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Blackheath to Deptford Walk

Genteel streets, grand houses, a large heathland with views, well-kept parks, a Victorian cemetery and green hills with magnificent views

London
The City of London, from One Tree Hill SWC Walk 421 - Blackheath to Deptford (Hills & Parks of Inner Southeast London)
The City of London, from One Tree Hill

SWC Walk 421 - Blackheath to Deptford (Hills & Parks of Inner Southeast London)

Mar-24 • thomasgrabow on Flickr

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The Paragon, Blackheath SWC Walk 421 - Blackheath to Deptford (Hills & Parks of Inner Southeast London)
The Paragon, Blackheath

SWC Walk 421 - Blackheath to Deptford (Hills & Parks of Inner Southeast London)

Mar-24 • thomasgrabow on Flickr

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View across the Heath from Mount's Pond, Blackheath SWC Walk 421 - Blackheath to Deptford (Hills & Parks of Inner Southeast London)
View across the Heath from Mount's Pond, Blackheath

SWC Walk 421 - Blackheath to Deptford (Hills & Parks of Inner Southeast London)

Mar-24 • thomasgrabow on Flickr

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St. Margaret of Antioch, Lee Green SWC Walk 421 - Blackheath to Deptford (Hills & Parks of Inner Southeast London)
St. Margaret of Antioch, Lee Green

SWC Walk 421 - Blackheath to Deptford (Hills & Parks of Inner Southeast London)

Mar-24 • thomasgrabow on Flickr

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Canary Wharf, from Blythe Hill Fields SWC Walk 421 - Blackheath to Deptford (Hills & Parks of Inner Southeast London)
Canary Wharf, from Blythe Hill Fields

SWC Walk 421 - Blackheath to Deptford (Hills & Parks of Inner Southeast London)

Mar-24 • thomasgrabow on Flickr

swcwalks swcwalk421 walkicon 53566670862

Length

22.2 km (13.8 mi), with 213/228m ascent/descent. For a shorter walk, see below Walk Options.
Toughness

4 out of 10, with 5 hours walking time. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow at least 6 ½ hours.
Walk Notes

This is an urban route almost entirely in the London Borough of Lewisham, stringing together some genteel residential areas and streets, a large heathland with views, many well-kept parks (some with rivers running through them), a large Victorian cemetery and plenty of hills-with-views to either Crystal Palace and the North Downs, Canary Wharf, the City of London and/or the West End and Nine Elms.

You start with a long loop through the acclaimed Blackheath Cator Estate, a Victorian and Georgian private estate with some impressive large houses and tree-lined wide and quiet streets, but also sprinkled with award-winning modernist houses. From there, traverse the upland heath and descend into Lee, also with streets full of attractive residences, some almshouses, a Manor House with a fine park, and the River Quaggy. On through Hither Green to a hill-park-with-views and down across the Ravensbourne Valley. The Brockley Three Peaks await next, with Brockley and Ladywell Cemetery walked through in-between. The final stretch leads over Telegraph Hill into Hatcham (New Cross) and on to Deptford.

All the route is on hard surfaces and mud-free. Alternative earth or gravel paths are shown on the map.
Buses are never far away and several Overground and Mainline Stations enable shorter walks.

The route shares its start with SWC Walk #swc215 - Blackheath to Canary Wharf and has minimal overlap with two Short Walks: #short36 - Waterlink Way and #short41 - Nunhead, Honor Oak & Peckham Rye. It can be split into attractive (evening) short walks.
Walk Options

An Early Shortcut, straight from the station, cuts out the loop through Blackheath Park and across the Heath. It cuts 2.9 km and 20m ascent.
A Late Shortcut through Camberwell New Cemetery (shown on the route map) cuts out One Tree Hill (cut 600m and 50m ascent).
Many bus stops are passed on the route but they are generally not mentioned in the directions.
Overground and Mainline Stations, either passed or near the route: Hither Green (6.5 km), Ladywell (10.3 km, a little off route), Catford and Catford Bridge (11.8 km, a little off route), Honor Oak Park (13.2 km), Crofton Park (15.2 km), Brockley (18.6 km), Nunhead (19.8 km, a little off route), New Cross Gate (20.9 km).
Credits

Inspiration for the first part of this route and background for some of the houses in the Blackheath Cator Estate have come from the printed booklet ‘Perambulation No 5 – Blackheath South London, A Walking Guide to Modernist Houses’ by Stefi Orazi (https://www.stefiorazi.co.uk/projects#1).
More in-depth information about the Stone Circle on Hilly Fields can be found in a printed booklet originally published in 2000, still available from The Brockley Society (https://brockleysociety.org.uk/).
Maps

