CMHoL

Climbing Moss Heart of London Walk

Having completed the Capital Ring Walk around London in the first half of 2022, we realised the flaws with the route, most notably that the CR hates grass, trees and anything natural, but it absolutely loves the North Circular Road and a tarmac path around and avoiding that pesky nature.

So we decided that we should put our money where our mouths were and make our own route. We had some points of interest we wanted to visit and some parts that the CR alluded to but of course, avoided, so we got to plotting and planning. 

The Climbing-Moss Heart of London walk was born and we figured we should start in the heart of the capital and where better than the most iconic of sights than St. Paul’s Cathedral. 

Then we will head north out of Zone 1 and circumvent the metropolis finding as much greenery, parks, woodlands and forest, as well as rivers, lakes, ponds, streets and brooks as we could.

There are sections where following other pre-made routes is unavoidable and one or two sections of the Capital ring do make an appearance again, but we dip in and out of the ring simply because there is no other way through.

So what follows are guided routes to the CMHoL. We have walked each section and got lost on the way so that you don’t have to and you can see our adventures each week on the YouTube channel London Creative Out and About (starting in January 2023). 

There are sections that are dog friendly and others that are not so, where these occur we have returned and re-walked (or bike!) the direct section and there are some sections we would recommend you may want to cycle or simply jump on a bus to avoid a long, straight and boring main road if you want. But we will explain in the section guide. 

Additionally, in each section, there are marked Photo Opportunities’- A kind of orienteering control marker, simply take a photo of yourself or the named landmark to show you passed the point en route. There are also named Points of Interest.

Each section ends at or close to a train/tube/DLR station for ease and there are some sections where we recommend you get a bus because the walk to the station is long and boring, (Notably Sections 6, 15 & 19).

So below is a list of each section and a PDF so that you can download each one and follow it.

Enjoy…

  1. Section 1 – St Paul’s Cathedral to Hackney Wick Station
  2. Section 2 – Hackney Wick Station to Princess of Wales Pub
  3. Section 3 – Princess of Wales Pub to Wood Street E17
  4. Section 4 – Wood Street E17 to Buckhurst Hill Station.
  5. Section 5 – Buckhurst Hill Station to Debden Station
  6. Section 6 – Debden Station to Fairlop Station
  7. Section 7 – Fairlop Station to Barking Station
  8. Section 8 – Barking Station to Woolwich Arsenal
  9. Section 9 – Woolwich Arsenal to Eltham
  10. Section 10 – Eltham to Lower Sydenham
  11. Section 11 – Lower Sydenham to West Croydon
  12. Section 12 – West Croydon to Morden Station
  13. Section 13 – Morden Station to Richmond Station
  14. Section 14 – Richmond Station to Southall Station
  15. Section 15 – Southall Station to Ickenham Station
  16. Section 16 – Ruislip Station to Northwood Hills Station
  17. Section 17 – Northwood Hill Station to Carpenter’s Park
  18. Section 18 – Carpenter’s Park to Stanmore Station
  19. Section 19 – Stanmore Station to High Barnet (Via Elstree & Borehamwood)

As the weeks go on we will add more sections with PDF maps so you can follow along.