London Loop Diaries #3
Section 3: Petts Wood to West Wickham Common (walked 10th January 2026)
I took advantage of a relatively mild January morning, heading deep into South London to tackle Section 3 of the London Loop, a 9-mile ramble from Petts Wood to West Wickham Common via some gorgeous countryside and stunning, old fashioned villages.
Shortly after leaving Petts Wood station and cutting through a few backstreets you’re into Crofton Wood, a pretty little area of woodland between Petts Wood & Crofton that would be perfect for an afternoon stroll.
The backstreets of Crofton lead you into the gorgeous little village of Farnborough, the first of several villages I walked through. I couldn’t stop taking pictures of a building called ‘The Old Forge’ which I assumed was a small museum but later learnt is a car garage! It’s a gorgeous building that’s well worth admiring. The Loop then leads you out of Farnborough via the grounds of St Giles the Abbot, a picturesque church with a history that can be traced back to the 12th century.
The grounds of St Giles the Abbot lead you out into the countryside proper via High Elms Country Park, a lovely stretch of countryside with lots of tight, winding country lanes with names like ‘Shire Lane’ & ‘Farthing Street’ which leave you feeling like you’ve left the confines of the M25 entirely. As an aviation nerd, I really enjoyed seeing all the light and small aircraft flying overhead to and from the nearby Biggin Hill Airport, the sounds of the planes coming and going were both familiar and welcome.
After a few kilometres ambling through the fields and down country lanes and a steep-ish climb, I found myself in front of the Wilberforce Oak & Seat which sits in the grounds of Holwood House and is where British politician William Wilberforce made the decision to lead a parliamentary campaign for the abolition of the slave trade. I reached the seat just as the sun had started to set and the views really were stunning; the rolling hills went on for miles. Had I arrived earlier - and in warmer weather - I would’ve enjoyed sitting here with a good book and something to eat, another time perhaps.
With the sun setting and the temperature starting to drop, I pushed on into Keston and towards the end of this section of the Loop. Keston Common is a pretty park very popular with dog walkers and features Keston Fishponds, which were frozen solid on the day I visited. The route takes you past Caesar’s Well, nothing to do with the Roman Emperor but it is the source of the 18-mile-long River Ravensbourne, getting to see the source of a river was a new one for me.
From Keston, it’s a short walk along a combination of woodland and roadside paths into Hayes where Section 3 of the Loop finishes.
Big, long stretches of this route are out in the open countryside and down winding country lanes, with the illusion that you’re not still in London only being shattered when the occasional red TFL bus drove past. There aren’t as many “highlights” as previous legs of the Loop, but the sheer amount of natural beauty and getting to see something as historically significant as Wilberforce Oak more than made up for it. It's the second time the London Loop has surprised me — I suspect it won't be the last.
26 miles down. 124 miles to go.
