On Saturday 4th May a group of walkers will pass through Broomfield Park, inaugurating the first leg of a new North to South London Walking Trail that stretches from Cockfosters to Carshalton Beeches.
Lucy Maddison and Emily Morrison, two keen weekend walkers who set up the Walking Post website
The "Weekend Walkathon" that will see a group of hikers pass through Palmers Green en route to Carshalton Beeches will follow the North to South London Trail, the latest of a large number of walking routes in the London area that can be accessed by public transport and are described in detail on the Walking Post website. The website's founders, Lucy Maddison and Emily Morrison, will perform a ribbon cutting ceremony at Cockfosters at the start of the first of five stages of the two-day walk and will follow the Pymmes Brook downstream through Oak Hill Park and Arnos Park on their way to PG before proceeding to Alexandra Park and Highgate Woods.
The event is open to fellow walkers - tickets are free and can be booked for one or both days through the website.
The North to South London Walking Trail is broken up into five sections
The 34-mile trail has been researched and planned to take in some of the capital’s famous green spaces as well as those that are less well-known, along with several familiar London landmarks. 75% off-road, it follows public byways, footpaths and waterways, and is divided into five sections, each between six and eight miles long:
- Cockfosters to Highgate (8 miles / 12.8 kilometres): Oak Hill Park, Pymme's Brook, Arnos Park, Broomfield Park, New River Aqueduct, Alexandra Palace, Highgate Woods
- Highgate to Baker St (6.5 miles / 10.5 km): Hampstead Heath, Kenwood House, Parliament Hill, Regent’s Canal, Primrose Hill, London Zoo, Regent’s Park, London Planetarium
- Baker St to Battersea (6.2 miles / 10 km): Marble Arch, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, St James’s Park, Trafalgar Square, South Bank Centre, Thames Path, London Eye, Houses of Parliament, Lambeth Palace, Battersea Power Station
- Battersea to Colliers Wood (7.2 miles / 11.5 km): Battersea Power Station, Battersea Park, Peace Pagoda, Thames Path, St Mary’s Church, River Wandle, King George’s Park, Wandle Meadow Nature Park
- Colliers Wood to Carshalton (6.1 miles / 9.8 km): Deen City Farm, Merton Abbey Mills, Wandle River, Morden Hall Park, Watermeads Nature Reserve, Watercress Park, The Grove, Carshalton Park
Each segment has easy-to-follow directions, downloadable GPX maps and a link to the route on an Ordnance Survey (OS) map; a guide to public transport links is also provided, along with images of walk highlights, eating recommendations and toilet facilities along the route.
Parliament Hill: A perfect place to rest for a while and enjoy the view over London while walking the North to South London Trail (and to admire the kites!)
Lucy, who designed this latest route, comments: “The Walking Post was born out of a love of walking and maps and wanting to share all the routes I had already planned around London and the South East. The challenge of the North to South Trail was to create a route that goes right through the centre of London but also includes as many green spaces and footpaths as possible.”
Emily adds: “London is blessed with an array of green space and unexpected vistas, even when you’re right in the centre and think you’ve seen it all before. Walking is the perfect way to discover all kinds of details you might otherwise miss; we want to make it easy for everyone to explore and enjoy our capital city on foot.”
The Walking Post continues to plan and design walks that encourage people to explore London and the South East on foot; its North to South Trail across London will be augmented with an extension to Brighton, scheduled for launch in June.
