Month: July 2020

County Tops 15 & 16 – Greater London & Kent

NE Shoulder of Westerham Heights – 245m / 804ft & Betsom’s Hill – 251m / 823ft – 11/03/20

After the joys of central London I needed food, a hygiene stop and a diesel top up for the car. Food first came in the form of a hot foot long Subway outside Morden station – it was less hot and more wet by the time I reached the car. I ate and then set off in the dark and rain following the SatNav again. I stopped at garage in Croydon, refuelled and attempted to use the garage toilet which was locked – the attendant did not have a key, insisted it was staff only anyway so I left wondering what he would do he he needed to go…Not long after I passed a 24hour supermarket and decided to go to their toilet. Do you remember the Hand Sanitiser and toilet roll crisis? Well I was in the middle of that but fortunately nobody had stolen the paper from the customer loo. Whilst there I cleaned my teeth and bought some drinks/snacks to top up my supply. That way when I found my intended overnight parking spot I could just forget everything and be straight off to sleep.

I had originally identified a possible spot to park overnight on a small car park by the North Downs Way at a place called Botley Hill when I was scoping out a different project (Dover to Cape Wrath) a couple of years ago. Conveniently it was about 3 miles from the Greater London and Kent high points so an ideal spot for this part of the trip. I ended up driving past it twice before I finally parked up by a roundabout just off the B269. There was room for about 6 cars on the uneven and partly flooded car park so I found the driest spot away from the entrance, sorted out the sleeping set-up in the back of the car and curled up listening to the patter of rain on the roof. The night was a bit more comfortable than the previous one but sleep was intermittent and I woke finally feeling a bit tired but ready to go. I had decided today was going to be a bit of a running day also and dressed in my trail gear with reduced weight back pack, running shoes, shorts, leggings and ankle gaiters. I had a breakfast of banana, juice, oat bar etc and set off eastwards along the North Downs Way. The rain all night had left the track through the woods slippy and wet but I was determined to make a good pace on the downhill part to test out the grip on my shoes. After about 600m downhill I turned left up some steps in the woodlands, across a minor road and into more woods before emerging into open fields with panoramic views to the south across the M25 into Kent.

Looking south from the North Downs Way

A final section of muddy path followed before another set of steps up to a country lane named Chestnut Avenue but also called the Tandridge Border Path. On one side was a golf course and the other side some pricey residential properties with suitable cars outside. The lane split at a junction into two uneven tracks – I diverged from the North Downs Way and took the higher route which I followed for about a kilometre before reaching the main A233 at Westerham Hill. En route I passed an entrance to Little Betsom’s farm – a clue to the second of my targets, but still not sure exactly where to go.

I turned right at the main road and continued to jog up the busy main road along a narrow verge. The speed and ferocity of the traffic forced me to take a bit more care so I decided to walk. On reaching the crest of the hill I knew I was now at the high point of Greater London – just across the road by the entrance to a Gas Valve site. CT15 ticked off.

Greater London county top

The next challenge was to find the nearby Kent county top at Betsom’s Hill. I followed the grid reference only a few hundred metres along a track and was expecting it to be in a fenced off back garden of an expensive house. Almost by accident I stumbled on a small cul de sac by following the Royal Mail van. I was about to turn around when a lady appeared at the door of one of the houses and asked me “are you a highest pointer?”. A little surprised, I politely replied “I guess I must be, do you know where it is?”. “In my back garden just on the patio.” said the lady. I asked her if she minded the intrusion, and she explained that it wasn’t a problem, she had lived there for 3 years and had not known when she purchased the house that she was buying the highest point in the county of Kent.

So I thanked her for letting me access, promised not to stay long and walked onto the patio. A photo and short video later I was apologising and thanking her again – I asked if she got many visitors and was surprised when she said actually quite a few! Then I was saying goodbye and off on my way, retracing the steps jogging back to the car.

