Field, woods, quiet valleys, a gem of a pub, and close to London.
This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.
| Date | Post | # | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, | Saturday Walk - Upper Warlingham to Hayes - Travel Update! | 15 | heavy rain clearing mid afternoon |
| Sat, | Saturday Walk: Upper Warlingham/Whyteleafe to Hayes | 19 | glorious autumn sunshine |
| Sat, | Saturday Short - Whyteleafe to New Addington or Hayes | 11 | mild and occasional sun but with the continual threat of rain |
| Sun, | Sunday Walk – The Biggin Hill Air Show (Whyteleafe to Hayes) | 10 | dry and mild |
| Sun, | Christmas Eve walk: Whyteleafe to Hayes | 12 | cloudy but dry and mild |
| Sat, | Saturday Walk - The North Downs from Zone 6 | 32 | misty at first then warm and sunny later |
| Sat, | Saturday Walk 1 - Whyteleafe to Hayes | 17 | cloud clearing to a little sunshine and then reverting to cloudy humid all day |
| Sat, | Whyteleafe to Hayes | 7 | wet windy muddy |
| Sat, | Whyteleafe [Upper Warlingham] to Hayes | 32 | |
| Sun, | Whyteleafe [Upper Warlingham] to Hayes | 14 | |
| Wed, | Whyteleafe [Upper Warlingham] to Hayes | ||
| Sun, | New Addington to Hayes | ||
| Sun, | Whyteleafe [Upper Warlingham] to Hayes | ||
| Sat, | Whyteleafe to Hayes | ||
| Sat, | Whyteleafe to Hayes | ||
| Wed, | Whyteleafe to Hayes |
Length: 17km (10m)
Toughness: 5 / 10
Transport: Take the 9:50 train from London Victoria arriving in Upper Warlingham at 10:22. Return trains from Hayes every 15min starting on the hour. All stations are within Zone 5 or 6 so you can use your Oyster card.
A pleasant walk through woodlands near London finishing via Hayes common. The lunch pub is the Grade II listed White Bear in Fickleshole. I'm not sure if the quaint Java
The 9.50 was cancelled but lots of us on the 10.20, which we hope will move soon…..
I wasn’t expecting to write the walk report for this one (being a refugee from the cancelled Meopham walk…) so I did not count, but at least 15 on this walk, possibly one or two more.
Victoria was a mass of train cancellations. The 9.50 to Upper Warlingham looked to be an exception. It was marked as late, got a bit later, then succumbed. The 10.20 did depart but proceeded to stop at every signal, so it seemed, including one just outside Upper Warlingham station, where it sat for about five minutes. We finally disembarked at around 11.20.
Our walk poster had very patiently waited for us. Two car drivers had gone on ahead, and two or three others materialised in the lunch pub, having apparently got earlier trains or come from New Addington.
So off we set. Our later start meant the rain hit us fairly soon after starting, and very wretched it was, driven on by a keen wind. The ground underfoot was as soggy as you might expect in places, though not in others. The White Bear was a welcome refuge when we got there.
Finishing lunch at about 2pm, we emerged into lashing rain. A whole gaggle of walkers responded to this by setting off for the shorter ending to New Addington. At least two carried on to Hayes. Four of us went back inside the pub to have another drink. This proved a good move, because when we emerged the rain was stopping, and there was even a bit of blue sky later. So heavy rain clearing mid afternoon .
We had a pleasant, if often squelchy, walk into Hayes. There were little signs of spring - cherry plum blossom starting, some daffodils, a lark singing. We got to Hayes at 4.45pm, having met the two aforementioned Hayes walkers on the way, and, cute little independent tea shops being in short supply, had a cosy tea in Costa Coffee before getting the (?) 17.30 train back to Covidland.
18 assembled at Upper Warlingham station, welcome newcomers! The forerunner suffered a minor giro failure but we were soon all on track to the local recreation ground bathed in glorious autumn sunshine and up through Roundburrow Shaw through to Farleigh and the lunch stop at Fickleshole.
As ever, the White Bear proved to be an excellent "olde world" pub with open fires and attentive staff. Some hardier types even sat out for lunch. Most set of for Hayes and the standard afternoon leg, but rumour has it that two headed off to Addington and were whisked back to East Croydon on the tram.
Many thanks to CH for posting this delightful walk so near to London
Three of us who took tea in Hayes were joined on the train home by a late started, making 19 .
I was part of a group of 6 who were last to leave the lunch pub, we didn't have GPX etc. and so were reliant on the written instructions. We got lost around Point 28: 'Head for a hidden stile recessed on the right-hand side of the next field (direction 20 degrees), passing to the right of 2 large oak trees'. We had a compass and we passed to the right of the oak trees, but couldn't find the stile. Could you please re-write this section with greater clarity for walkers using only the written instrustions.
Sorry to those who got lost. I don't understand how you missed the stile, which hasn't previously proved so elusive, but I will look again to see if the directions can be made clearer.
It's worth pointing out that the shorter afternoon option you've chosen finishes in New Addington, not Hayes. So today's walk should be called Whyteleafe to New Addington, not Whyteleafe to Hayes. Trams leave New Addington for East Croydon and West Croydon every 7 or 8 minutes.
11 on this walk with the mild and occasional sun but with the continual threat of rain
Lovely walk though slightly more inclines than expected.
Lunch at the White Bear was very good with waitress service and no fluster and good food and two great blazing fires - I could have stayed there all day.
