London Loop
The London Outer Orbital Path (LOOP) is, as its name says, a path around
the outside of London. It runs for about 240 kilometres (150 miles). Conceived
in 1990, it was fully opened in 2001, though the signposting on some sections
remains poor or non-existent, despite what the glossy publicity says. The LOOP
is widely known as the London Loop (a name suffering from
RAS Syndrome), as shown in its official logo.
Officially it starts
at Erith on the south bank of the Thames, but I decided that I would start at
Enfield Lock, our nearest official stage starting point. My plan was that if I did all of it, I
didn't want to finish at Coldharbour Point*, which sounded anticlimactic (though
having since been there, I don't think it is, if approached in the right frame
of mind), and
finishing back at Enfield, through some familiar territory, sounded interesting.
I also started at Enfield Lock itself, rather than at the railway station, as
that isn't an inspiring finishing point, either. I set myself the target of
doing it all in 2006, the first time I have set out systematically to do a
long-distance walk in stages like this.
The LOOP lends itself to doing this, as it was designed in such a way that all
the stage end points are accessible by public transport, mostly by train or
Tube, with all but one being inside Travelcard zone 6.
(* See my note at the end of walk 4 for
more on the ending of the LOOP at Coldharbour Point.)
My walks on the LOOP
Date |
Official stages |
From / to |
With |
Distance |
Time |
Ascent |
14 January 2006 |
most of 18, 19 |
Enfield Lock to Chigwell |
George |
12.0km |
3 hours 10 mins |
219 metres |
28 January 2006 |
20, half of 21 |
Chigwell to Noak Hill |
George |
13.8km |
3 hours 40 mins |
220 metres |
5 February 2006 |
half of 21, 22 |
Noak Hill to Upminster Bridge |
George |
10.7km |
2 hours 35 mins |
85 metres |
25 February 2006 |
23, 24 |
Upminster Bridge to Coldharbour Point |
Henry |
11.8km |
3 hours 25 mins |
56 metres |
5 March 2006 |
1 |
Erith to Bexley |
Henry |
13.3km |
3 hours 40 mins |
100 metres |
19 March 2006 |
2 |
Bexley to Petts
Wood |
George |
10.9km |
3 hours 15 mins |
143 metres |
9 April 2006 |
3 |
Petts Wood to West Wickham |
George |
13.2km |
3 hours 50 mins |
227 metres |
22 April 2006 |
4 |
West Wickham to
Hamsey Green |
George & Ellie |
14.1km |
4 hours 20 mins |
412 metres |
28 May 2006 |
5 |
Hamsey Green to Coulsdon |
Henry |
11.6km |
3 hours 10 mins |
254 metres |
25 June 2006 |
6 |
Coulsdon to
Banstead |
Henry |
8.3km |
3 hours 5 mins |
204 metres |
9 July 2006 |
7, 8 |
Banstead to
Kingston |
George |
19.2km |
5 hours 10 mins |
105 metres |
29 July 2006 |
9 |
Kingston to Hatton
Cross (Donkey Wood) |
Henry |
15.9km |
4 hours 40 mins |
128 metres |
27 August 2006 |
10, 11 |
Hatton Cross (Donkey Wood) to Uxbridge |
George |
19.3km |
5 hours 40 mins |
105 metres |
3 September 2006 |
12, half of 13 |
Uxbridge to
Woodcock Hill, Harefield |
Henry |
12.0km |
3 hours 50 mins |
164 metres |
10 September 2006 |
half of 13, 14 |
Woodcock Hill, Harefield to Hatch End |
Ellie |
10.3km |
3 hours 15 mins |
192 metres |
23 September 2006 |
15 |
Hatch End to
Elstree |
Ellie |
14.7km |
4 hours 20 mins |
233 metres |
7 October 2006 |
16 |
Elstree to Cockfosters |
Henry |
18.7km |
5 hours 10 mins |
337 metres |
15 October 2006 |
17, bit of 18 |
Cockfosters to Enfield Lock |
George |
15.6km |
4 hours 35 mins |
208 metres |
George did 128km (52%), Henry 91km (37%), and Ellie 39km (16%) - I had both
George and
Ellie for one walk, hence the sum to 105%.