OS Landranger: 162 (Greenwich & Gravesend)
OS Explorer: 177 (East London) and 161 (London South) for One Tree Hill.
Transport

Blackheath Station, map reference TQ 395 760, is 10 km south east of Charing Cross and 20m above sea level. Deptford Station is 3 km north west of it and 5m above sea level. Both are in Greater London. Blackheath Station is in Travelcard Zone 3 and lies in the south of Blackheath village near the boundary with Lee. It is served by trains on the North Kent Line and the Bexleyheath Line, which split just east of the station. Journey times are 20 minutes from Charing Cross and 18 minutes from Cannon Street. Deptford Station lies on the Greenwich Line and is the oldest station in London still in use, served by trains from Cannon Street with a journey time of 10 minutes and in Travelcard Zone 2.

Saturday Walkers’ Club: Start the walk at any time, as lunch and tea options appear at regular intervals.
Food & Drink

Leading through fully gentrified parts of Inner London, a plethora of good refreshment options are passed. See page 2 of the pdf for details.
Profile
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By Train

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By Car

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Start walking Using GPS data Large print

National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234

Version

Mar-24 Thomas G

Copyright © Saturday Walkers Club. All Rights Reserved. No commercial use. No copying. No derivatives. Free with attribution for one time non-commercial use only. www.walkingclub.org.uk/site/license.shtml

Walk Directions

Full directions for this walk are in a PDF file (link above) which you can print, or download on to a Kindle, tablet, or smartphone.

This is just the introduction. This walk's detailed directions are in a PDF available from wwww.walkingclub.org.uk

