please empty your brain below
Hi DG,

You forgot the two old Victorian sewer banks, the Greenway in North London and the Ridgeway in South London which have a limited number of traffic and pedestrian crossings (as well as underpasses for the tube in the case of the Greenway)

Ridgeway Users | 17.02.20 - 7:37 a.m. | #

The Ridgeway has a 1 mile stretch with no roads across it, while the Greenway only manages 0.8 miles.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 17.02.20 - 8:15 a.m. | #

Richmond Park is accessible to cars as well as pedestrians, indeed despite the speed restriction it is generally far quicker to drive through it than to drive all the way around the boundary wall, so it is something of a local rat-run, or perhaps a deer-run.

dg writes: Cars drive round the edge, so a 2½ mile trek from Kingston Gate to Roehampton Gate remans vehicleless.

Arlu | 17.02.20 - 8:30 a.m. | #

If the third runway at Heathrow goes ahead, the obstruction will grow from 3 miles to about 5 miles long.

To add insult to injury, a congestion charge is proposed for going anywhere near it.

Keith | 17.02.20 - 9:02 a.m. | #

I was surprised (when I just measured it) that it's only 1 mile from Penwith Road to Plough Land - two successive road crossings over the Wandle. There is another bridge that gives access to a car park and a riverside walk. But if you live inbetween it's a looong walk to Wimbledon Park, even though it looks so close on the map.

James | 17.02.20 - 9:18 a.m. | #

What about shopping centers such as Westfields in Stratford and Shepherds Bush?

dg writes: Neither reaches ½ mile.

Mark | 17.02.20 - 9:32 a.m. | #

another "barrier" would be the CCZ/ULEZ poor motorists have to drive around that.

E | 17.02.20 - 9:54 a.m. | #

There's actually an air-way across Heathrow, that's often used for aircraft from the south that are descending into Luton or Stansted, and so transit LHR are a height.

Jordan D | 17.02.20 - 11:07 a.m. | #

Striking that South London is much more “barrier” free than North London.

martin in canada | 17.02.20 - 11:11 a.m. | #

I know it doesn't meet your criteria, but the diversion along the A1 to get from Scratchwood to Moat Mount on the London Loop section 16 (an extra 1km of unpleasant walking along the A1) is really annoying,

Mikey C | 17.02.20 - 11:22 a.m. | #

This is why my A-Z Walk project took seven walks to get from Rainham to Erith. I’m not looking forward to Heathrow.

Kake | 17.02.20 - 11:25 a.m. | #

I thought the MML railway in the Cricklewood area was a longer barrier (no crossing of any sort between Cricklewood and the North Circular) but it turns out to be 1.2m. Still a major barrier though, as there are no pedestrian crossings either.

Mikey C | 17.02.20 - 11:28 a.m. | #

Classic dg!
How do you keep coming up with ideas like this.
Wish I had one to add that you missed...but no.

MikeK | 17.02.20 - 11:42 a.m. | #

...anyone with a fear of bridges & tunnels has very limited means of crossing from one side of the Thames to the other. sometimes mental barriers are far worse than physical ones

Grumpy Anon | 17.02.20 - 11:45 a.m. | #

Pretty sure Dollis Brook is crossed by Barnet Lane.

dg writes: Yes, that's the one road which crosses it.

James | 17.02.20 - 12:22 p.m. | #

In SW London, there is a big split between the area around Grand Drive/Tudor Drive (Raynes Park/Lower Morden) and the area around Worcester Park:

Following the Merton borough boundary at the A24 up behind Garth Road and up to Green Lane, then along to the Beverley Brook and up to Motspur Park level crossing is 1.5 miles with no road crossing and only one footpath (Green Lane).

There is also the railway of 0.9 miles with no foot crossings from Motspur Park level crossing to Worcester Park. Combine the two and you get a barrier of around 2.2 miles for vehicles and just one foot crossing.