With the sun shining after lunch and all of us having got our breath back and being refuelled we all ended up doing the 10 mile option, ( much to the chagrin of one walker who wanted to take the short cut but carried on with us )
Little to report except that there were horses in the afternoon with extremely thick necks which made a few of us wonder, Why?
The Well Wood in the afternoon is a wood of chestnut trees left over from the days of charcoal making so that should be excellent for chestnuts next year.
Tea in Hayes was at the regular cafe but they now have a back room with easy chairs and lots of room which was valuable as 9 of us made it and it was a nice finish to the day.
Puffing William
10 I think. dry and mild . Pleasant walk, mostly along bridleways, and it was nice to do this one on dry ground. A tip for anyone wanting more open stretches who doesn't mind adding about 700m to the walk, is to detour on the afternoon at the sign for Leaves Green, up through open countryside then back down the valley to re-join the footpath further on.
This walk proved a very good choice for the Biggin Hill Centenary. We had fantastic views of the aircraft in the afternoon, with some of them swooping so close that we could read the markings. The Red Arrows came over, as did Spitfires a Lancaster and a bomber escorted by two smaller planes.
12 , cloudy but dry and mild . Despite being fully booked, the White Bear squeezed in the six walkers who wanted a pub lunch. Later, three tried out a new diversion across fields that cut out a section of a long bridleway but lengthened the walk a bit. Since Java & Chai was closed, some finished the day with a drink at the New Inn.
I'm in!!!
Because I'm gonna go alone, can you please specify where we have to meet, in Victoria platform station or in Upper Warlingham platform station?
I will print the pdf anyway ;)
Looking forward to it
Meet on the platform at Upper Warlingham platform. The group should be obvious.
I guess 17 including one who missede the train and caught up with us at the lunch pub in Ficleshole (what a terrible name) where food came so quickly for the first few orders that we were a bit suspicious but my salad Nicoise was excellent with a large piece of seared tuna.
The weather was cloud clearing to a little sunshine and then reverting to cloudy humid all day .
Some 'old fashioned looking' fields with long grasses gone to seed with very occasional wild flowers - as though it was a field for cattle or sheep but the animals had all been gone for a long time, even the tree in the middle for shade seem to have recovered and grown branches down.
A lot of the walk is through narrow 'alleys' with quite a bit of bramble growth so thank you to the one person who brought a pair of secateurs to trim the buggers back - one day maybe we will all carry some form of cutting tool, someone suggested a scythe.
More slopes than I expected for a 4 out of 10
About 100 metres beyond the Station at Hayes on the other side of the road is the Java and Chai Tea room which coped wonderfully with the 14 of us who called in for tea and cake - we were all seated at two large tables in the middle and we went up and paid separately and they didn't bat an eyelid. Good selection of teas and homemade cake - I know that it was home made because it wasn't perfect but certainly very nice.
Thsi walk would be good in autumn apparently someone said but I can't remember why
AND some of the blackberies were ripe - that is getting on for 6 weeks earlier than 20 years ago
Stephen
Transport: Take either the 9:15 from London Bridge arriving in Whyteleafe at 9:50 or the 9:23 from London Victoria arriving in Upper Warlingham at 9:53. The Warlinghamers should wait for the Whyteleafers to meet at Whyteleafe station and start the walk together from there.
If you prefer to have a shorter walking morning and start later, take the 10:07 from London Victoria changing in East Croydon to the Tram to New Addington and start the walk from there. The Tram is paid for as you would pay for buses, i.e. free with a Travelcard and £1.45 with Oyster pay-as-you go (only touch in, not out !). £2.40 for a paper ticket. Those who take the shortcut should arrive at about the same time as the full-length walkers at the lunch pub the White Bear. Speaking of which, the White Bear is a really cosy 16th century pub and sometimes it is difficult to leave if you can snap a spot at the fireplace. Not that I would recommend it (the afternoon walk is nice, too) but you can call a taxi back to New Addington from the pub ....
Return from Hayes are at xx:08, xx:20, xx:38 and xx:50. There are also buses. Hayes is in Zone 5.
For those who wish to see a Guy Fawkes fireworks display after the walk Blackheath (free, starting 8pm) would be a good option since the return trains at xx:20 and xx:50 stop in Lewisham from where you can walk to Blackheath Common.
From the walk notes:
Despite its proximity to London, this walk is surprisingly rural in character, passing through fields, woods and quiet valleys, often along shady bridleways. The second half of the walk is entirely within a London borough, though it does not feel like it. Although there are few noteworthy features, the gently rolling countryside provides some fine vistas, and the lunchtime pub is a real gem.
Meeting at Whyteleafe station would require those arriving at Upper Warlingham to head off in the opposite direction to the normal route. Better for the two groups to meet at the entrance to Whyteleafe Recreation Ground where the routes from both stations converge.
Always a good option for those short autumnal days - especially for us South Londoners but don't let the proximity to London lull you into a false sense of security! ''There will be mud!'' as Daniel Day Lewis might have said in one of his films. May well do this.
7 wet windy muddy . Horses galore. Lovely creatures but by the cringe they really churn up the bridleways! 4 started (3 at Warl, 1 at Whyteleafe); 3 joined at various intervals at lunch. Food & drink & service at White Bear was exceptional. 2 of us had tea at Hayes Java&Chai Tea room. Excellent in all respects; please go!x See photos!