  1. Arriving from Central London on platform 2 of Blackheath Station,
  2. · either walk up some steps at the far end of the platform and through the ticket hall past the Buzz London café on to a main road;
  3. · or turn left through a metal gate in a wall half way down the platform into a car park (with a Farmer’s Market on Sundays after 10.00) and turn right up a gentle slope to a main road 150m away and turn right to the station entrance.
  4. You have Madeleine’s Creperie and Gelato Ice Cream away on the left and a Gail’s Bakery opposite. Cross Blackheath Village (the name of the road) at a set of lights and turn right along the opposite pavement. On the right-hand side you pass The Railway pub and then – along Lawn Terrace – a restaurant (currently closed). The road changes name to Lee Road as you rise with it and pass Bianco 43 Ristorante on the left and Boulangerie Jade on the right. In 50m keep to the left of a roundabout with Lee Road, passing Blackheath Conservatoire of Music and the Blackheath Halls concert venue. The road levels out and in 40m from the Halls, you turn left along Blackheath Park (road) into the private Blackheath Cator Estate and into the Royal Borough of Greenwich. This is a wide, tree-lined road of genteel houses in a mixture of styles and eras, mainly Georgian and Victorian.
  5. The first house on the right though is Spangate, one of many modernist houses on the estate (Eric Lyons for Span 1964-67). In 160m you pass 10 Blackheath Park (Patrick Gwynne 1968, now Grade II-listed). In 100m pass St. Michael and All Angels church on the left (George Smith 1830, now Grade II*-listed), while passing (half-hidden from view by trees and a wall) Moro House on the right-hand side (Peter Moro 1957, now Grade II*-listed). In 35m continue in the same direction at a four-way junction (Pond Road to the left, Foxes Dale on the right). 50m down the right though are numbers 2, 4 & 6 Foxes Dale (Eric Lyons for Span 1957, now Grade II-listed). Numbers 45-57 Blackheath Park on the left are all Grade II-listed).
  6. In 40m you have Hallgate, part of The Hall development on the right (Eric Lyons for Span 1957-67, now grade II-listed). This fills the next 100m and then another plot beyond the right turning Brooklands Park road. [Numbers 2-12 Brooklands Park are in the same style (Eric Lyons for Span, 1964).] The next two villas on the right (numbers 46 & 48) are also Grade II-listed. In 100m ignore a fork to the left (also Blackheath Park: ‘Odd numbers only 65-97’) and in 50m pass The Lane on the right (Eric Lyons for Span, 1964). In 40m pass Streetfield Mews on the right and in 90m, after passing the last houses on the right and by 101 Blackheath Road on the left (Grade II-listed), you have views across Kidbrooke’s high rises towards the southeast.
  7. [!] Turn left along Morden Road, with a Huf Haus on the right and 103 Blackheath Park on the left (Grade II-listed). In 165m you can see The Plantation complex of 34 houses away to the right down a side lane (Eric Lyons for Span, 1963). There is a blue plaque for Charles Gounoud, a French composer, on the wall of the next house on the right (Grade II-listed) and the road then descends gently and curves a little to the left, with part-views of the Heath ahead and the high rises in Canary Wharf beyond. In 60m pass numbers 6-16 Morden Road on the left (Andrews, Emerson & Sherlock for Span, c. 1965). In 140m at the bottom of the drop, Fulthorp Road joins from the left and in 20m you have the grand entrance to Morden College on the right, a care home and a stunning building (Christopher Wren’s practice 1695-1702, now Grade I-listed).
  8. The road rises up to the level of the Heath and you re-enter Lewisham with it and in 40m turn left along The Paragon, a crescent-shaped Georgian terrace (Michael Searles 1793-1807, now Grade I-listed). In 210m you reach a T-junction with South Row, with the Heath opposite, fringed by some large representative villas. Cross the road and bear left along a broad engineered gravel path across the Heath. In 110m you pass the Prince of Wales Pond on the left (a former droving pond) by an info panel (‘Blackheath South East’) and with another modernist development visible to the left on South Row (Eric Lyons for Span 1962-63, now Grade II-listed). In 40m cross Prince of Wales Road with The Princess of Wales pub away to the left. In 140m cross Prince Charles Road and continue in the same direction along an engineered path through the Churchfield. All Saints’ Blackheath church (Benjamin Ferrey 1867, now Grade II-listed) dominates the view to the left, with Blackheath village beyond it in a dip.
  9. In about 300m you come to the Blackheath Hub, a paved circular four-way junction of engineered paths across the Heath installed in 2012. The right turn leads to the Blackheath Gate of Greenwich Park, the left turn towards the village. The slabs name the surrounding parts of the Heath as ‘Churchfield, West Kent Field, Old Donkey Pit and Lincoln Field’. Turn left here towards the village, with Shooter’s Hill rising away to the left now in an easterly direction. In 120m, at a road continuation of the path (Duke Humphrey Road), turn right along Talbot Place (road). In 70m you pass a small, neatly landscaped area on the left with some maps and info panels and with the Blackheath Administration’s offices beyond a wall. In 180m cross Goffers Road to continue in the same direction along a tarmac path through the westerly part of the Heath. On the left you have distant views of some wooded rises (in the Bromley and Hayes area) and in 50m pass the Mount’s Pond on the right (may be seasonal), followed in 30m by another info panel (‘Blackheath Whitfields Mount’).