London Loop stage by stage
The following table summarises the 15 days or 24 sections of the LOOP in David
Sharp's guidebook and Transport for London's summary, respectively. (The
distances are as given "officially": the TfL distances are sometimes significantly
inaccurate; as I walk each section, I have shown the distance on that page..)
8.5 mi |
Day 1 |
Erith |
Section 1 |
13.5 km |
Old Bexley |
7.25 mi |
Day 2 |
Section 2 |
11.5 km |
Petts Wood (Jubilee Park) |
9 mi |
Day 3 |
Section 3 |
14.4 km |
West Wickham |
8.5 mi |
Day 4 |
Section 4 |
14.4 km |
Hamsey Green |
10 mi |
Day 5 |
Section 5 |
9.6 km |
Coulsdon South |
Section 6 |
7.2 km |
Banstead Downs |
10.75 mi |
Day 6 |
Section 7 |
6.4 km |
Ewell |
Section 8 |
11.7 km |
Kingston |
9 mi |
Day 7 |
Section 9 |
13.6 km |
Hatton Cross (Donkey Wood) |
10.5 mi |
Day 8 |
Section 10 |
6.1 km |
Hayes & Harlington |
Section 11 |
11.7 km |
Uxbridge |
9.25 mi |
Day 9 |
Section 12 |
7.2 km |
Harefield West |
Section 13 |
7.7 km |
Moor Park |
11.5 mi |
Day 10 |
Section 14 |
6.1 km |
Hatch End |
Section 15 |
13.3 km |
Elstree & Borehamwood |
10.5 mi |
Day 11 |
Section 16 |
16.8 km |
Cockfosters |
8.5 mi |
Day 12 |
Section 17 |
13.3 km |
Enfield Lock |
8 mi |
Day 13 |
Section 18 |
6.5 km |
Chingford |
Section 19 |
6.4 km |
Chigwell |
10.75 mi |
Day 14 |
Section 20 |
9.6 km |
Havering atte Bower |
Section 21 |
6.9 km |
Harold Wood |
11.75 mi |
Day 15 |
Section 22 |
6.9 km |
Upminster Bridge |
Section 23 |
6.4 km |
Rainham |
Section 24 |
7.2 km |
Coldharbour |
London Loop links
-
Walk
London's excellent page with free leaflets with excellent maps and directions.
You can order the printed leaflets, but most people who can access the website
presumably print their own off. They are very good, though sometimes they make
distortions of scale and angles, which makes them confusing when compared with
the OS maps, and the compass rose pointing north isn't always accurate.
-
The London Loop by David Sharp,
the guidebook to the route - a 15-stage version. The 2nd edition was published
in June 2006 - as I had the 2001 edition, I can't comment on the revised edition
other than to say that in the first edition the directions
are very clear and the supplementary information is interesting. I've heard only two other
opinions on it so far, one that it is excellent, the other that it is too vague.
It does have a habit of saying "after a while" or "soon", which is rather vague,
but in practice it is pretty clear most of the time, but not 100% precise or
accurate. In the winter, when it slipped into
a coat pocket, it was convenient; in the summer, the folding leaflet is perhaps
handier for a trouser pocket - eventually I ended up doing colour photocopies of
the book and printing out those I needed each day, which folded up nicely for a
trouser pocket. The maps and text are firmly linked together, so
it is easy to follow.
-
Mark
Moxon's account of walking the Loop in 15 straight days makes for
interesting reading, conflicting fascinatingly with some of the more exotic
places he has been on walking trips.
-
Tim Bertuchi's
account also covers the Loop in the 15 stages of David Sharp's book, this
time taking a year to do it.
-
www.wheresthepath.com, where the authors covered the LOOP in just 8 days.
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