please empty your brain below
For me, the Capital Ring ended up being as much about redefining my mental map of London as going for a long walk - piecing together bits of town I'd visited before with places I'd passed through and not taken a second look at, as well as entirely new places. My favourite bit was coming down from Richmond Park into Petersham - a funny mix of watching planes landing at Heathrow to fretting about cows...

My own advice would be to not worry too much about the sections in the guide - transport links are good enough for you to combine or split bits up. I did mine in 11 chunks rather than 15 - mostly on summer afternoons.

http://853blog.com/category/capital-ring

Still haven't done the Loop though - maybe in 2012...

Darryl | Homepage | 17.12.11 - 3:06 a.m. | #

That's good advice about combining sections of the Ring. I deliberately limited myself to precisely one section at a time, whereas it's perfectly practical to combine sections and/or break off midway.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 17.12.11 - 9:26 a.m. | #

Thanks for this post - I think you've just sorted out my New Year's resolution - to walk either the Ring or the Loop over the course of the year

Brian | 17.12.11 - 10:38 a.m. | #

Well done for completing it - and thanks also for writing about it!

RogerW | 17.12.11 - 1:28 p.m. | #

There are a lot more than seven long distance paths in London - see http://www.rglf.org.uk/aboutus/RGLFpamphlet736.pdf (page 4) which lists a lot more! Only seven, though, are included in the Strategic Walking Network.
Why restrict yourself to the strategic 7? How about doing the Grand Union Canal Path? (And if you include the Regents Canal section you can immediately tick off a large chunk of the Jubilee Greenway!)

Steve Bird | 17.12.11 - 3:55 p.m. | #

Have you considered the New River Path?

Klepsie | Homepage | 17.12.11 - 4:32 p.m. | #

Or following the Thames from it's source perhaps?
Winnie the Pooh managed it so how hard can it be!! http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/riverthames/intro.htm

CornishCockney | 17.12.11 - 5:48 p.m. | #

I say go for the Loop! It's the only one with enough scale to it to turn into a series that would best the Ring this year. And I would look forward to your take on section 8, the only section I have walked in its entirety.

James | 17.12.11 - 6:26 p.m. | #

Which section did you meet your auntie on?

I'd vote for walking the Thames from its source.

This may be one completed series, but in four months or so you'll have done the last random borough. I'm more concerned about what's going to replace that...

swirlythingy | Homepage | 17.12.11 - 9:30 p.m. | #

Isn't the Lea Valley Walk longer than 18 miles?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lea_Valley_Walk

Richard | 18.12.11 - 10:59 p.m. | #

The London bit's 18 miles.
The full walk's much longer (and even better).

diamond geezer | Homepage | 18.12.11 - 11:02 p.m. | #

The new River Path is very dull, there's no navigation (obviously) and the best bits are closed off. You can see my Capital Ring Certificate by following the link.

Richard | Homepage | 19.12.11 - 9:14 a.m. | #

Now - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16281878 - you can really complete it!

Gordon | 21.12.11 - 12:33 p.m. | #

I think the Capital Ring is one of those things youve got to do if youve lived in London a while, it opens your eyes up to so many places that are just names on the map otherwise. Loads of beautiful places, yet the route doesnt pull any punches, takes you through ordinary estates as well.

Id reccomend walking the Green Chain Walk - even if you think you know South London this can throw up some surprises

Rob | Homepage | 22.12.11 - 11:56 a.m. | #











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