  10. In 140m cross Hare and Billet Road and turn left along its opposite pavement. The spire of All Saints’ is dead ahead, and Shooter’s Hill to its left. In 20m you have the North Several townhouses and flats on the right (Royston Summers 1969). In 70m, with The Hare & Billet bar & restaurant visible some 300m ahead, [!] turn right along Orchard Road, passing the front of North Several. In 25m fork right to continue along Orchard Drive, with some trees on the left. In 120m turn right at a T-junction with Eliot Place, signed for ‘Lee Green Manor Park’. The road goes through a dip and in 50m you re-ascend, now along Eliot Vale. In 60m turn left along the second road on the left, Heath Lane (cul-de-sac). The lane descends ever more steeply into the vale separating Blackheath from Lee and in 230m you go through some bike barriers. A tarmac path on the left is signed ‘Blackheath Station ¼’. This is the Early Shortcut.
  11. *) In 50m cross the railway line on the tarmac path, now entering Lee. St. Joseph’s Vale road runs parallel to the right and the path (still called Heath Lane) veers somewhat away from the road. You pass some fenced school sports grounds on the left and then the school buildings of St. Matthew’s Academy on the right and rise up to a T-junction with Lee Terrace. Turn right along the road. You have the well-worth-a-visit St. Margaret of Antioch Church, Lee Green on the left across the road (John Brown 1841, but with Gothic Revivalist interior after a later transformation, and Grade II*-listed) and in 50m The Old Churchyard on the right behind a fence. In another 30m you reach an info panel on the churchyard and have the ruined old church tower 40m away (Grade II-listed). Also notice the conic-shaped building to the left of the old churchyard; it is part of a catholic retreat centre run by the Sisters of Saint Andrew. Further to the left along Lee Terrace, The Cedars, one of the great mansion houses (now apartments) of the area can be seen, foliage permitting.
  12. Turn left across the road to the church (there is a median 20m to the left if traffic is fearsome) and inspect the info panel opposite in the churchyard of the modern church. Turn right along the fence and immediately left with the fence along Brandram Road. There is another good info panel on the right of the road 20m away (The Village of Lee until the 1840s). Continue downhill along Brandram Road and in 200m you pass another modernist two-storey terrace on the left. In 170m pass on the left the ornamental entrance gate to the former Merchant Taylors’ Almshouses (Grade II-listed).
  13. [The elderly residents were moved out in 2019 into a new-built block just around the corner and the cottages here were converted for private sale in 2023. The development is now called ‘Alms Gate’.]
  14. In 100m turn left at a T-junction with Lee High Road (the A20, the former London-Dover Trunk Road). In 40m pass an info panel on the almshouses behind the wire fence on the left and in another 20m another one on ‘Lee Place and Boone’s Chapel’. [The wall itself is still showing signs of shrapnel damage in WWII.]) The chapel (10m further along) is what remains of Boone’s Almshouses and Grade I-listed. Turn right across the road (there is a set of lights 50m to the right if traffic is fearsome) and go up along Old Road (until the 1820s, the trunk road used to be diverted this way around the Lee Place Estate). In 80m you curve to the left with Old Road, ignoring Manor Lane to the right. You pass Pentland House on the right (1691-99 and now Grade II-listed and a hostel for Goldsmith’s College) and in 60m pass one of the drives into the grounds of Lee Manor House, now a public library (and Grade II*-listed).
  15. In 40m turn right through an iron gate into Manor House Gardens. Pass to either side of a long and narrow fenced flower bed and in 80m you pass Pistachio’s in the Park café. Ignore a right turn and follow a tarmac path between iron railings down into the valley of the River Quaggy. In 110m ignore a right turning path just before a fenced lake and in 50m turn right with the main path around the lake. You have the Quaggy 10m to the left between natural earth banks and in 25m pass a viewing platform projecting out into the lake. In 50m fork right to continue around the lake and in 60m fork left away from the lake, parallel to the park boundary fence. In 60m turn left to an exit 20m away. [The Ice-House and a very good info panel are 70m away up the path though (open 1st and 3rd Sunday of every summer month 15.00-17.00).]
  16. Turn right along the pavement of Manor Lane but immediately turn left along Kellerton Road and in 70m turn right up along Manor Lane Terrace. In 140m turn left along the wide Northbrook Road, gently descending back towards the river level and into Hither Green. In 300m cross Manor Park (road) to enter the Manor Park (a former piggery) through an iron gate. Take any of two paths through the ‘Upper Sunshine Garden’ and in 70m, in front of a Wind Vane Sculpture on a grassy area and with Billy’s Café 60m away to the right (currently closed), cross a first tarmac path and fork left along a second path and follow it to the southerly end of the park, with the Quaggy on the right. In 110m cross the Quaggy on a wide two-railed wooden bridge and continue between garden fences to a road 30m away. Turn left along Longhurst Road at a bend and in 150m turn right at a four-way junction along Staplehurst Road.