In a matter of no time I had knocked off another 2 county tops and cleared the south east corner of England off my itinerary. Pleased with that I trotted at a steady pace along the lanes then negotiated the slippy/muddy paths and fields back to the woods, stopping once again to admire the panoramic views. The last section of woods was uphill and tougher to walk up than to jog down. A couple of times I could have used my trekking poles and ended up grabbing trees and bushes to keep my balance. Soon I was back at the car, changed out of my muddy gear and happily on my way north.

County Top 14 – City of London

High Holborn – 22m / 72ft – 10/03/20

My original plan was to drive round to do Greater London and Kent high points, but a change of mind based on distance, timing and the looming threat of the Coronavirus spread persuaded me that I needed to get the City of London out of the way ASAP. Just to clarify this odd journey, although it only covers an area of less than 3 square km and is really just a financial centre including the Stock Exchange and Bank of England, the City of London is classed as a separate ceremonial county of England and its high point is therefore on my official list. There is a part of me which does enjoy the occasional walk around big cities, seeing the sights and soaking up some atmosphere, despite the noise, crowds and pollution, so I was quite excited and a bit curious to see how people were dealing with the Covid-19 situation (although not nearly as serious then as it was soon to become!).

The drive from Totternhoe was not going to be terribly interesting – the SatNav took me back to the A41 towards Watford then round the M25 and back along the A3 in the direction of Central London. I had decided to park at Morden and get the Underground train to London Bridge from where I had planned a circular walk which I expected to take about 2 hours. Well nobody was wearing face-masks and the era of social distancing had not yet arrived so I just tried to act cool and blend in with the eclectic mixture of cultures and styles that is synonymous with all big cities.

25 minutes later I alighted at London Bridge station and headed off immediately towards the south of the Thames with the enormous Shard hotel behind me, Tower Bridge ahead and the City skyline across the river to my left. It was still quite windy, starting to rain and would be dark before too long.

City of London skylines

My route took me along the river past City Hall and then across Tower Bridge swerving to avoid, joggers, photo-snapping tourists and the general hubbub of folks who had finished work for the day or were still enjoying a late lunch. I turned left back along the north bank of the river past The Tower of London in the direction of London Bridge.

At London Bridge I took a right and headed up King William Street into the heart of the City, Monument station, St Clement’s church then left and north west leading to the Bank of England. From there I turned onto Queen Victoria Street, past the Mansion House (residence of the Mayor of London). I then veered right again along the narrower Watling Street in the direction of St Paul’s Cathedral, the unmistakeable dome visible through the gap in the buildings ahead.

The next section took me up Farringdon Street and along the busy A40 – not much traffic just thousands of people now leaving work and filling the streets, pubs were full to bursting and the thought of a quick pint was almost too much to resist, however it was now raining, getting dark and I needed to get back to my car and onto my planned overnight stop. The exact spot of the City high point on High Holborn is not easy to locate – it is not at the top of the hill, but has to be inside the boundary of the City itself, so the spot I chose was on the corner of Chancery Lane, coincidentally by a Cotswold Outdoor shop!

High Holborn – City of London high point

Obligatory photo and video done, in the middle of a busy street, I continued briefly along High Holborn to Holborn station then turned left into the heart of the legal district, past Inns and Chambers and courts, The LSE and The Law Society Hall, eventually zigzagging my way back to the embankment by Blackfriars Bridge. The rain was getting heavier as I passed underneath the bridge and hurried along the path to cross the Millennium footbridge back over the Thames.

Millenium Footbridge

It was actually quite windy crossing the bridge but an interesting experience nevertheless. On reaching the south side I turned left back along the embankment footpath and followed that past the Shakespeare Globe theatre and the Golden Hinde ship in dry dock before arriving back at London Bridge station to find that there had been an “incident” on the Northern Line which was temporarily closed meaning I could not immediately get a train back to Morden. The crowds of people waiting at the closed platform entrance did not thrill me so I managed to find a quiet place for a coffee and bite to eat. Once the panic was over (Covid scare??) I got the next train and reached the car safely, glad to get out of London and off to Kent later than I had hoped. Number 14 ticked off.