In this series I'm taking the train one stop beyond the Greater London boundary, getting off and seeing what's there. Today that means Whyteleafe, one stop beyond Kenley on trains to Caterham, and also Upper Whyteleafe, one stop beyond Riddlesdown on trains to East Grinstead. I'm doing the two together because they're only 250m apart, indeed two of the closest railway stations in Britain. What's more there's another station within half a mile and what's more the edge of Greater London is literally a stone's throw away. For suburban Surrey it's ridiculously well served.
What you can't see on this map are the contours which are seriously humpy hereabouts. The two railway lines run either side of the A22, one along the floor of a dry valley and the other higher up so it can escape the chalk slopes of the North Downs.
Originally the only station was Warlingham, now called Whyteleafe South. In 1884 a new station opened on the higher line, originally called Upper Warlingham and Whyteleafe but now just Upper Warlingham. In 1900 a new station opened on the lower line to better serve the village centre, this simply called Whyteleafe. None of the stations are in Warlingham but three stations called Whyteleafe Something would be silly.
Whyteleafe is a simple two platform affair and the place to go if you want a train to London Bridge. The adjacent level crossing is one of the few places between here and Purley that cars can cross the railway so it's just as well it doesn't flash into action too often. It sits at the foot of a long residential road called Whyteleafe Hill, not far from a coal tax post because that's how borderline this location has always been.
St Luke's church hides round the first bend, screened behind pine trees and a tall thatched lych gate. Stop off at the porch if you want Bubble Church or Knitting Ninjas, or continue through the churchyard to discover the large patch of war graves dedicated to the memory of those who served at RAF Kenley. The airfield's on the common a few minutes up the hill but I didn't like the look of the muddy climb, plus it's in London so I didn't have to go there.
Whyteleafe gained its name from a house beside the Godstone Road called Whyte Leaf, built in 1856 in a field full of whitebeam trees. It grew as a linear village when terraced houses for the benefit of workers at the local chalk pit and lime works spread out along what's now the A22. They're still here, giving Whyteleafe a baseline of relatively affordable housing below the many detacheds that dominate the upper slopes.
The traffic is fairly relentless, however, with pedestrians reduced to a handful of crossings or attempting to nip across during a quiet bit. The central crossroads now boasts a small roundabout to help speed things up and is overlooked by the Whyteleafe Tavern, a smart-ish pub that was forced to close a few months back for what the police politely called licence infractions.
As well as three railway stations Whyteleafe's high street is also served by three TfL buses, plus two Metrobus routes to Reigate or East Grinstead if you fancy a less frequent but more attractive journey. The shops are only half-decent because if you wanted something better you'd go to Caterham, but there are plenty of cafes, a trio of barber shops and a popular micropub called The Radius Arms.
I'm sad to report that Rosemary Ladies Fashion has finally closed down, having offered floral dresses and smart blouses for so long that the signboard out front still claims the telephone number is 'Upp.Warl. 5307'. I was also shocked to see that the price of cod at Salisbury's chippy has now breached the £10 barrier (whereas it's still £9.90 in Sanderstead and £9.50 at Hamsey Green).
Upper Warlingham station is barely a couple of minutes up the hill and the place to go if you want a train to London Victoria. It has a two-storey car park on the footprint of a former goods siding, some bookswap shelves and a better-staffed ticket office than Whyteleafe. Only the London-bound platform is gatelined, but also only the London-bound platform offers coffee-based refreshment because that's the busy one.
Just north of the station is an arched viaduct just wide enough for two lanes of traffic to pass through, and behind that the joys of Whyteleafe Recreation Ground, a broad swoosh of grass rising sharply into a rim of depleted trees. There isn't a flat surface anywhere so the football pitch has had to be fitted into the least curved dip, but the view from the playground is well worth the ascent. I would have climbed further but the skyline was muted by low mist so best not.
To the east of the railway a handful of residential roads climb steeply, spaced far enough apart that everyone must have a massive back garden. Succomb's Hill is by far the steepest, hitting 1 in 4 near its upper bend, but that's closest to Whyteleafe South station so beyond the remit of today's post. Most of the houses up here were built between the wars, with some later cul-de-sac infill where meadows were originally skipped.
None of the roads go direct and if you attempt to wander off piste only the occasional inclined footpath links top to bottom, so walking anywhere from the station is basically knackering. I slogged up Hillbury Road past a lengthy chain of mega-semis, also the detached fortress where reggae singer Smiley Culture lived (and mysteriously died during a police raid in 2011).
The heart of Warlingham is clustered round the old village green, and a much older settlement. Ye Olde White Lion is 15th century and still looks charmingly flinty, whereas ye Olde Leather Bottle is 18th century and has recently transformed into a shisha-friendly Turkish grill. For proper ancient try All Saints Church, most of which is 13th century, although I refuse to believe that the big yew tree in the churchyard is 2400 years old even if David Bellamy once signed a certificate saying it definitely was.
Where I went wrong was arriving on the day the Christmas lights were being switched on, which meant the Green and surrounding spaces were full of fairgroundfolk erecting stalls, bungee leaps and teacup rides. The illuminations looked fairly paltry but entrepreneurial locals had set up a gazebo to convert boxed merlot into mulled wine by the urnful, so hopefully by 5pm everyone was sloshed enough to be impressed.
What I learnt from all this is that Upper Warlingham station really should be called Lower Warlingham, being a mile downhill from the main action... or even better Upper Whyteleafe, if that's not even more overkill than already exists.