  17. On the stretch from here to Hither Green Station 170m away (Mainline to London Bridge), you find Fera Restaurant, Station Café, Sapore Vero Restaurant & Pizzeria and The Station Hotel and Pub, as well as You Don’t Bring Me Flowers flower shop and café and Coffee & Caramel. Just before the station, you pass the former site of the Chiltonian Biscuits Factory. Go up a slope and through the subway under the tracks to continue ahead, ignoring a footpath to the left along the embankment. In 40m turn left along Nightingale Grove and in 35m turn right uphill along Beacon Road. In 270m you reach Hither Green Lane opposite a supermarket and a convenience store as well as Drinks at Bobs and the Found Hope coffee, food and bottle shop. Turn left along the road and cross it to the right-hand side at a zebra crossing.
  18. The water tower of the Park Fever Hospital with its large clock faces and several surviving outbuildings are visible ahead. You pass Malai Thai and Le Delice café and boulangerie and turn right along George Lane, with the former hospital site on the left. The road goes through a left and right turn and in 120m it levels out, with partial views ahead into the Ravensbourne Valley. Turn left along Stainton Road with the fenced Mountsfield Park now on the right behind a fence and in 40m you turn right into the park through a metal gate with a map and an info panel immediately to the right. You have briefly entered Catford. The park started out with the land around Mountsfield, a substantial house and grounds, and later had nearby sports fields and allotments integrated into it. Turn left, parallel to Stainton Road on the left and soon with a Community Garden on the right. In 80m ignore a right turn and in 30m turn right by a park lodge and another entrance gate (and a drinking water dispenser).
  19. You pass a formal garden on the right, then a first container (a toilet block) and a second one, which houses Mountsfield Park Café (an outdoor café open 7 days, to 15.45 in winter, longer in summer). You have fine views across the Ravensbourne Valley to One Tree Hill and (on 300°) to the Nine Elms Skyline. Continue to the right of a fenced playground and to the left of a bandstand on a triangular green and curve to the left with the fence. The path leads along the top of the ridge of The Mount and in 50m you ignore a right fork (the return route). Further along you get views to the south across Catford to Crystal Palace and East Croydon and – just before the path starts a more pronounced descent – you turn right and descend gently into a dip. In 140m you start to re-ascend and in 50m curve to the right with the path. In 90m ignore the Carswell Road exit out of the park and some steps up to the right.
  20. In 30m fork right uphill, ignoring the continuation along the park boundary. In 200m you re-join the outbound route and fork left to continue to the left of the bandstand and the Mountsfield Park Café. Continue to the George Lane Exit 200m away and turn left down the road. Cross Davenport Road in 20m and Lara Close in 50m and in 40m turn left with George Lane where Radford Road joins from the right. In 100m turn right along Fordyce Road. In 65m cross Mount Pleasant Road and in 180m turn right with Fordyce Road. In 15m turn left along a broad tarmac path between garden fences and in 25m cross Harvard Road (cul-de-sac) and continue a little to the left along another tarmac path between houses. In 25m you pass a Green Chain Walk sign on a lamp post and in 25m turn left steeply down Thornford Road. In 90m cross a four-way junction and walk to the right of Lewisham Park along Lewisham Park (road).
  21. In 30m turn left through a metal gate into the park and turn left along the perimeter path, separated from the road by a line of trees. In 160m turn right with the path and in another 240m turn right again in the bottom corner. There is a large sunken garden surrounded by plane trees on the right and also three tall housing blocks on the left. In 150m, by a fenced playground on the right and where the tarmac path turns to the right, you turn left along some pavement slabs across grass towards an exit gate and in 40m leave the park and turn left down the road. In 100m you reach Lewisham High Street by The Jolly Farmer away to the right on the opposite side. Turn left along the road. In 50m cross the road at a set of lights and turn left on the far side.
  22. In 20m cross the car drive into University Hospital Lewisham and [!] immediately turn right through a wall gap and use some zebra crossings to get across the drives to and from the Main Entrance to the hospital. In 75m pass to the right of the ‘Riverside’ building where the road ends and continue along a wide pedestrianised area, passing a very neat Wellbeing Garden on the right. In 40m cross the Ravensbourne River on a wide bridge with a natural looking weir made from boulders on the left and enter Ladywell Fields. Turn right at a T-junction with a broad tarmac path. In 50m fork left and in 80m cross a meandering channel created in 2007 on a wooden footbridge. In 30m, with Ladywell Station (Mainline to London Bridge) visible beyond the park fence, turn hard left back on yourself and in 70m you pass the Good Hope Café on the right.
