Woke up early having decided to just wait and see whether I should go for this walk or not as I was feeling like I had a cold. But since I woke up anyway, I decided I might as well just get on with it. It was a cold morning and frost on most of the cars. And on the train on the way to Upper Warlingham, just grey and foggy in the fields.
I put a vest on underneath the T-shirt and put an extra warm top as an extra layer just in case, because I got cold last time round. I arrived at upper Warlingham at nearly 10 o’clock in the morning and got started. I think I should make it before it gets dark or nearly so anyway.
The path from the railway to the foot of Kenley Common is surprisingly steep. And then there are 85 steps up onto the common itself. The common is really lovely and quiet and another world, especially in the mist. You could definitely wild camp here. But there are a surprisingly large number of people milling around walking dogs considering it’s a very rural area.
By the way, the path goes right over the station at Coulsdon South so that would be another good place to start or stop if you need to.
They need a few more London loop signs as you enter the Oaks Park from Mayfield lavender farm. It’s quite easy to get lost in there till you pick up the thread again.
I still think that crossing of the major A road (A217?) that runs through a golf course just south of Banstead Downs, or at least long the edge of it is one of the most dangerous crossings on the whole London loop. No idea how it could be improved. But it is very dangerous. Its a fast dual carriageway with barely a break in the traffic. It has a a central reserve, it’s true, but getting across those two lanes of traffic to get to the reserve is tricky.
There’s a lot of people renovating their houses on this posh estate on the road that runs down to Nonsuch Park and they’re not doing small renovations either. They are properly re-invigorating their houses.
