London Loop: Hemsey Green to Coulsdon South

With shorter days approaching we've set aside walking the Thames Path and taken our boots onto the London Loop, alternatively known as the London Outer Oribital Path .

Thank goodness that yesterday I was walking from Hemsey Green to Coulsdon South with friends ... getting more than a bit lost was OK in a team! Our 'guide', downloaded from https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/walking/hamsey-green-to-croydon, got their right and left muddled in places and missed out some key landmarks that could have helped us find our way across meadow and through trees. Google Maps came to our rescue as we looked for the pub to stop for lunch, We had circumnavigated Betts Mead Recreation Ground and still not chosen the correct gap between two trees so I reached for the iPhone!!

The first great place was Riddlesdown Quarry see http://www.londongeopartnership.org.uk/gla26.html. We all found its steel fencing a very useful handrail as we climbed down and down and down its eastern edge, ending up at a Jewson's Building yard and a very busy main road.

The quarry and the road: the quiet and the busy - hallmarks of walking green spaces in suburbia.

Further into Happy Valley, we walked soft earthy paths, the sun shone and the landscape came alive with a autumn rainbow   - a beautiful place to be and an open and free place to be grateful for.

Finally we reached Farthing Down, where on a clear day, and this was a clear day, the City of London is easily seen.

Three trains later we were on our way home - clearly we're going to learn lots about the rail network as we walk around the capital as well as discovering more walks that qualify for the label a wonderful walk.

And I had fun I earlier this week preparing for the next day of the Inspiriation to Stitch course ...  we were asked to look for words and had been working with leaves so

courtesy of http://www.wordclouds.com  here is a haiku by Basho, translated by Hess.













Finally, the sky and the sea looked very lovely today ...  and I added another possible quilt pattern to the list after seeing the arrangements of these pilings.

#londonloop #walking #autumn