  23. In 400m you pass an info panel on Ladywell Fields and in 25m cross the river. In 25m turn right up a spiralling ramp to cross the Mid-Kent Line to Hayes and on the far side turn left down a spiralling ramp back to the park level in another sector of Ladywell Fields. In 10m ignore a bridge on the right across the river and bear left upstream. In 200m you pass an info panel by the Lewisham Dutch Elm, one of The Great Trees of London and in 130m go under the Catford Loop Line and curve to the left with the path. In 30m turn right to cross the Ravensbourne on a wide bridge and cross a tarmac path to head diagonally uphill through this sector of Ladywell Fields to its upper-left corner. Catford Stations lie to the left beyond the end of Ladywell Fields though. In 160m cross another tarmac path and in 110m you leave the park onto Ravensbourne Park (road) to cross it a little to the right and turn left along the opposite pavement.
  24. In 40m cross Ravensbourne Crescent and in 70m ignore some steps up to the right. In 50m turn right through a metal gate into Ravensbourne Park Gardens and go up some steps. Ignore a left turn and follow the onwards tarmac path through the park to its upper-left hand corner, ignoring an earth path to the right in 90m and leave the park onto Ravensbourne Park Crescent and turn right uphill along it. Curve to the right with the park fence, ignoring Casslee Road straight ahead uphill. In 80m turn up to the left along Montacute Road. In 130m continue further uphill at a T-junction, crossing the road and walking up a tarmac path through the Blythe Hill Fields’ Montacute Road entrance. In 120m fork left near the top of the rise and in 20m you reach the central four-way junction of paths on the ridge of Blythe Hill.
  25. Away to the right is a splendid panorama of most of Central London, including a nearby green, part-wooded hill with one large building up its flank: Hilly Fields, crossed later. 550m away to the left on Stanstead Road is the Blythe Hill Tavern, a serial CAMRA-award winner (open all day every day). Continue ahead along the ridge and in 110m pass info panels on the Honor Oak Park suburb and the Great North Wood. Leave the park and cross Brockley View to follow Duncombe Hill (road) in the same direction downhill into Honor Oak Park. In 250m, just before a T-junction with the busy Brockley Rise (road), you turn right after the last house on the right along a deteriorating tarmac path. Notice Babur restaurant across the road on the left and cross Codrington Hill (road) to The Chandos pub (plenty of handpumps and decent pizza). Continue along Brockley Rise, ignoring the busier left fork Stondon Park (road).
  26. In 30m pass Le Querce (= “the oak tree” in Italian) Italian restaurant and in 30m the Brockley Rise terminus of a couple of bus lines. In 40m turn left along Honor Oak Park (road), with The Rise café away to the right behind, further down Brockley Rise. In 30m cross Stondon Park (on the course of an Old Roman Road) at a set of lights and continue down Honor Oak Park. In 180m pass Grounds & Grapes brewpub, in another 30m Honor Oak Provender on the left. Cross over to the right and in 20m pass Two Spoons, then Miss Margherita café and pizzeria. In 65m you pass the entrance to Honor Oak Park Station (Brighton Mainline to London Bridge and the Crystal Palace and West Croydon branches of the Windrush Line) and start to ascend out of the valley. In 140m pass a drive into Camberwell New Cemetery (the Late Shortcut). In 25m another drive joins out of the cemetery and you pass some allotments. In 90m turn right past bike barriers along a signposted path up One Tree Hill.
  27. You have entered the London Borough of Southwark and in 100m cross a drive to St. Augustine’s Church. In 80m reach a four-way signpost at a five-way junction of paths by an info panel on the left. Bear left to the right of remnants of a WWI gun emplacement and in 30m reach a fantastic viewpoint including a protected view of St. Paul’s, by a couple of benches and an info panel. Return to the four-way signpost and turn second left on the level (i.e.: not hard left down some steps). In 40m you pass the fenced Oak of Honour with its explanatory panel and an 1870 boundary post of St. Giles Camberwell to the left. In 25m turn left with the path and descend off the hill, first down some steps and turning to the right. Near the bottom of the descent, you pass an info panel (‘Myths and Legends’) by the Hoggin Path joining from the left and in another 80m exit onto Brenchley Gardens (road) and turn right along it.
  28. [The linear park incorporates the track bed of the dismantled Crystal Palace High Level Railway line.]
  29. In 220m turn right with the signposted Green Chain Walk through a car gate into Camberwell New Cemetery and follow the main drive gently uphill between a couple of lodges, the left of which is a toilet block (but currently closed for refurbishment). In 75m curve to the left with the tarmac drive, just before it reaches the imposing Columbarium and Chapel (Aston Webb & Son 1928, now Grade II-listed). In 40m bear left, now with a metal bar fence on the right and Honor Oak Recreation Ground beyond (and with some fine views to the south east). The Late Shortcut has joined from behind the chapel. In 130m you go through a car wide metal gate and in 10m through a metal gate and in 25m pass Honor Oak Crematorium.
  30. [During funerals and out of hours, the second gate may be closed. If so, turn left (from the direction of the chapel) and follow the fenced path onto Brockley Way.]
