Capital Ring

Having done many short walks in and around London, it was impossible to not notice the iconic signs signalling the route of the Capital Ring. And so it went on the list. This is a great walk to do in the shoulder seasons, where the weather is not nice enough to warrant trips out of London for hikes in the countryside, and not miserable enough that we just want to stay inside in bed.

It seemed most determined walkers complete the Capital Ring in around seven days, and AllTrails split the whole route up into 15 sections starting at Woolwich, South East London.

We didn't have a predetermined number of days we wanted to complete it, but we ended up trying to walk further and further each day (until it broke us) given there wasn't many hills compared to other countryside walks we had been on.

The AllTrails sections are well planned as they all start and end at tube or train stations, making impromptu decisions to continue the route really easy to coordinate.

Here is a summary of our walk:

Day	Sections	Start	End	Distance (km)	Duration (hours)
1	1 - 2	Woolwich	Grove Park	19.31	3:28
2	3 - 5	Grove Park	Wimbledon Park	27.75	5:11
3	6 - 9	Wimbledon Park	South Kenton	36.99	7:08
4	10 - 11	South Kenton	Highgate	20.7	4:28
5	12 - 15	Highgate	Woolwich	29.53	5:55

Waypoints

51.49444, 0.06283 - Woolwich to Grove Park (Day 1)

There is no official starting point but it seemed most people start in Woolwich (at least that is where the AllTrails route starts). With easy to moderate difficulty, this section was a good warm up for things to come. The stroll along the Thames at the beginning was really nice (always good to see the Thames). Then the uphill section towards Severndroog Castle and Shooters Hill gave panoramic views back towards the City. Lunch was at the Harvesters in Falconwood, before a lot of pavement walking to finish at Grove Park train station.

51.43097, 0.02131 - Grove Park to Wimbledon Park (Day 2)

Feeling pretty good on this day, we bundled along towards Crystal Palace on a good pace via some local parks and nature reserves. It was a Sunday, so the market was open in Crystal Palace park. Perfect lunch spot (if you can find a bench to sit on). Next up was a section I was dreading - the hills of South London. The climb up to Norwood and Streatham I had walked before, but this time after already walking 12km it was a bit harder than needed. Nevertheless, we soldiered on. I was pleasantly surprised that we arrived so quickly to Balham after passing through Tooting Common. An air of familiarity brought a spring to my step, and we resupplied our water before heading towards Wandsworth Common, taking a left down Wandsworth Cemetery before finishing the day at Wimbledon Park tube station.

51.43465, -0.19958 - Wimbledon Park to South Kenton (Day 3)

And so begins an attempt to walk the furthest in a single day, personally. The walk from Wimbledon Park up to the Commons was one I have done many times, so I knew what to expect. It was a surprise to see Queen's Mere Lake drained for some maintenance. A short hop over the A3 had us march through the centre of Richmond Park and soon onto the banks of the River Thames. Since we set off early today, and still feeling fresh, we decided to continue across the footbridge and over to Isleworth. I had never been to Syon Park and a brief glimpse suggested I might enjoy a proper visit in the future. Lunch was at The Weir Bar in Brentford, a delightful pub serving classing Sunday Roasts. Having refuelled, we continued along the River Brent for what felt like an eternity. Probably my least favourite section of the whole walk. Though river walks are nice, this one was very very long and monotonous. We finally left the river at Greenford and entered Horsenden Hill Nature Reserve. The final climb up towards Harrow was hard on the legs. My knees were really hurting at this point and had to take more stops than I wanted. But soon enough, we were descending down towards South Kenton. Coupled with the weather being bitterly cold and drizzly, this was one day we were all glad was over.

51.57017, -0.30829 - South Kenton to Highgate (Day 4)

Our initial thought was to finish the Capital Ring today, but since we had all sustained injuries from the previous 34km stretch, we thought it would be wise not to walk the remaining 46km in one day. Instead, greeted with beautiful clear blue skies and warmth from the spring sun, we had a slow relaxed walk past reservoirs and through meadows. The distance was short today at 20km, but it was really enjoyable. After a nice lunch in Hendon Central, we were soon following Mutton Brook and the Dollis Valley Greenwalk towards East Finchley where we had a brief detour to find ice lollies. Then to finish the day, we crossed Highgate Wood and finished at Highgate Tube Station.

51.57764, -0.14596 - Highgate to Woolwich (Day 5)

The day started by following the Parkland Walk, a route I had completed before. It was really nice to walk through many of London's parks during the Capital Ring route, and Finsbury Park was no exception. Much of the route after Stoke Newington was in residential areas until we got to the River Lea and started walking south down Hackney Marshes. We followed the canal down towards Hackney Wick for lunch, and detoured through the Olympic Park to Westfield in search of post-lunch desserts. Once satisfied with sweet treats, we joined the Greenway for many many kilometres of straight walk ways through East London. We left the Greenway at Beckton and started making our way towards the east side of London City Airport, and down to the Woolwich Ferry North Terminal. After a brief sprint for the ferry, we made it on board and had a quiet crossing before reaching our starting point of the Capital Ring. We had finished.