Sometimes you just want to go for a nice walk, nothing too taxing, lots of heritage, hugely contrasting, multiple stately homes, leafy slopes, renowned architecture, refreshment opportunities, occasional squirrels, fully bookleted, a bit of a stroll, won't take long. So here's a choice of five in Roehampton, nowhere near enough to make a day of it but nice walks all the same.
The 48-page booklet is called Roehampton Walks and has recently been compiled by Wandsworth council. It offers five one-mile walks around the suburb, each with several stops, photographs and background detail. It's beautifully designed with lovely graphics, and printed on decent glossy paper of the kind cash-strapped boroughs no longer normally spend. You can download a pdf and use that to work your way round, but I'm pleased to report they (finally) have free copies in RoehamptonLibrary so I grabbed one of those instead. By themselves the five walks are all ridiculously short, with absolutely no suggestion in the booklet that you join some of them together, but I did the sensible thing and linked three. If you like heritage variety I can recommend.
Nice Walk 2: Roehampton Lane North (1 mile)
I skipped walk 1 because it's short and only has two stops, but if you've always wondered where addled celebs go when they check into The Priory then give it a go. I preferred walk two because it starts near Barnes station and has a bit more depth. It kicks off at the top of Roehampton Lane with Wandsworth's only thatched building (although if it were on the other side of the road it would be in Richmond). Behind it is the Roehampton Club, a 100 acre sports hub with its origins in polo, but that's private so crossing the threshold is for members only. Amongst the private flats down the road is Fairacres, a long crescent block with appealing brick curves that scream 1930s, and correctly so.
Much of the west side of the road is occupied by the University of Roehampton, a group of former teacher-training colleges now high in various academic rankings, and dubiously accessible. Its parkland campus looks appealing but the signs on the gates send mixed messages about access, welcoming sensible dog walkers while also telling visitors where to sign in. I was only persuaded it was OK to go in when the walking route bore off at the estate's former gatehouse, leading to a wooded path and ooh, a mausolueum hidden in the trees. At the end of the lane I discovered a large Georgian mansion and behind that a rose garden and extensive landscaped grounds with a scenic lake. It still felt almost like trespassing with all the students milling round, but thanks Walk Two, your finale very much delivered.
Nice Walk 3: Central Roehampton (1 mile)
There's one more big old house to walk past, once occupied by the Marchioness of Devonshire and now anonymous study space for the university. Things then pick up considerably, at least for fans of 1950s architecture, when a path alongside the Roehampton Family Hub leads to the Alton Estate. This renowned LCC overspill mixed Brutalist blocks, Scandi lowrise and sloping grassland to accommodate 13,000 residents across two distinct phases - Alton East and Alton West. The walk enters by the slab blocks and then proceeds too quickly to the bronze bull by the bus terminus. I deviated instead along the ridge to better admire the concrete stilts and broader le Corbusian vision across a strikingly autumnal panorama, before nipping down as directed to the shops.
Classic postwar housing doesn't have to be highrise. The staggered bungalows in Minstead Gardens are alluringly attractive, especially in full sunlight, with cute cylindrical chimneys atop an admittedly flaking flat roof. I'm not sure the residents approve of outsider interest however as a pensioner walked over after I'd gone and pointed me out to a neighbour hanging out his washing, no doubt assuming my attempts at photography could only be bad news. I was actually trying to line up another classical mansion in the background, this time Mount Clare, once home to the Admiral of the Fleet, the Governor of the Bank of England and the discoverer of niobium. Another indication of the estate's great age is the Maryfield Convent, home to the Poor Servants of the Mother of God, where this walk abruptly terminates.
The booklet also includes details of seven independent shops you might want to frequent while on the walks. Each plug fills a page with a photo of the owners, a location map and a charming bio interspersed with bland filler. If you're the bod who wrote "With a focus on community well-being, East Chemist continues to be a go-to destination for professional, friendly and accessible healthcare" you really lowered the tone. The blurb about chippie The Right Plaice is the least motivating, but having walked round the back while switching from Walk 3 to Walk 4 I sniffed the Friday fry and can heartily recommend.
Nice Walk 4: Roehampton Lane South (1 mile)
The final mansion is a Palladian villa called Parkstead House, built for the 2nd Earl of Bessborough by the same architect who designed Somerset House. Again it's now part of the University of Roehampton and dubiously accessible so this time I didn't risk following students through the gates. To exit the modern estate you pass the shopping parade on Danebury Avenue which is destined to be demolished under plans literally just agreed in an estate-wide residents ballot. The masterplan is expertly described across the walls of the former Co-op, which is destined to become a new community hub, followed by 13 denser blocks on the footprints of existing flats. It means more housing in better quality accommodation, but also an anodyne architectural insert diminishing the original cohesive vision.
By crossing the main road the walk enters entirely contrasting territory, a characterful narrow high street with two ancient pubs. The King's Head is fundamentally Tudor, and I take issue with their chalkboard which asks Is It Ever Too Early To Think About Christmas? The retail selection here is a notch upmarket - definitely no betting shop or Greggs - with intermittent weatherboarding and yet another convent. If you've only ever seen Roehampton from a bus you won't have been up here, for reasons clarified by the two delivery lorries I watched struggling to get out. A similar hazard is the village's Italianate drinking fountain which, along with two former horse troughs, now forms a floral but obstructive traffic island.
Roehampton boasts one of the borough's oldest secular buildings which is Lloyds Local Convenience Store. It started out as a quaint cottage in the 17th century, morphed later into a beer shop and then a tiny pub, but served its last pint in 2006 and is now more snacks and vapes. Few buildings jar as much as the former Montague Arms. To end the walk head past the Shell Garage to the parish church, built only when the local population passed critical religious mass. The door was open but I didn't dare peer in after I spotted a driver in mourning dress parked outside. You could at this point download Wandsworth's Looky Rooky app and track down 35 stickers across the neighbourhood, or continue to Walk 5 across Putney Heath which if you're past school age I'm sure would be more satisfying. It's a quality resource this, and five nice walks to boot.
