Geocaches Found - 167
Stages Completed In - 22
Start - Gravesend - 16/12/17
Finish - Gravesend - 07/12/19
What to do when you have walked the Capital Ring and the London Loop, but still feel the need to orbit the Capital?
The Countryway follows the same principal - a circular walk - and even further out. Its not an official, signposted long distance way. The route is described in an out of print book by Keith Chesterton. It was written in the 1970s, well before the M25 was constructed. Remarkably, the footpaths are more or less in tact.
Des De Moor has kept the path alive through his blog. Please look there for in depth route descriptions. A number of bloggers have also documented their experiences, although I have the feeling that something terrible has happened to Dick Bowman. From his now defunct site, I was able to lift the very useful GPX files but alas, the domain name is now for sale. Should you need the GPX files, you will be able to download them from the Viewranger Maps at the start of each of my blogs.
I've completed the journey through monthly trips to the smoke - taking advantage of cheap advance Virgin Tickets from my Midlands home. Seems fitting that I finish on the day they lose their franchise.
Lets hope the next West Coast rail providers have similar offers. I've got my eye on the London Peaks and the London Spiral next.
Highlights
The sheer variety of architecture, landscapes and terrain - Kentish hop fields, medieval manor houses, neolithic burial mounds, canals, river paths, woodlands and drops/climbs across valleys.
From a walking perspective, the North Downs Way on the Southern part of the Loop was an absolute joy. Endless vistas along a lengthy ridge path as we moved from Kent and into Surrey.
Plenty of interesting towns to visit - Sevenoaks, Windsor, High Wycombe and St Albans all offering plenty of beery charms.
Lowlights
The Northern Section from High Wycombe gets a tad repetitive - woodland and seemingly never ending ups and downs over the many valleys. The less said about Stage 21's crossing of the A127 the better. At least Des had warned us!
The Stages
Stage 1 - Gravesend to Sole Street
Stage 2 - Sole Street to Borough Green
Stage 3 - Borough Green to Sevenoaks
Stage 4 - Sevenoaks to Oxted
Stage 5 - Oxted to Merstham
Stage 6 - Merstham to Box Hill
Stage 7 - Box Hill to Horsley
Stage 8 - Horseley to West Byfleet
Stage 9 - West Byfleet to Sunningdale
Stage 10 - Sunningdale to Windsor
Stage 11 - Windsor to Marlow
Stage 12 - Marlow to High Wycombe
Stage 13 - High Wycombe to Great Missenden
Stage 14 - Great Missenden to Berkhampsted
Stage 15 - Ashley Green to Kings Langley
Stage 16 - Kings Langley to St Albans
Stage 17 - St Albans to Brookmans Park
Stage 18 - Brookmans Park to Broxbourne
Stage 19 - Broxbourne to Theydon Bois
Stage 20 - Theydon Bois to Brentwood
Stage 21 - Brentwood to West Horndon
Stage 22 - West Horndon to Gravesend
The Flickr Album
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