For today's post I've visited the least extreme points in London's most extreme boroughs.
That's the easternmost point in the westernmost borough, the southernmost point in the northernmost borough, the westernmost point in the easternmost borough and the northernmost point in the southernmost borough.
As posts go it's a lot of effort for scant reward.
Hillingdon East[map] Borderline with: Ealing Location: Yeading/Southall Specifically: bend on Grand Union towpath Distance from Charing Cross: 11 miles
This is the nicest of the four, a quiet bend on the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal opposite Willow Tree Open Space. The canal forms the Ealing/Hillingdon boundary all the way down from Southall Cricket Club to Bull's Bridge, a distance of 2½ miles, but this bump is as far east as it gets. I was expecting the dividing line to be down the centre of the waterway but no, it's actually the inner edge of the towpath, thereby creating a long thin strip of Hillingdon cut off from the rest of the borough by water. Spring's a great time to be here with the blossom out, some tentative budding and moorhens making merry in the cut. It's difficult to be certain which is Hillingdon's easternmost tree, but let's say it's the large sprawling one whose trunk and inner branches are totally smothered by ivy.
The towpath's well kept and clean with just the one can of Red Bull discarded beside our point of interest. Temporary visitors during my visit included sequential joggers, a posse of tentative canoeists and an off-yellow butterfly. On the far side a white and blue narrowboat called Picnic had tied up, its owner taking full advantage of the quietest corner of Willow Tree Open Space to do some waterside chores. To get there on foot requires a brief walk to cross one of London's most photogenic footbridges, so long as you get the reflection of the arc in the water right. But for an easier escape simply step through the permeable woody strip alongside the towpath to enter King George's Field, a larger than necessary recreation ground, but that's in Ealing so need not detain us here.
Enfield South[map] Borderline with: Haringey/Waltham Forest Location: Meridian Water/Tottenham Specifically: River Lea by Edmonton Bus Garage Distance from Charing Cross: 8 miles
What a difference the weather makes. Again this one's waterside but I visited while it was chucking it down so the ambience was damp grey. The southern edge of Enfield runs mostly east-west but near the old IKEA it bulges south to embrace a large block of formerly-important post-industrial estate. To find the borough's tip aim for the River Lea and seek out the Chalk Bridge, the footbridge which marks the end of Tottenham Marshes. This narrow crossing is marginally in Haringey whereas the foot of the giant pylon just beyond is a denizen of Enfield. Any fridges, cupboards, chairs or windowpanes dumped beside the towpath could be in either borough. The borderline structure is actually the High Maynard Eel Transfer, or so it says on Thames Water's heavily fortified gate, behind which the borough triple point lurks in the middle of a flood relief channel.
Enfield's southernmost commercial enterprise is Arriva's Edmonton bus garage, a remote depot surrounded by vehicular detritus whose access road is a puddled waterside sprint. They're one of the last surviving tenants of the Stonehill Business Park which is being sequentially demolished as part of the Meridian Water masterplan. Every time I walk thisway something else has gone, in this case the hutlike Leaside Cafe, and in its place are three huge humpy sheds that house (checks website, blimey) Troubadour Film Studios. I wasn't hanging around at this point, I was dashing for shelter under the North Circular, leaving a bass-pumping narrowboat and (potentially) some eels to fight it out as Enfield's southernmost residents.
Havering West[map] Borderline with: Redbridge/Essex Location: Hainault Forest Specifically: Hainault Golf Club Distance from Charing Cross: 14 miles
Here's the remote one you need sensible footwear to reach, especially after all the wet weather we've been having because a mile of squelchy footpaths can be difficult. It's located at the top end of Hainault Forest Country Park, but not quite at the high point on Cabin Hill where all the footpaths meet because that would be too easy. Instead it's a tad to the east, not deeper into the ancient woodland but across the divide within the embrace of a private golf club. You might think that would scupper my challenge but no, thankfully a public footpath threads between the fairways, indeed it's the same footpath that carries London Loop section 20 so you might well have been to this utterly liminal spot yourself.
To enter Havering I only needed to cross the 10th and 11th holes, and because no golfers were thwacking their balls there was no need to take shelter in the silver birch cluster. Beyond the 10th tee the path enters the Mile Long Plantation, a perfectly-named woody strip which weaves downhill between lofty trunks, fallen logs, holly bushes and empty conker cases. Officially you're supposed to follow the signs along the public right of way but I trespassed minorly by continuing to the edge of the adjacent course (they have two) for a better view. Even Collier Row looks pretty when seen beyond tumbling trees and open fields. And then I trespassed minorly again along the perpendicular path, having checked for groundsmen, because the triple point with Essex is slightly uphill where the plantation merges into the forest. It looked much the same. As punishment for my transgression I did get even muddier on the long hike back.
Croydon North[map] Borderline with: Lambeth Location: Streatham/Norwood Specifically: the tip of Streatham Common Distance from Charing Cross: 6 miles
And here's the easy one, being on a main road with a regular bus service rather than on a towpath or deep in some woods. The London borough of Croydon spreads a lot further north than Croydon itself, encompassing Selhurst, Thornton Heath and most of the Norwoods. It finally draws to a close along Crown Lane and Crown Dale off Crown Point, which as all those crowns suggest is a bit of a highpoint. The critical point comes just before Streatham Common begins (another greenspace that's objectionably muddy underfoot at present should you step off the paved paths). It would once have been at the very tip of the common but someone built a house in the corner, I'd say in the 1970s judging by the flatness of the roof. We are therefore looking for the point where the streetsigns change.
Here we are, with a Croydon-style street sign on the left and a Lambeth-branded street sign on the right. The last house in Croydon is number 55a, another late arrival, I'd say from the 1980s judging by the fake Regency pillars propping up the porch. I hoped to prove this was Croydon by checking the bins but they must keep theirs round the back, through the wrought iron gate, so I had to walk all the way up to the top of Ryecroft Road before I found a confirmatory pile of municipal green binbags on the verge. Very officially the northpoint is in the middle of the road, but because there's no traffic island you can't safely stand there, so best just look out for the enormous pine tree instead. Like I said, scant reward.
