A really long post
Thanks guys, for your faith in me!
I just got back from the most gruelling walk in the history of the world! Ok - maybe not, but it sure felt like it! I started quite late...around 1pm.. I'd gone to bed quite late still preparing the route, but I made a last minute decision to pop into Waterstones to get a book on the London LOOP. Luckily the female staff knew her business and referred me to David Sharp's The London Loop. In hindsight, I honestly don't know what I'd have done without it because its instructions were far more detailed than those I printed from the Internet..
To be honest, if I'd known how difficult it would be, I would almost definitely have avoided doing it!! I didn't know that many woods even existed! Spring Park Woods, Three Halfpenny Wood, little Foxes Wood, Pinewoods, Heathfield Gardens, Bramley Bank, Littleheath Wood, Selsdon Wood..and these are great big woods with thousands of trees.. I feel so humbled..
The first wood was ok. I'd just been to the West Wickham parish church (took pictures and all) and lingered a little to soak in the ambience...the bells were sounding..that sweet peal that announces a Sunday..then I got out through the kissing gate (another lovely term I've now learned) then into Spring Park - a large never ending field. I saw a few people playing with their dogs...very idyllic. The grass had recently been mown,so it was easy crossing the field and entering Three Halfpenny Woods.. I met quite a few people in the Woods, mostly walking their dogs, or, in some cases, lovers walking hand in hand soaking up the romance from the trees...it wasn't raining then..
A difficult part of the walk was in Addington Hills - the steepness of the climb left me gasping for air..the mixture of gravel and pieces of tree bark didn't help either! But I finally got to the top, and was rewarded with the most beautiful view over Croydon. I could see the phone masts at Crystal Palace (massive things). Not too far off there was a restaurant in the middle of nowhere... outside it was this really cute family with their two little babies walking hand in hand and their parents walking closely behind them..It was ever so cute.. I said a quick hi and went on my way..
It began to pour down...that steady drizzle that means to get you soaked no matter how resistant you try to be to it...I kept getting lost! Especially at Heathfield Gardens, which leads to the London Wildlife Trust nature reserve. I spent a good 45 minutes doubling back on myself over and over again until I finally found the route in the book! All the while I was on the verge of tears at the thought that I wouldn't be able to complete the route! I finally got in, after taking pictures of slugs at the roadside...
There was this old bridleway in this ultra modern area, complete with housing developments and stuff (the nice kind) and it leads to Selsdon Wood. I was really tired when I got into the wood (even though I'd just had a little break to eat my little sandwich), and I realised with a sinking heart that it was a really thick wood...the trees literally blocked out the little daylight and the rain continued pouring steadily down, obscuring my vision. I didn't meet a single person in there, and more than once I fancied someone was following me, but it was only my wet bag rubbing against my trousers loudly...very easy to get paranoid when you're alone in the woods..I began panicking inside, thinking that nighttime would come and I'd still be stuck in the woods! Never before had the terrors of Midsommer Murders and all such woodside murder mysteries come to life in my mind! I nearly cried in relief when I saw daylight at the other side..
I realised the sheer distance I'd walked when I was in Littleheath Wood. This vast expanse of open grass beyond..stretching so far that the trees seemed like the horizon..bright green and hazel colours, swinging in the rain.. I had to walk through this grassy field, which would have been more than pleasant...if it wasn't raining. The grass stalks were tall and proud, coming up to my torso, so my trousers got quite wet, the rain from the stalks soaking into my walking shoes and drenching my socks.. As I squelched along I remembered I'd forgotten to take a second pair of socks..stupid me, I know...not that it'd have helped anyway with my soaking shoes.. I felt so lucky that I was enjoying all this all by myself.. it really was beautiful.
I met a few more people later on, outside the Woods. More than once I was scared by the sight of great big dogs bounding furiously towards me..I was always so relieved when their owners called them away..all of them said I'd chosen a horrible day to do the Walk... I said 'I like a challenge, me', but inside I thought 'Rhoda, you really are stupid, aren't ya, to have chosen the rainiest of days to do this Walk!'
