London Loop Diaries #4
Section 4: West Wickham Common to Hamsey Green (walked 14th February 2026)
A brief window of dry sky in a soggy February was all the excuse I needed to tick Section 4 off the list. It turned out to be a delightfully filthy ramble that somehow delivered one of the best views in the city.
The trail picks up about half a mile from Hayes station. The first landmark is a meridian stone sitting in Coney Hall recreation ground. It marks 0∘ longitude, but it’s a far cry from the tourist-heavy spectacle of Greenwich. Here, the prime meridian sits unceremoniously next to a nursery.
From there, it’s a dive into Cheyne Woods, Threehalfpenny Woods, and Shirley Heath. For a city walk, the “off the beaten path” illusion is surprisingly strong here. The route does a great job of bypassing the residential sprawl, keeping you buried in trees and open spaces. It felt like an everyday adventure, even if the mud was starting to threaten.
The path spills out into Shirley, a Croydon suburb full of houses I’ll never afford. I took a quick, worthwhile detour to Shirley Windmill. Built in 1854 to replace a timber original from 1808, a remarkably well-preserved piece of 19th-century engineering standing guard over a quiet street. It’s open to the public a few times a year - I’ll be back.
After admiring Shirley Windmill, it was straight into the absolute highlight of Section 4, Addington Hills (or Shirley Hills if you’re a local). A steep climb up some well-maintained trail leads you to the Addington Hills viewpoint, featuring some of the best views of London. Despite being in the deep South of London, the views stretched all the way North to Wembley Stadium, East to Canary Wharf and everything in between including the Shard, the Cheesegrater and the Crystal Palace transmitter.
After lingering for a bit too long at the top, I pushed through Selsdon into Selsdon Wood. I’d been looking forward to Baker Boy Lane—supposedly haunted by an 18th-century murder victim—but the lane was closed for upgrades. The lane’s name come from the story of a delivery boy who was murdered with an axe by a woodsman hiding out in the forest who then fled, leaving his axe impaled in a tree. Numerous reports have been made in the three centuries since the murder of the baker boy’s ghost appearing near the site of the incident. Another great example of the Loop educating me on some of the lesser known aspects of London’s history.
Sadly for me, instead of the ghosts, I got a massive, muddy diversion around Farleigh Golf Club. The detour was a gorgeous slice of rolling countryside, even if I was cursing the inconvenience at the time. It’s a shame to miss out on Croydon’s macabre history, but the winding country lanes more than made up for it.
Diversion successfully navigated, I found myself crossing more muddy fields (thankfully I was appropriately dressed!), down some steep paths running alongside Kings Wood before arriving in Hamsey Green, ending Section 4 of the London Loop. The journey home was a long, four-stage saga of buses, tubes, and trains (the penalty for living outside of London), but the views from the hills stuck with me the whole way back.
35 miles down. 115 miles to go.
