Brockley to Greenwich walk, 21st October 2023

Saturday 21st October, the date of our latest walk, but with Storm Babet wreaking havoc, would anyone turn up; surely Efoggers aren’t beaten by a bit of rain? So I set off for Brockley in south-east London not knowing if anyone else would turn up. Arriving ridiculously early the rain had almost stopped and did so shortly before 11 as Jill V arrived.

After waiting to se if there were any late-comers (nope), we set off, passing the Bob Marley mural of the back of the Wetherspoons pub, heading gradually uphill on tree lined streets to enter Hilly Fields, a pleasant park. Continuing uphill, there were fine views over London, to the Crystal Palace and Croydon transmitter masts to the south-west and Canary Wharf and the City to the north.

Passing a café under the trees we visited a “henge” of stones arranged in a circle, which is in fact a large sundial, and watched a group of “mace swingers” doing their weekly keep fit session. Continuing through the park, we started to descend into Lewisham with its forest of tower blocks.

Passing Lewisham station we came to a small oasis of greenery, at the confluence of the rivers Ravensbourne and Quaggy. Leaving this we turned right to see Lewisham Police station (the largest in Europe) and then returned to head up Lewisham Hill to Blackheath. At the top of the hill there was a pretty wildflower patch and convenient bench, both provided by Thames Water, which made an attractive spot for lunch.

After lunch, we continued over Blackheath with its impressive views towards Kent, to the Rangers House, a large Georgian House now owned by English Heritage, and followed the edge of the heath to an entrance to Greenwich Park.

Entering the park, we headed to the deer sanctuary, but sadly the sanctuary is being upgraded and the deer have gone to Richmond Park for a holiday, whilst the work is carried out. We continued through the park, picking up chestnuts which had fallen as were many others, and climbing to One Tree Hill and the Royal Observatory with their fabulous views over the Thames and the City. From here we cut across the park and followed the path down to St Mary’s gate, exiting into Greenwich, and headed for the DLR station.

A cracking undulating walk with some terrific views and except for two very light and short showers, good weather and surprisingly warm and sunny for late October.

Trev Eley   26th October 2023

Photos by Jill and Trevor