StephenC | 17.02.20 - 12:27 p.m. | #

Other SW London mentions should go to the Hogsmill River south of Kingston (3 miles with only the A3 between Villiers Road and the A240), and the combination of Mitcham Common with the Beddington wasteland and Beddington Park.

dg writes: Agreed.

StephenC | 17.02.20 - 12:49 p.m. | #

Rainham Marshes has a 2km uncrossed stretch, abutting the boundary of London.

Anon | 17.02.20 - 12:49 p.m. | #

Haven't checked this on a map yet, but I suspect that ExCel docklands/DLR between Custom House/Prince Regent would be a barrier (north to south). But may not be long enough for the "notable" criteria.

dg writes: About half a mile.

I would base this theory on the view that pedestrian access through the car parks would at least be strongly discouraged (as opposed to driving in, then exiting the car into the ExCel.)

MilesT | 17.02.20 - 1:59 p.m. | #

The Royal Albert Dock provides a considerable barrier for those of us living on it's south side at North Woolwich wishing to travel north to East Ham and beyond. Not so bad if you can drive round but it's much more annoying on foot or cycling. London City Airport means there won't be a pedestrian bridge built across the middle like Victoria Dock has...

Rob | 17.02.20 - 2:00 p.m. | #

Although you can drive inside Richmond Park, there are only five vehicular access points. The longest gap is between Kingston Gate and Roehampton Gate (although there are a couple of pedestrian gates), so the perimeter wall between those points is a barrier to road traffic.
The park is closed at night, meaning it is six or more miles by road from one side to the other. There is another four mile-long-barrier immediately to the west (the river between Richmond and Kingston), with only the narrow and twisty Petersham Road threading between them.

Since 2011, on one summer Sunday ia 25-mile long barrier separates south London from the rest of the city, extending deep into Surrey. [RideLondon.jpg]

timbo | 17.02.20 - 3:12 p.m. | #

Looking at Kake's A-Z Walk got me wondering about the Dartford Crossing and apparently bikes can cross the free by requesting a courtesy shuttle. I wonder if they do the same for pedestrians who turn up trying to walk the perimeter of London?!

Cornish Cockney | 17.02.20 - 4:15 p.m. | #

Cornish Cockney - I think you've stumbled across a rather splendid idea for our intrepid hero here....

Can he borrow a bike I wonder?

Chris | 17.02.20 - 5:07 p.m. | #

In earlier booze-soaked days I passed under the River Thames at least thirty times on foot via the Rotherhithe Tunnel south to north. Cheaper than a taxi! It was only when I made the same journey sober that I realised what a terrible experience this was. Even with several extractor fans and fresh air filters at either end the air quality was so appalling. Smelly, headache-inducing, like smoking 20 cigarettes at once.

I cannot believe it is much better today for those poor blokes who undertake cleaning and maintaince duties when the tunnel is closed overnight

Kenneth Morton | 17.02.20 - 5:20 p.m. | #

Thought I'd come up with one you missed, but on checking it's some way short of the required distance. But it perhaps makes up for that by being two obstructions in one: the Central Line and that huge road built in the 1990s, which together split Leytonstone like a Berlin Wall.

MartinL | 17.02.20 - 8:31 p.m. | #

a) The longest railway-related severance I can find is the 2 miles between Tottenham Hale and Lea Bridge, which crosses no roads (and has only four crossing points on foot).

There's actually a 5th, connecting the East Warwick Reservoir with the West Warwick Reservoir within Walthamstow Wetlands.

It's a spectacularly useless addition to your list though, as it's currently closed to protect sensitive wildlife, and even when it's open, you're then just stuck in a place where you can't cross the Lea and the only way back is the way you came.

Ahbut | 23.02.20 - 10:09 p.m. | #

While the longest single gap is only 1.2 miles, I think the railway line from Finsbury Park to Bowes Park deserves a mention for having just 4 roads crossing it in the whole borough of Haringey

AndrewR | 26.02.20 - 12:33 p.m. | #











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