You got it. And this one makes two. Second podcast today. A wee bonus for you. Especially for you if you’re walking with Charlie on Saturday. The first leg of The Ultimate London Walk.
And I suppose that’s by way of saying, yes, for sure, London Calling. And this time it’s calling from the edge.
Hadley Wood. One foot in Hertfordshire, one in London. The start line of something rather grand. The already alluded to Ultimate London Walk. Fourteen linked walks that take you – if you go on all of them – all the way across London, from Hertfordhire streams and woods and fields up here in the distant north, to Surrey Downs, 42 miles away all the way down at the bottom edge of London.
So, yes, now sits expectation in the air. Now sits expectation in the air. Now awaits you: London as you’ve never seen it. First leg – this bears repeating – this Saturday (May 2nd – if you can’t make it don’t despair, come the autumn there’s a second bite of the cherry.)
So, yes, London traversed in 14 brilliant walks – from Hertfordshire countryside to the Surrey Downs. Spread out over the summer. About 3 miles per walk, so it’s a stroll not a yomp.
Just do one or two: see a London that isn’t what you thought it was. Or do the whole caboodle. Bag the bragging rights: “I walked all the way across London.”
But before the starting pistol goes off, before you stride off across meadows and through ancient woods, there’s a small but important matter to attend to.
Breakfast.
Step out of Hadley Wood railway station and just a few yards away you’ll clock it. Limes Cafe. Deep green frontage, a hint of lime about it, tables outside if the weather’s playing nicely. It doesn’t shout. It doesn’t need to. It just quietly gets on with being rather good.
Here’s the move. Get there early.
Not just a quick coffee and dash. No, no. Settle in. Do it properly. You’re about to embark on a three-hour ramble that begins in fields that look like they’ve been smuggled in from the Home Counties. Fuel up. The Easy Limes breakfast, perhaps. Easy Limes is egg, bacon, Cumberland sausage, beans, hash browns and toast. Or go the whole hog with a Loaded Limes. That’s two eggs, bacon, 2 cumberland sausages, beans, mushrooms, 2 hash browns and toast. Gets my vote. After all, This is not the moment for restraint.
And if you’re one of those who claims not to be hungry at 10.30 am when that starting pistol goes off, fine. We’ll work around that. The Make Your Own Sandwich option is your friend. Assemble something handsome. Wrap it up. Pop it in the bag. Because somewhere between Broadgate meadow and that glorious drop towards High Barnet, you’ll be ravenous. And you’ll thank your earlier self.
Little bonus. Just a very agreeable thought this. Round the back of Limese and down the hill. There’s a stream. Trees. And beyond them, proper fields. Farming fields. In London. You couldn’t make it up.
Right. Fortified, you’re going to do Numero Uno Walk with Charlie and 15-20 fellow walkers. Three hence. Walk done. You’ve crossed terrain that feels about as far from central London as it’s possible to get while still being in it. You’ve earned your reward.
Enter Ye Olde Mitre.
This is not a shiny gastropub trying too hard. This is the real thing. Beams. Brick. Fireplaces. A coaching house with a past that stretches back centuries. Charles Dickens and Samuel Pepys are said to have darkened its door. You can believe it.
Take a table. Order something honest and sustaining. A pint if that’s your inclination. Sit back. You’ve just walked the opening chapter of an epic London crossing. This is your interval.
And here’s the clever bit. Don’t linger too long. Because just over the hill, another chapter beckons. High Barnet to Woodside Park. Guide Charlie will very likely be in the Mitre, plotting his next move. Join him. Why wouldn’t you?
That’s the trick with this walk. It’s not just the steps and the terrain and the chats with your fellow walkers. It’s also the moments either side. The small, well-chosen comforts that turn a seriously good outing into an unbeatable outing.
You don’t just do the walk.
You do it properly.
See you tomorrow.