  31. There is a Garden of Remembrance to the right of the crematorium but you follow a tarmac drive to the exit from the cemetery onto Brockley Way 160m away. Turn right with a signpost for ‘Brockley Jack’ and ‘Catford’. In 50m continue in the same direction along a path to a bridge, where the road turns right into Brockley Mews, and cross the Brighton Mainline on the Eddystone Road bridge (re-entering Lewisham in the process). On the far side you pass the Buckthorne Cutting Nature Reserve on the left (only open 4 days a year) and in 20m a map and info panel on the Brockley Three Peaks Walk (all of those peaks are covered by this route). In 10m continue downhill along Eddystone Road and ignore all ways off. In 190m you reach the busy Brockley Road, with The Brockley Jack pub & theatre 50m away to the right.
  32. Turn hard left along Brockley Road, ignoring the half left curving Brockley Grove, in 100m passing the London Beer Dispensary on the right and in another 80m Fred’s café on the left. In 20m you pass Crofton Park Station (Thameslink to Sevenoaks and occasional Mainline trains from Victoria to Gillingham) on the right and the Rivoli Ballroom on the left. [Opened in 1913 as the Crofton Park Picture Palace, it was converted in 1957 to a dance hall, opening as The Rivoli on Boxing Day 1959 and is now the only surviving intact 1950s ballroom in London and Grade II-listed.] In 70m pass Arlo & Moe café, then the Crofton Park Tavern on the left, then Elsewhere Coffee on the right. In 50m you have the southwest corner of Ladywell and Brockley Cemetery on the right behind a fence. [Brockley (formerly Deptford) Cemetery and Ladywell (formerly Lewisham) Cemetery were until 1948 divided by a wall.]
  33. You continue in the same direction along the road and in 270m you have the entrance to the cemetery on the right. Further ahead along Brockley Road, there are Joyce bar and L’Oculto wine bar & shop, Deja Brew café and Brockley Rock fish & chips and Brickfields bar. Turn right into Brockley Cemetery.
  34. [The cemetery closes at 16.00 hours every day; should the gate be closed, turn right along Ivy Road instead (‘Leading to St. Cyprian’s Path’) and in 500m turn left along a tarmac path between houses, signed ‘Brockley, Lewisham College’ and continue one para down: ‘This is St. Cyprian’s Path…’).]
  35. You pass the entrance lodge (Grade II-listed) and ignore a left turn to enter the cemetery. The aim now is the only other exit on the Ladywell side, diagonally across the cemetery. You can take any route. A suggested route to see many of the varied sections of the grounds is this: in 40m fork left to in 40m pass an info panel on WWI deaths in Deptford, New Cross and Bermondsey. In 25m pass a War Memorial and in 20m fork right. In 50m fork left to go almost all the way around a circular path. In 200m [!] turn hard right back on yourself and in 40m turn left with the path. In 40m turn right up a couple of steps to cross the former line of the separation wall between the two cemeteries and in 15m turn right along a narrow path. In 50m curve to the left with the path and in 80m a path joins from the left behind. In 10m pass an info panel on WWI deaths in Hither Green and Sydenham and in 90m stay to the left of a circular green (with a chapel away to the right and another WWI memorial cross) and in 120m leave Ladywell Cemetery through its Grade II-listed gates. Turn left along Ivy Road, with the cemetery on the left. In 120m turn right along a tarmac path between houses, signed ‘Brockley, Lewisham College’.
  36. This is St. Cyprian’s Path and in 50m you turn left at a T-junction with Adelaide Avenue. In 40m turn right to cross the road at a set of lights and go up a tarmac path into Hilly Fields Park. In 50m fork right and in 20m cross a path and continue to the left of Prendergast School. In 90m, at the top of the rise by a road to the right and a path to the left, you continue in the same direction past a drinking water dispenser and to the right of a fenced playground. In 50m turn right at a T-junction with a broad path, with the high rises of Canary Wharf and Lewisham Town Centre as well as Shooter’s Hill dominating the views. In 90m cross a path by an info panel and the Pistachios in the Park café on the left. You have the Millennium Stone Circle away on the right in a grassy area and in 50m, by a Green Flag Award flagpole on the left and a trigpoint on the right, turn left at a four-way junction to pass behind the café.
  37. In 60m you start to descend with continued fine views and in 160m pass the Francis Drake Bowls Club, by a large flat area on the left; this is a cricket pitch on the grounds of former brickfields. In 60m leave the park onto Hilly Fields Crescent and turn left along its pavement (there is a parallel earth path 20m to the left). In 300m, at a four-way road junction at the end of the park, turn right along Tressillian Road. In 110m turn left along Harefield Road, and in 280m from the left turn cross Wickham Road to continue a little to the left with Harefield Road. Over 300m this drops gently down to the busy Brockley Road. Cross the main road and go down Coulgate Street.
  38. [Brockley Brewery and Taproom is to the left along Brockley Road, in 50m forking right into Harcourt Road and following it for 100m. To the right along Brockley Road are: George’s Café, The Brockley Barge (JD Wetherspoon) and Central Café.]
