Good news for Dulwich walkers on 25th & 26th

[Ian Bull]

Hullo everyone,

Are you interested in fitness, walking and, great landscape? On the weekend of 25th & 26th September the Green Chain Walk, London's first long distance footpath network, extends into Dulwich. An array of remarkable views and the Capital's finest woodland await you.

An important new amenity, this is the first major extension to the network since its inception in 1977. To make the most of this, two free guided walks are taking place and everyone in Dulwich is more than welcome to join either or both of them.

** On the 25th there'll be the fifth Green Chain Megawalk. This takes us from Crystal Palace to the Thames at Erith, the furthest point on the network, in just one day. If you've ever wondered where the GC goes to this is for you and you don't need to be an athlete to complete it. Despite traversing 21.5 miles the measured pace has always seen just about everyone finish. You can do this, and you certainly won't regret it!

** The 26th sees the opening of the extension to Dulwich. We start fairly late at 2pm (time to recover from the Megawalk) from Nunhead and make our way to Dulwich Park (5 miles) for a reception. The walk will then optionally progress to Crystal Palace (8.5 miles) so we can say we we're the first to complete the new footpath's course. We should be there by 6pm. It's hoped for a really well attended and jolly event so, do tell everyone and bring them along.

Details of both walks are given below. I'm leading them on behalf of Walk London and very much hope to see you over the weekend. If you have any queries do feel very free to contact me.

All the best

Ian Bull

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** The 25th's 'Megawalk' has brief details at...

** The opening of the Green Chain Walk's extension on the 26th has brief details at...

** The Green Chain's website is...

***Greater details are given below.***

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Saturday 25th September 2010. The fifth Green Chain 'Megawalk'.

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South East London's 'Green Chain' stretches in a great arc from Crystal Palace to Erith. The first long distance footpath in the Capital it links together a huge variety of undeveloped greenery ranging from playing fields to miles of uninterrupted dense woodland. The Green Chain also offers spectacular views over London and out into the North Sea.

The annual Megawalk allows you to see the best of those views and landscapes in one day.

A 9.15am start at Crystal Palace is followed by 21.5 miles of splendid walking to Erith. For much of the walk you'll have no idea that you are in a City, let alone London.

The key to completing this pleasantly challenging walk is solid progress at average walking pace. No faster and certainly no slower. If three, to three and a half mph is maintained the walk will be comfortably completed by our cut-off time of 6.15pm. The cream of walking in London, the Megawalk generates terrific camaraderie and, a wonderful feeling of achievement at the end.

You can see the route online at...

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3142264 for Crystal Palace to Shooters Hill.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3095310 for Shooters Hill to Erith.

** Some important points! **

* Meet 9.15am at Crystal Palace railway station.

* You must be reasonably fit to complete this walk. It is steep in places, notably after lunch.

* A packed lunch is essential.

* Make sure you have plenty of water with you.

* The walk leaders No. on the day is 077 998 101 78. NOTE: this cannot accept SMS Texts or voicemail.

There's always pleasant company, the camaraderie and landscape sees everyone through to the finish and yes, it really is London's best walk.

Feel free to contact the Walk Leader, Ian Bull, in advance.

020 7223 3572

ianbull AT btinternet DOT com

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Sunday 26th September 2010. Opening of the Green Chain Walks extension.

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Good news! On Sunday 26th the Green Chain Walk's long awaited extension from Crystal Palace to Nunhead will open.

There will be an opening ceremony followed by a walk along the route. Everyone is most welcome.

The route really is very pleasant. The ridge of land between Nunhead and Crystal Palace affords wonderful views and the greenery throughout gives the course a rural air. If you've not been to the area before you'll see some wonderful vistas of London that might surprise you.

We'll start from Nunhead station at 2pm and make our way into the Victorian splendour of Nunhead Cemetery for the 'Ribbon Cutting' ceremony. We then progress via Camberwell New Cemetery, One Tree Hill, Camberwell Old Cemetery and Horniman Gardens (Public Conveniences available) to Sydenham Hill Woods Nature Reserve. Here we'll take the extensions branch to Dulwich Park where a reception with refreshments will take place between 4.00-4.30pm or slightly later. We'll have covered just under five miles. There will be the option of a flatter route via Brenchley Gardens avoiding the steep climb up One Tree Hill.

For those wishing to enjoy the whole route we'll continue from the Dulwich Park reception back down the branch to Sydenham Hill Woods and make our way through the rest of the Nature Reserve to the former Upper Sydenham railway station, High Level Drive, and Crystal Palace Park for buses and trains home. We'll be there by 6pm and will have done just under 8.5 miles.

The walk will be led by Mark Budd, the Green Chain Walk's Project Officer, and myself, on behalf of Walk London. If you'd like further details contact Mark at [email protected] or myself at ianbullATbtinternetDOTcom We both very much look forward to seeing you.

If you'd like to make it a Green Chain walking weekend, Saturday 25th sees the fifth Green Chain 'Megawalk'. See

All the best

Ian Bull

[peterstorm1985]

Is there a map showing the route of the extended section?

[Ian Bull]

Hullo Peterstorm1985,

Here are two I drew up to measure the mileages. You'll have to zoom out a little with the slider on the left. Please don't attempt to edit them!

