London Loop Diaries #6
Section #6: Coulsdon South to Banstead Downs (walked 6th June 2026)
I’m behind schedule. Not that I ever had a hard and fast rule about how quickly I was going to complete the London Loop but in my mind walking at least one section a month was always achievable. For some reason in May I managed not to walk any of the London Loop at all.
I’d always planned on doubling up the shorter sections of the Loop to help reduce both the financial outlay of travel costs and to be more efficient with my time. Sections 6 and 7 were meant to be the first sections I tackled together, unfortunately I was woefully unprepared for heavy downpours and high winds which dampened both my clothes and my spirits enough to abandon the plan.
Section 6 holds special significance in the history of the London Loop. 30 years ago it became the first section of the Loop to be fully waymarked following an opening ceremony on Farthing Downs on 3rd May 1996. Sadly, I found this Section to be rather dull, lots of walking through hedged-in footpaths alongside the countryside rather than through it and a lot of those footpaths were overgrown given the recent downpours making them annoying to navigate.
Shortly after leaving Coulsdon South Train Station I’d planned on viewing the remains of the Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Railway, one of the earliest public railways in the world that was closed in 1846. Sadly, the viewing platform was completely overgrown and fenced off meaning that I couldn’t actually view anything. Hardly five minutes into the walk and I was already starting to feel like the world was against me!
The first mile or so of this section is largely residential, leading you uphill before sending you along a hedged-in footpath between a golf course and some fields before eventually opening out into Carshalton Road Pastures, a small nature reserve designed to encourage plants to grow in chalky soil. I imagine on a nicer day this might be a lovely spot to relax — today I just found myself exposed to the elements.
Pushing on from the pasture and I soon found myself crossing Mayfield Lavender Field, on a sunny day I can imagine this place packed with people taking perfectly Instagrammable photos among the lavender. Even with the rain coming down, it was still a beautiful spot and I took the opportunity to grab a few pictures with nobody else around.
The Loop path gets a bit twisty-turny as you leave the Lavender field but after double-backing on myself and finding the road I ended up back on track in Oaks Park. I probably should’ve stopped here to use the facilities to dry off and warm up but by this point I decided to abandon my ambitions of completing Section 6 and 7 together and wanted to push on to Banstead Station instead. Oaks Park is home to a beautiful London Loop sign, I’ve missed a couple of these on the Loop so far but do enjoy the stories of the Loop and the local area when I see them.
The route out of Oaks Park leads down Freedown Lane, a long muddy path that takes you past High Down Prison. High walls don't give much away but I never considered that I’d be walking past a prison whilst out on the Loop, continuing to prove that even on the dullest of sections, the London Loop will continue to surprise me.
The route takes you across Banstead Common and into Banstead Downs Golf Club, where the path is on the fairway. The weather meant I had the golf course to myself but I can’t help but think I’d have been dodging low-flying golf balls had the weather had been better. To make matters more interesting, I also had to contend with crossing the A217, aka the ‘Mad Mile’, it took me a good five minutes to cross this incredibly busy dual carriageway — quite why the route couldn't be re-routed to somewhere with a proper pedestrian crossing, I'm not sure.
Safely back on a footpath, the route took me onto another fairway before wrapping up in Banstead Downs where damp and feeling slightly defeated, I took the diversion back to Banstead Station, heading into Central London to dry off and for a beer.
The weather didn’t help my feelings towards this section of the Loop but more importantly I couldn’t help but feel this was more of a ‘connecting section’, designed to get me from point A to point B as quickly as possible. The Capital Ring had similar sections, mostly in South London where several sections were largely residential and felt like they were funneling you towards Crystal Palace and Richmond Park.
Mostly, I think I was disappointed because I’ve been thoroughly spoiled by the quality of the London Loop thus far, gorgeous countryside views and plenty of points of interest to keep me entertained, both of which I found this section lacking. Reading ahead to Sections 7 and 8 and they both look more interesting than Section 6, fingers crossed it was just a bump in the path so far.
46 miles down. 104 miles to go.