Ah well... I was on this mud track which the book said would join the road and to my left were the greatest cows I'd ever seen. I mean, I've seen cows, but these were huge!! Maybe it's all that country air and grass, but they were massive! It continued to rain heavily, and I could see horse tracks in the really narrow muddy track. The cows mooed, so I tried to take a picture of them but the stupid camera refused to work.. Anyhoo, I'm squelching along - my jeans are getting wet all over again, this time all the way up to the tops of my thighs, thanks to the tall blades of grass that just seem to have soaked up all the rain. Then I heard a clip-clop sound some way behind me. I looked back, and saw that a cow was following me. At first I ignored it, but I saw that it was walking with a purpose...towards ME! Before I knew it my legs had begun running as fast as I could down the narrow track, forget it was so muddy that running was really impossible.. Mud splashed across my trousers but did I care? Did I heck! Then I looked back to see the damn great cow had stopped and was merely looking at me...perhaps laughing in its great bovine head..
A little while later, 2 valleys before the end point, I was on a track running between thick hedges, and to my right was a field (I could see a farmhouse in the distance).. It was really quiet here, so I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard a 'baaaa'. Bloody sheep nearly gave me a heart attack. I hoped it wouldn't attack me for 'being in its territory' or whatnot but thankfully there was a fence separating it from the track.. The track was really weird - first of all it dropped really steeply...I skidded quite a few times but thankfully didn't fall flat on my arse..and then it climbed really steeply...the rain kept washing all the soil down so I had to tread on the stony bits in order to climb.. I sweated buckets yet again...then the path came to an abrupt end and I stood there thinking 'Shoot, what do I do?!', then I saw that the fence blocking the path had a stile across it.. a step across the fence, which led to the path that led to civilisation at last. There were great big horses in the field to my right covered with blankets that looked up to watch me walk by (I thought 'What's the point of the blankets if they're in the rain' but then I'm not a horse expert). Eventually the dirt path became tarmac, which jarred my legs and hips with each step I took, though, so the final bit took a while (twas a long road though)
I was really lucky on this walk because there were signs in the woods. Many, many times I felt like I wasn't getting out of there (at least my decomposed body would add nutrients to the forest...I morbidly thought at one stage) and then I'd see the little green sign. When I didn't understand the instructions in the book it was the sign that would encourage me, help me realise I was on the right path.. This walk is not meant to be easy, I realise that now. Even if the weather was brilliant it still would be extremely difficult, but the rain just turned it into torture. But I still massively enjoyed it, and feel more than humbled by the sheer size of nature..
Oh, one more thing. I massively overestimated my ability to do stages 4 and 5 of the LOOP. A mile walk on tarmac road is most definitely NOT the same as a mile walk in woodland with the climbing and dodging trees and slipping and the sheer activity..I got myself an exercise watch during the week so I could measure time, distance, etc, and it said I'd covered 22.5miles in 7 hours, which seems insane. I don't understand it. I know there were times I walked like I was flying - with my increased fitness I find I'm able to walk a lot faster and take longer strides, but there were also really slow bits, like when climbing steep hills and chatting with people. Either way, I know I've done a part of the LOOP. And the next time I go on a Walk, I'll do another part. I'll complete all 240km, so help me God.
It really was beautiful. The memories are pouring in thick and fast now, moving me to tears - I really am humbled. I feel extremely lucky to live in a country, a city where I could get lost in nature, where I could roll in the grass and meet lovely people. There really is so much I want to say but I can't even express it. It was more than a Walk for me - it was more of a realisation that life is what I make it. I complain about London so much, I complain about congestion on the trains, about smog, about high taxes, about this, about that, and yet it's the same London that's given me such a tremendous gift like I had today, and hope to continue experiencing. I'm glad I did it by myself - all the pleasure was mine..
