High Elms Clockhouse. The bell was rung to tell farm workers of the Lubbock family when their lunch break started or finished.. Walking along farmland with farmers busy harvesting and ploughing, all part of the Holwood estate who owner at one point in time was the younger William Pitt, Prime Minister at the time. In the estate and at the LOOP way is the Wilberforce Oak where William Wilberforce and Pitt discussed in 1788 a parliamentary bill to resolve the slave trade.
From here the path drops gently towards Keston Common ( Keston also being a part of Bromley Borough). On the common the earthworks of an old iron age fort are still visible but the one finds here also Ceasar's Well, the source of the Ravensbourne.
Along three connected ponds, used in former times as a water reservoir for the Holwood estate but used for fishing these days, I am getting into West Wickham Common, owned by the Corporation of London. A delightful walk gets me to the other end of the common where a huge sign proclaims the end of the third section of the walk also marked by several incredible pollarded oak trees. According to my tour book the "Domesday Oaks".
A little stroll gets me to Hayes station from where my return bus to home will be leaving.
Some more pictures of this section can be found here.
This concludes the 3.section: 10 miles, 125 ½ m still to go.
