Hamsey Green to Coulsdon South
This six and a half mile section is largely across level ground but with some steep slopes where it crosses a couple of valleys. It was actually quite a pleasant ramble, not too long, mostly on firm surfaces, no overgrown paths, and with a smattering of points of interest along the way. I got a bus from South Croydon station to the section start at Hamsey Green which isn’t as rural as the name suggests, then walked up Tithepit Shaw Lane for about 400 yards and at the Loop signpost out onto the Sanderstead to Whyteleafe Countryside area.
This was mostly level open country with intermittent bands of trees but eventually reached Riddlesdown and dropped steeply into the valley and joining an old Roman road, Riddlesdown Road, now a trackway which crosses the East Grinstead railway line before reaching the A22 Godstone Rd. Crossing the A22 I passed through a small commercial area then crossed over the Purley & Caterham railway line on a pedestrian bridge and climbed up the other side of the valley along residential streets to a bench at the top of New Barn Lane which has a good view back across the valley.
This would have been a good spot to stop and eat my packed lunch except for the guy in the adjacent garden cutting concrete blocks with a petrol disc cutter so instead I carried on up the 83 steps through Hawkhurst Wood and on to Kenley Common, where I was disappointed not to find a bench.
I took a short diversion onto the former RAF Kenley airfield and watched some gliders being launched using a winch and a long rope. In the 1980s I went gliding at Lasham Airfield in Hampshire and we were given the option of winch launching or for a small extra fee being towed up by a powered aircraft. We all chose the latter since that way you started off higher up and got a longer flight. Seeing the steep angle the glides were launched at here at Kenley I’m doubly sure that was the right choice!
I left the airfield and walked down Golf Rd. - unusually that’s the nearest section 5 gets to a golf course - and to the edge of Couldson Common as the route makes its way around the west side of RAF Kenley. They don’t seem to do convenient benches in this part of Surrey so I eventually ate my sandwiches perched on a handy boundary marker stone near the Norman Fisher Observatory with its two small white domes for astronomical telescopes.
The gliders from Kenley passed very low over my lunch spot. It’s surprising how much noise a glider makes when it passes low over your head but without any forewarning sound so I never managed to get what would have made great a photo 😞
From the observatory I carried on along narrow lanes and on to Couldson Common proper, passing The Fox pub and the southernmost point on the London LOOP before getting to Happy Valley. This is not the same Happy Valley as that featured in the BBC TV Series which is much further north. I doubt this one gets it’s name for the same reason (The name "Happy Valley" is what local police in the Calder Valley call the area because of its drug problem) but who knows 😀
In the above photo the London LOOP crosses the valley by dropping down on the path to the left then climbing steeply up to the trees on the far side before turning right to meet the path that goes straight on here. I don’t know why this pointless dog-leg is included but I followed it anyway while thinking that the direct path was probably easier. Whichever path you take you enter the sinister-sounding Devil’s Den Woods and climb steadily to emerge on Farthing Downs near the car park and Public Toilets. Just to prove that the age of miracles is not past the latter were actually open!
From here the route runs along the length of Farthing Downs parallel to but separate from the road with far-reaching views to both sides. It was pretty quiet and peaceful on a Thursday afternoon in October but I’ll bet it’s not like that on a Summer weekend! From the high points of the ridge you can see central Croydon’s high-rise buildings, the radio masts at Crystal Palace, and the towers of the City of London. Including of course the distinctive spike of The Shard because 14 miles isn’t far enough away to avoid seeing this 21st century Orthanc.
From the end of Farthing Downs it’s not far through the streets to Coulsdon South station, the end of Section 5 and the start of Section 6 which I completed back in August. I caught a bus back to South Croydon to catch a train to Redhill where I had a long wait because of course GWR cancelled my intended train home. Plus ca change 🙄
As ever there are more photos in my London LOOP Section 5 Flickr Album
