07/06/14 - Plan for the Worst, Hope for the Best

Distance - 10.6 Miles
Geocaches - Both Of them
Starting Point - Kingston Station
Finish Point - Hatton Cross Tube Station


As with all weekend adventures, half an eye is on the weather.  The day before heading off, it was not looking good.

Wall to Wall Thunderstorms

So as well as packing the usual malt loaf, savoury snacks and sarnies, I dig out my goretex trousers, jacket and twin aquapacks.

Don't need an alarm in the morning - the thunder wakes me at 6am.  Drive to the station is through rain of biblical proportions.

By the time I have made my way to Kingston, the rains have stopped but it all looks rather ominous.

Definition of foreboding skies

One of the other blogger's walking the Loop has suggested that this phase is the best.  I have high hopes.

The King's Head pub at the corner of Bushy Park has the phisog of Henry VIII, which is kind of apt, as we are in the gardens of Hampton Court.  It's full of deer and plenty of photos are taken through the murk.

The walking is on grasslands as I make my way past the leg of mutton lake and then onto Heron Lake.

And guess what lands next to me?

I live here

But all thoughts of looking at the wildlife and scenery disappear as the thunder claps and then heavens open.

I get my goretex suit on but the rain hammering down on my head takes my mind off any pleasantness of location.  I march on over Chestnut Avenue, through the woodlands and into the streets of Teddington.

A tree lined avenue to a proposed extension to the court.  Most of the Chestnuts are Limes

One upside of the rain, is that it allows me to get very close to the aforementioned deer, who have a better idea than a 44 year brummie trying to make headway through the elements.

Should have taken their lead

Exit the park and admire the houses down Burton Road.  By the time I reach the practice area of Twickenham Golf course, the rains have stopped.  And that's it for the day - 45 minutes out of the 4 hours walking.  But I am drenched, so take the time to de-gortex, strap the damp out garments to my rucksack and being as the rucksack is off, make a start on my lunch.

More road walking to Crane Park, which offers walking alongside the River that gives it its name.  At last there are some caches - 2 in total, and I make reasonably quick finds.  Pick up a TB for my trouble.

The "Shot Tower" is the architectural highlight of Crane Park

The tower is part of the former gunpowder workings that hint at the former industrial use of the waterways.

I leave the park and head down a main road.  The sun (which is out) is past the Yard Arm.

My next company car gives me inspiration...

... for what is required at 12:02pm

Suitably refreshed, I head off for the final 2 miles.  Pass Hounslow Cemetery, some flats and onto the heath.  What a desolate place for central London.

Home of the Highwaymen

Navigation is relatively straightforward, as I know that Hatton Cross tube is at the end of Heathrow airport runways.  As long as I aim to where the planes are descending, I should be OK.

The guidebook suggests that this leg ends at Donkey Wood.  There was no reference to it on the OS map, but when I get there, it is well signed.

Donkey Wood - Where the Signs disappear

More like Alabama than Middlesex

The walking is alongside the River Crane again.  Duckboards offer escape from the flooded landscape, which is appreciated.

The signposting on the Loop so far, and the Capital Ring, have been superb... apart from here.  There are none at all.

And for the first time - I, like scores of other London Loop Bloggers, run into problems just before arriving at Great Southwestern Road.  Just before reaching it, you pass under the A312.  Contrary to the map and the guidebook (although the leaflets on the website are correct), the Loop is actually on the otherside of the Crane.  The correct course of action is to go over the bridge and drop down the other side.

I don't do this - and follow a faint path, that disappears completely.  My nicely dried our clothes are re-soaked by the vegetation and by the time I have fought my way to the Great Southwestern Road, I am covered in bits of twigs with insects dropping down the back of my shirt.

I looked pretty good on the tube back into London but none of the recent Heathrow arrivals would sit next to me.