My attempt to set foot in every 1km×1km grid square in Greater London continues. Blogwise I've placed most emphasis on the squares I'd genuinely never been to before, but others I'd only ever passed through on public transport also need ticking off. Here are five more previouslyuntrodden squares, the acquisition of which has boosted my 'visited' total to 99.5%. They're not a particularly thrilling quintet but hey it's a bank holiday so you should have better things to do than read about off-piste London.
Where's the square? West of Ickenham where the road to Harefield bears off. (click on the map reference and have a look if you're really interested) Are you sure you'd never set foot here before? I thought I recognised the bus stop at the end of Breakspear Road South, so maybe I had been here in 2018 while trying to get from Swakeleys House to Uxbridge Lido for Open House, but this whole quest is about being certain so I went back anyway. What's here? Outer suburbia, as in the point where double garages and conservatories melt into farmland. A private drive called The Drive Private Road. Uxbridge Golf Course (rarely have I followed a public footpath which crossed quite so many fairways in full-on mass-thwack mode). Harvil Farm and Copthall Farm. A dozen bouquets of red and white flowers at the foot of a lamppost. What's not quite here? HS2. The Copthall Tunnel is being dug just to the north, a 550m cut and cover construction (and currently very much in 'cut' mode). It's massive, as is obvious by looking across any field hereabouts, and will displace 1.2 million cubic metres of Excavated Material. A third of this is due to be dumped in TQ0686 and spread across the triangle of land between Harvil Road and Breakspear Road South, indeed may already have been, topping up the undulating agricultural landscape to form an uplifted wedge called the Southern Sustainable Placement Area. The rest of London has no idea what's going on out here. What's the stupidest thing you did while you were here? I walked along Harvil Road, which was fine while there was a pavement but that gave out beyond the last house and I was forced to totter along a thin scrappy verge as traffic rushed by along a straight road with "hidden summits". I was relieved to discover public footpaths U49 and U50 were still open, although U49 had been diverted round a spoil heap alongside a sign giving the freephone number of the HS2 Footpath Diversion Helpline.
Where's the square? To the east of Harefield, just beyond the academy. How had you never set foot here before? I'd been through on the 331 bus but there isn't a bus stop in the square, merely a scrap of a bend on the Northwood Road and a single public footpath which only leads to another public footpath. What's here? The last few detached houses in Harefield, a bend, Shepherds Hill House, fields. What's the stupidest thing you did while you were here? The next bus wasn't for ages so I carried on walking as far as Mount Vernon Hospital, and that (eventually) proved much more dangerous than walking alongside Harvil Road. Why isn't there a photo?Wasn't worth it.
Where's the square? Between Northwood and Northwood Hills, technically in the former. How had you never set foot here before? I've been through on the Metropolitan line hundreds of times, and also a few times on the 282 and H11 buses, but never had need to explore. Are you sure you'd never set foot here before? I have photographic evidence from 2013 that I walked across the golf course from Ruislip Lido to Northwood but I can't be sure whether I stayed within TQ0890 or strayed into TQ0990, and it's important that I get this right which is why I went back and did it for sure. What's here? The A404. A massive girder bridge crossing Rickmansworth Road on the skew. A dozen public footpaths. Cul-de-sacs of bungalows. A lacklustre High Street that's been totally sidelined by the shops around the station. Northwood Rec, Northwood Cemetery and Northwood FC. The majority of Northwood Golf Course. What's the stupidest thing you did while you were here? Walked across yet another golf course (although to be fair they had put up massive great screens to protect ramblers from life-changing projectile injury).
Where's the square? Diametrically opposite the previous three squares, London-wise, i.e. beyond Biggin Hill (just before the Aperfield Inn) on the road down to Westerham. How had you never set foot here before? I'd been through on the 246 bus but there's bugger all reason to alight here unless you want to walk Tatsfield Path. What's here? 200m of Main Road. Chartwell Home Solutions Ltd. A freshly harvested field with uniform golden stalks. A bridleway dotted with piles of horse manure. A lonely tree-in-a-field. Foal Farm Animal Rescue Centre. Remote paths. Something long that the owner of Park Farm really doesn't want you getting access to. The secluded end of Berry's Green. A country lane of minimal width. And of course Cherry Lodge Golf Course because it seems all these untrodden squares are full of golf courses. What's the stupidest thing you did while you were here? Hid in a field because I spotted a dog which seemed to be out for a walk by itself.
Where's the square? Immediately to the east of to the previous square. It's a bit more Cudham than Biggin Hill. How had you never set foot here before? The real question is how the hell had I ever been here before (the answer being that bus routes R5 and R10 clip the northeast corner of the square). When the next bus could be an hour and a half away, one does not alight here without good cause. What's here? I'm not really sure, I was only in the square for five minutes walking in down one lane and out down another. I did spot a mobile phone mast, an honesty box for chicken and duck eggs (kindly return egg boxes if possible), some stables and a big farmhouse that could have been properly old or could have been a too-perfect reconstruction. What's the best thing you did last time you were nearly here? Persuaded a friend that we should divert our walk along the North Downs Way so I could go and see the only place in London that's over four miles from a station, a ridiculous detour which meant yay, I had already been to TQ4457 so could turn round and go home instead.