  39. Pass Salthouse Bottles Shop and cross Foxberry Road. In 40m there is Parlez restaurant on the left and then on the right Browns of Brockley café and The Broca café, with Brockley Station now on the left (Brighton Mainline from London Bridge and the Crystal Palace and West Croydon branches of the Windrush Line). To cross the tracks to the other side, walk up a gentle sloping path to the right of the station through the small landscaped Brockley Station Community Garden and in 50m turn left back on yourself to the bridge across the Brighton Mainline and turn right across it. On the far side, cross Mantle Road at a zebra crossing and turn left along its opposite pavement, signed for the Green Chain Walk (‘Nunhead Cemetery 1m’). In 60m curve to the right with the path and a wall on the right and in 30m (Good as Gold coffee shop and Water into Beer shop and bar are away to the left) you continue along St. Asaph Road, ever so gently ascending.
  40. You ignore several left forking roads and in 380m cross Avignon Road. In another 130m Aspinall Road joins from the left, where the continuation of the road leads across a humped bridge over the Catford Loop Line. Nunhead Station (Mainline to Victoria and Thameslink to Blackfriars) lies 500m ahead along the road. Turn right through a tarmac area dotted with flower beds made with what looks like old railway sleepers. This is one part of the Aspinall Road Community Gardens. Continue across a covered bridge across the Greenwich Park Branch Line (views to the left to Nine Elms) and on the far side continue uphill along another part of Aspinall Road by a second part of the community gardens. In 40m cross Drakefell Road and follow a tarmac path up into Telegraph Hill Upper Park. [The hill was renamed from ‘Plowed Garlic Hill’ after a semaphore telegraph station had been constructed on the summit circa 1795.] In 30m ignore a path to the right and in 20m turn left, now with views out across Burgess Park and the Aylesbury Estate to Elephant & Castle, Nine Elms and West London. In 50m you pass a viewpoint on a raised grassy area and in 20m turn right at a four-way junction, still with those views on the left. In 60m turn right at a T-junction and in 60m turn left to leave the park onto Kitto Road.
  41. Hill Station Café and Bar is up away to the right but you cross the road a little to the right and enter Telegraph Hill Lower Park and follow a tarmac path gently downhill, ignoring an immediate right turn. In 50m fork left around a fenced pond and in 40m curve to the right with the path to cross a footbridge between two parts of the pond. Pass an info panel and memorial sculpture on a plinth on the left in an ‘African Garden’ and an office and toilet block on the right. In 30m turn right up an ascending meandering path that eventually turns left along the upper park boundary, again with some fine views. Ignore any left turns and in 130m leave the park onto Arbuthnot Road at a junction with Pepys Road. Turn left down Pepys Road.
  42. The view ahead is dominated by the large chimney and main body of the South East London Combined Heat and Power Plant (SELCHP) and by the Cold Blow Lane Stand of The Den to the left of it, the home of Millwall FC. In 90m turn right along Ommaney Road and in 330m turn left down Jerningham Road into Hatcham, nowadays called New Cross. At the bottom of the drop (en route notice a brown plaque on the Haberdasher’s Hatcham College building for Robert Browning) at the very busy New Cross Road, turn right along it. You pass La Boulangerie and come to a set of lights with New Cross Gate Station on the left-hand side of it (Brighton Mainline from London Bridge and the Crystal Palace and West Croydon branches of the Windrush Line). For The Rose Inn, continue along the right-hand side of the road. For the continuation of the walk, turn left across the road and turn right past the station.
  43. In 90m turn left down Goodwood Road, by the City Walk Café. In 70m turn right along Batavia Road and in 170m turn left along Clifton Rise. In 20m cross Achilles Street and enter Fordham Park, bearing right along a broad tarmac path. At a fork, fork right in an easterly direction. In 150m you pass a playground on the left and in 25m an info panel on the history of the park. In 30m cross Pagnell Street and go through the Walpole Road Underpass under the tracks of New Cross Station (Mainlines from Cannon Street to Kent and the New Cross branch of the Windrush Line). On Amersham Vale (road), turn left for 20m then turn right along Douglas Way. In 60m continue in the same direction along the pedestrianised linear Margaret McMillan Park, signposted ‘Deptford High Street & Station 4 mins’.
  44. In 150m you pass through the wider centre of the park and in 50m cross Idonia Street. In 60m pass the Albany Theatre and in another 40m bear left across a small market square to an underpass beneath a ramp 30m away. You have entered Deptford Market Yard, a newly regenerated area with the historic ramp leading up to the station (see the blue plaque away to the left for the Grade II-listed Carriage Ramp) and many rejuvenated arches on the left, now filled with pubs, bars and eateries. Deptford Station is 100m ahead (Mainline to Cannon Street and Thameslink).
  45. For the Tea Options: There are more than a dozen outlets in Deptford Market Yard and right by the station. There are plenty more options to the right along Deptford High Street, either side of the railway line and in Resolution Way, a lane off the High Street along the railway line in an easterly direction.
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