UNINTERESTING LONDON: Footpath 245 (a series in which I go somewhere mundane in outer London, briefly, and then attempt to make it sound interesting)
Yesterday I walked Footpath 245 in Welling, which is 600m long from Hill View Drive to Wickham Street.
If you get off the bus at the bottom of Shooters Hill outside the We Anchor In Hope pub, then take the second road on the left, that's Hill View Drive. It looks like being a total cul-de-sac, but on the penultimate bend a public footpath bears off and follows the remainder of the road behind green railings. Beyond the last house the path gets quite hemmed in, securely fenced between rolling farmland on one side and a cemetery on the other. The former looks quite alluring but you can't get over there. Three bends follow, including one at the end of Wordsworth Road where they could have created a connecting path through the garages but the residents prefer privacy to access. Instead you have to continue all around the edge of the cemetery until eventually emerging onto Chaucer Road at The Green Man pub, immediately alongside a seafood stall.
A dozen points of minor interest 1) They have unusual footpath markers in the London borough of Bexley. 2) The Bexley website has an excellent interactive map of all public rights of way in the borough. Well done Bexley. 3) You only get public rights of way in outer London, there aren't any in the London borough of Greenwich which starts just the other side of the adjacent field. 4) The unusually-named We Anchor In Hope pub launches its Christmas menu on 8th November, which'll include Katsu Chicken, Pulled Smoked Turkey Burger and Cauliflower Burger. 5) The far end of Hill View Drive used to be a school, and after that council offices, before becoming about 50 houses ten years ago. This helps explain why the footpath skips past the houses with no direct access. 6) The fields to the north became Hillview Cemetery in 1995. Thus far it's only half full and contains no graves of note. The footpath used to follow a shorter less roundabout route before the cemetery was added. 7) The hayfields along the western side of the fence belong to WoodlandsFarm, the popular 89 acre city farm. They're celebrating their 25th anniversary with a Family Farm Fun Day this Thursday. 8) Green Chain section 3 passes through Woodlands Farm, or did until 2007 when the farm got all hissy and locked the gates at either end claiming access would lead to vandalism, and it was only a permissive path anyway, and a big rowbroke out between the farm and the Inner London Ramblers. 9) The gates are still locked because the argument didn't end well, and the farm suggests everyone follows footpath 245 instead, which it has to be said is massively less scenic. 10) The Green Man pub at the end of the footpath has a Thai restaurant attached, or does on days when they have enough staff. According to their website the next event is a Valentine's Day meal in 2017. They're marginally more awake on Facebook. 11) What is it with outer London boroughs and seafood stalls? This one's open three days a week, including from 9am on Sundays which seems ridiculously early for cockle-swallowing, but it had customers (plural) even before the pub had opened. 12) A local resident reminisces... <tbc>