Nunhead - Crystal Palace is at...

Sydenham Hill Woods - Dulwich Park is at...

There is a specially commissioned 'artistic' version and tomorrow I'll ask the Green Chain office if I may upload it.

All the best

Ian Bull

[Ian Bull]

Hullo again everyone,

As requested, here's a map of the Green Chain Walk's extension including the Dulwich branch. The first part of Sunday 26ths walk, from Nunhead to Dulwich Park, is shown with a dotted green line.

All the best

Ian Bull

[peterstorm1985]

Thanks Ian, that's really helpful - I have to say your map is a lot better than the 'artistic' one which is very odd.

[Ian Bull]

Hullo everyone,

I think I should have said that Prams, pushchairs and buggies etc. will encounter some difficulty on the Green Chain extension walk on the Sunday 26th. In Sydenham Hill Woods Nature Reserve a kissing gate makes it necessary to lift carriages. Those wishing to complete the walk to Crystal Palace will, I'm afraid, find two further such obstacles. I hope this doesn't deter you!

Ian Bull

[felt-tip]

Today's 'megawalk' was great fun and really well attended. Thanks Ian for being such a good guide to south east London - discovered and learnt so much about the area. I'm off to soak my weary feet.

[Ian Bull]

Hullo felt-tip,

Thanks very much for the above and sorry for the delay in replying. I'm pleased you enjoyed the Megawalk, so did I. If anything it was a bit too easy this year as all the walkers were so competent. Usually I have to run miles rounding-up and encouraging the weary. I hope those feet were well soaked and that you'll give it another bash next year.

There's a super series of photos taken this year by Babul, who came all the way from New Hampshire. I'm sending you the url in a private message. If I put it here his bandwidth would be burnt up very rapidly!

The annual Megawalk shows just how good the Green Chain is and why it's well worth venturing further. If anyone else wants to see this years photos just PM me and I'll send you the url as well.

Thanks again felt-tip. A pleasure to have your company.

Ian Bull

[Ian Bull]

Hullo everyone,

Many thanks to all who braved the weather and attended the opening of the Green Chain Walk's extension on Sunday 26th. Thanks also to those who took part in the fifth Crystal Palace to Erith 'Megawalk' on Saturday 25th.

It was a real pleasure, on both days, to walk with such splendid people. I'm sorry I couldn't speak with more of you. The penalty of being stuck at the front...

I had my work cut out. About 200 people participated on the 26th, I wonder how many more there'd have been with better weather?

The railway to Crystal Palace High Level station closed in 1954. Since then it's been a well trodden route, not least by my fellow railway enthusiasts. The Green Chain footpath network opened in 1977 and adding the old railway was first mooted decades ago. Publicly financed mootings began about seven years ago. Today's route follows the line less closely but I hope you'll agree that the landscape and views are the better for that.

Now that the extension is with us you might like to follow the Green Chain a little further, perhaps a lot further. It's well worth it! One of the participants on Saturdays Megawalk has placed an insight into what's East of Crystal Palace online. If I put the link here his bandwidth would be exceeded very rapidly! But, if you send me a PM, I'll supply the link.

There will be more walks on the Green Chain over the last weekend in January. I hope the moderators won't mind if I post some details here.

Again, thank you all for being such great company and I hope you enjoyed the weekend's walks as much as I did.

All the best

Ian Bull

[louisiana]

Hi Ian

We were also on the walk on Sunday, and had a chat with you.

I'm a bit puzzled by your two bandwidth references. Unless the people concerned have posted video or hi-qual audio, I don't imagine there's any kind of bandwidth issue, particularly considering it might generate at most a few dozen views (from people who attended the walk). Each image is likely to be 25-50KB, with a max of 200KB (if the uploader hasn't been careful), no? Isn't the Web all about linking?

[Ian Bull]

Hullo Louisiana,

Thanks for the above. I do hope you enjoyed the walk.

Perhaps 'bandwidth' is not quite the right term yet I think my point is correct.

The photos are on a gallery website and I must assume that the photographer has a free account. The problem with these gallery providers is that they expect a fairly small number of people (100?) to access 'our day at the beach' which is typical of their content. Were a large number of users to seek access the subscriber might well find their account unexpectedly cancelled due to a terms of use abuse.

This has happened to many people whom I know. The amount of data may be small but the gallery providers do wish to make some money. Cancelling a free account for over-use is widely used to persuade subscribers to seek a paid-for account.

The walks were mentioned on several bulletin boards and so far there have been just under 3,500 'hits'. Less than 300 people took part. It's so easy to click on a link!

So far just one person has sent me a PM asking for the link. If I made the photos url publicly available I suspect the photographer could easily lose their account through hundreds, and possibly thousands, of people having a look. I believe that requesting a PM for access is reasonable.

Please do send me a PM if you'd like the url!

All the best

Ian

[felt-tip]

Just done the Dulwich / Nunhead extension.

Really enjoyable walk on a lovely afternoon.

[Medley]

Yeah, lovely times. Couldn't believe how much more green space there is within easy walking difference. You really can go from Nunhead to Crystal Palace and back with some variety on the return and hardly see a busy road, mostly not seeing a road at all.