The Ultimate London Walk – Section 13: South Norwood to Addington Hill  New Walk!

Start with a peep into Long Lane Wood a fragile fragment of the Great North Wood that used to cover so much of South East London. Listen for song from the bird sanctuary before swinging across to the expanse of Ashburton Playing Fields – once the scene of a great out-of-London race course.

The horses have gone, the Chaffinch brook runs on underground, listen for that too at the gratings. Head on to the Leisure Gardens allotments where 400 plots have been in continuous production for over 100 years. Beyond, the houses face onto a sequence of open spaces like village greens – their protection from development recently challenged.

As Oaks Lane follows the line of an old farm track across Shirley Park golf course, the surrounding hills emerge.

Shirley windmill rises above, a reminder of the breezes on higher ground.

The lane leads to the thickly wooded Addington Hills. Saved for the public more than a century ago, the paths now lead steeply up to the magnificent viewpoint at the top, at 140 metres one of London’s high points – maybe Windsor one way, Canary Wharf the other. Look back at how far this walk has come.