Sunday 14 March 2010

Through the smallholdings


Top: the road to nowhere? Nope, it takes you back through Wallington. The other shot is my bike resting against a fence along the same stretch of road.

Jon and I commented on a walk we enjoyed years ago when living at home with mum and dad. It was along an isolated road running through the smallholdings at the top of Wallington over the Christmas period, probably Christmas Day, as these were in the days when everything was closed and if you were suffering from cabin fever the best thing to do was go for a walk.

I stumbled across the lane again on Saturday and here's the evidence. It's amazing, looking at these photographs, to think that I was in Wallington in Greater London and not somewhere a little more remote.

Mum & Dad's and then Woldingham



From the top: our bikes at the rest point in Woldingham plus the view and a shot of Andy on Warlingham Green just prior to setting off and taken on the iPhone.

Andy couldn't make it on Saturday, meaning a later start than usual for your truly, which meant that a trip to Merstham was kind of out of the question as Jon and I had things to do back home. In the end we decided to visit mum and dad in Carshalton for some Shredded Wheat and a cup of tea – you can't beat a free breakfast, especially one prepared by mum.

Jon and I then cycled around the Poets Estate (where all the houses are named after poets: Milton Avenue, Browning Avenue, Coleridge Avenue) and then went our separate ways. I found an interesting short cut to the top of Wallington.

Sunday saw Andy and I head out to a resting point in Woldingham, not a million miles from Botley Hill Farm. We were originally going to the Tatsfield Bus Stop but decided to cut it short and stop where we stopped – there was a bench there and some amazing views as we were high up and overlooking the M25 – pity they were partly obscured by a barbed wire fence, but then there is a sheer drop of a few hundred feet just a few yards from the fence.

Andy and I both have new iPhones so we chatted about them more than anything else and then headed home. The pic of Andy above was taken on my iphone.