Capital Ring section 4 page 1

CAPITAL RING
Section 4 of 15
Crystal Palace to Streatham
Section start: Crystal Palace station

Nearest station to start: Crystal Palace (Overground and Rail)

Section finish: Streatham (junction of Estreham Road with Lewin Road)

Nearest station to finish: Streatham Common (Rail)

Section distance 4.2 miles plus 0.2 miles of station links

Total = 4.4 miles (6.8 km)

Introduction
This shorter section is a 'rollercoaster' among the ridges and valleys of the
former Great North Wood.

The surfaces are almost entirely pavements or tarmac with one short
rough path. There are some fairly steep ups and downs, but there are
great views as a reward. The walk goes through a series of parks and
woods to Norwood Grove mansion and Rookery Gardens, and ends near
Streatham Common railway station.

There are pubs and cafés at Crystal Palace, Upper Norwood Recreation
Ground, Rookery Gardens, and Streatham. There are public toilets at
Rookery Gardens and Streatham. There are also toilets within Crystal
Palace railway station.

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Walking directions
From Crystal Palace station exit, turn left down the station road to reach
Anerley Hill road. Cross over and turn right. Take the second left turn into
Pleydell Avenue. Note that there is no signpost pointing into Pleydell
Avenue.

Follow the road, bearing right and then left, through Palace Square. Keep Did you know?
Number 22 Belvedere
ahead, up a steep, zig zag footpath beside a playground and a grassed Road has a blue plaque
area. Having passed the grassed area to your left, turn right into Belvedere on it, which shows that
Road. This road is very steep and should you wish to rest for a moment, Benjamin Waterhouse-
Hawkins (who created
turn around, and observe a splendid view out into Kent.
the famous dinosaurs in
Crystal Palace Park)
Take the first left into Tudor Road and at its end turn right into Fox Hill. At lived here.
the end of Fox Hill, turn right into Church Road, cross at the zebra
Did you know?
crossing, and enter Westow Park. Outside number 26
Belvedere Road is an
Go down the steep hill through Westow Park to a gate, where you turn left. octagonal pillar box
(For toilets, pass through the gate to turn left up the stepped footpath dating from 1859/79.
Designed by John
between the garden centre and the supermarket car park).
Penfold it is one of only
150 to survive and is
Continue through the park, bearing right at a fork, then keep left to pass a
the only listed building
playground to your right, and go round two sides of a grassed square to in Belvedere Road.
reach the gate into the road called College Green. There is a wooden
Capital Ring signpost just inside this gate. Turn right into College Green
then almost immediately cross and turn left onto Harold Road. Take the
first right into Chevening Road to walk besides Upper Norwood Recreation
Ground. Shortly afterwards you find a path diverging left into the recreation
ground with Capital Ring waymarking posts. This path returns to
Chevening Road not long afterwards but makes for a pleasanter walking

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than the pavement. Back on Chevening Road, continue until you see a Did you know?
Just before crossing the
path on your left running across the full width of the park, passing a brick
Upper Norwood
pavilion (the Chevening Hub) as it does so. There is a café and WC here, Recreation Ground you
open Monday to Saturday. Note that the sign-post in Chevening Road pass Rockmount
indicating this turn is currently pointing in the wrong direction and should School. If you detour to
walk beside the school
be ignored. Take this path and once across the recreation ground turn right along Rockmount Road
into Eversley Road. the first junction is with
Orleans Road. Set in
Go to the end of Eversley Road, beside the park, and then turn left into the pavement at the
junction is a plaque to
Hermitage Road. Ascend Hermitage Road's gentle rise and at its end turn
mark the course of the
right into Beulah Hill. Continue along Beulah Hill to the pedestrian crossing, River Effra, one of
cross, and continue in the same direction for just under half a mile. Then London's 'lost' rivers. If
look out for Biggin Hill - a road on the left. there has been rain you
can hear the river under
a manhole cover in the
Turn left into Biggin Hill and go steeply downhill. There are fine views over
road. Take care to keep
South London and to the North Downs. Pass the Biggin Wood allotments, a look-out while
and cross to the opposite (west) pavement, then after 50 yards, turn right listening.
into a footpath (opposite number 47). It is easy to miss this turning so keep
Did you know?
a look-out. This path leads past tennis courts into Biggin Wood. Biggin Wood is a
remnant of the Great
Continue through the wood to a gate into residential roads. Leaving the North Wood. This
woods, bear right into Covington Way. There are Capital Ring signs to ancient oak woodland
once covered a vast
guide you here. Walk along the undulating Covington Way. Keep ahead at area between the
the crossroads with Norbury Hill and a road called Christian Fields. At the Thames at Deptford and
third junction, with Gibson's Hill, you reach the gated entrance to Norwood Croydon.

Grove on your right.

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Enter Norwood Grove and follow the path, fairly steeply uphill, and up to Did you know?
The Grade II listed
the house through a spinney and the house's garden. Dogs are not allowed
mansion, Norwood
in parts of this garden and there is a well-signposted alternative route for Grove, was built in the
walkers with canine company. 1840s by Arthur
Anderson, joint founder
There are panoramic views to the south of Croydon and the North Downs of the P&O Steam
Navigation Company. It
from the top of the hill. The Great North Wood once covered all this area,
is now an education
hence the name Norwood. centre owned by
Croydon Council.
Pass in front of the house with the views to your right, turn left to pass
Did you know?
around the orangery to a gate. Pass through the gate and reverse-turn left Rookery Gardens stand
to continue along the fenced drive called Copgate Path. on the site of an earlier
guest house where
The path crosses a tiny tributary of the River Graveney (which feeds into Queen Victoria stayed;
she came to take the
the River Wandle) and a line of 400-year-old oak trees. This is also the
waters at the three
boundary with Lambeth. Continue straight along the drive to pass the springs at Streatham
Grade II listed Rookery Gardens on the left. Spa which were first
discovered in 1659.

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Upon reaching a road, Streatham Common South, bear left to pass the Did you know?
The splendid westerly
Rookery cafe. There is a large Capital Ring signpost here. Cross the road
view from the heights of
and walk onto the grassed sward of the common to follow the tarmac path Streatham Common
downhill, parallel with the road. There are good views across the Wandle includes a large building
Valley as you descend. rising above all around
it. This is St. Helier
Hospital which was
Near the bottom of the hill bear half-right on a tarmac path, then right again
begun in 1938 and
to walk parallel with the very busy Streatham High Road. Go past the opened in 1941. It is
playground (behind which are more toilets, although they are sometimes very much in the Art
Deco style of its day but
locked). Continue besides Streatham High Road until reaching the end of
its appearance has
the common and the junction with a road, Streatham Common North. been unkindly
Cross this road to the Streatham Memorial Garden. described on occasions.

Now cross over Streatham High Road. There is a Capital Ring signpost
facing you at this crossing. Having crossed, turn right and almost
immediately left into the lengthy Lewin Road. Walk the length of Lewin
Road to its junction with Estreham Road. Section 4 of the Capital Ring
ends here.

Next steps
Turn left here for 200 yards to reach Streatham Common railway station, or
return to Streatham High Road for buses or Streatham station.

Turn right into Estreham Road to start Section 5.

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