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The River Beck Short Walk

Rural start through West Wickham, then down the River Beck Corridor through woodlands and parks to Beckenham's busy Town Centre

Easy London Short

History

Club walks since April 2015, and a summary which goes back to Jan 2010.

Date Option Post # Weather
Thu, 19-Jun-25 Evening Walk - The River Beck: Rural start through West Wickham, then down the River Beck Corridor through woodlands and parks to Beckenham's busy Town Centre [New Walk] 8 hot for an evening
Thomas G
Length : 9.5 km /5.9 mi, with 86/110m ascent/descent
Net Walking Time : 2 hrs

Take the 18.09 Hayes (Kent) train from Charing X (Waterloo East 18.12, London Bridge 18.18), arrives Hayes at 18.53. Hayes is in Zone 5.
Return trains from Beckenham Junction: 20.43 to LBG, then xx.09, xx.24, xx.39 and xx.54 to Victoria (via Herne Hill and Brixton) and xx.13 to London Bridge (via Tulse Hill and Peckham Rye).
There is also the Tram to East Croydon and on to Wimbledon... Beckenham Junction is in Zone 4.

After a part-suburban, part-rural walk from Hayes station through West Wickham, this Outer London route follows the River Beck from its sources in woodlands on high ground in Spring Park to Beckenham’s Town Centre as closely as sensible. In the upper reaches, the Beck forms the Borough Boundary between Bromley and Croydon (i.e. formerly Kent and Surrey), and the very most of the route runs through Bromley.

The route through the Beck Corridor itself is a healthy mixture of mature and younger woodlands where the river meanders naturally and some landscaped parks with lakes dammed from the river, featuring a couple of ‘waterfalls’, mainly linked-up by quiet residential roads, but not without about 1 kilometre of busy roads to walk along. The Beck is crossed many a times, including once on stepping stones.

Beckenham’s town centre features the ‘Cathedral of North West Kent’ with England’s oldest lychgate.

Note : Kelsey Park at the Beckenham end of the route gets locked in the evening, in June at 21.30: https://www.kelseyparkbeckenham.co.uk/ .

Eat/Drink: Numerous options at the Beckenham end (some covered on an optional loop). See the walk directions for more detail.

For walk directions, map, photos and gpx/kml files click here .



  • Thomas G
    Jun-25

    7 punters met off the stifling rush-hour train, with 1 other a train behind, so 6 started with 1 waiting for the late-runner. We walked a slightly lower than normal pace in light of the hot for an evening temperatures.

    The group seemed to enjoy the route for its variety and fairly high exposure to the riverbed (nearly dry higher up but with some flow lower down), especially the linear wood near the source, the meandering stretches in High Brook Wood and of course the trickle out of a pipeline that is the highest discernable evidence of the Beck.

    The heronry on the island in Kelsey Park was like a gigantic christmas tree with birds for baubles: some nesting herons, lots of egrets and some gulls as well.

    We then reached downtown Beckenham just after 21.00 and settled for the Sapore Vero restaurant, where 5 ate and 3 drank.

    Buses or trains just before 23.00 for 8