It may seem contrarian, in these early chapters, to give instructions on how to leave the centre. I have a good reason, though. Outer London holds many of the most-interesting, best-kept secrets of the capital, but if you want to enjoy them it’s best to make an early start. Plus, heading out of the centre just as all the morning commuters are trawling in gives one a sense of rebellion against the system. Every day should start with an act of non-conformity.
Barnet and surroundings
Barnet Museum, 31 Wood Street, EN5 4BE (High Barnet)
The northernmost point in Greater London is a small rhomboid of low deciduous woodland by the name of Tilekiln Osiers. I’ve never been, and wouldn’t recommend that you go either, but it’s always good to know these things. The outer limits of north London do hold many treasures, though. How about a visit to the ancient town of Barnet, at the top of the Northern Line? The area contains a number of attractive Tudor buildings and a landmark church. It was also the location of the Battle of Barnet (1471), a decisive confrontation during the War of the Roses. You can tour the battle site while climbing the hill up to the attractive village of Monken Hadley. Look back across the greensward for impressive views. Barnet Museum is also worth a visit, if only to see the portrait enigmatically labelled ‘G. C. Hudson... hero of the Breeches Incident’. What can it all mean?
Forty Hall
Forty Hill, EN2 9HA (Turkey Street)
Whitewebbs Museum of Transport
Whitewebbs Road, EN2 9HW (Crews Hill)
Enfield, home of the eponymous rifle, is a sizeable area totally absent from most guidebooks. If you do make the journey, take a look around Forty Hall, a stunning Jacobean mansion surrounded by eminently explorable woods and fields. This former home of a Lord Mayor tells the story of life in the 17th century. Then, take the pleasant walk northwest to London’s other transport museum, Whitewebbs. This small museum is so obscure it lacks a Wikipedia page and only opens Tuesdays and the last Sunday of the month. It’s well worth a visit, though, for the collection of vintage cars, bikes, fire engines and other vehicles.
Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge
8 Ranger’s Road, E4 7QH (Chingford)
A little further to the east you’ll find Epping Forest, a last tract of the Great North Forest that once covered most of the region. It’s easy to get lost in the 6,000 acres (2,428ha) acres of beech and hornbeam, so begin by surveying the woods from Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge. This unique survivor from Tudor times served as a base and archery platform for royal hunting parties 450 years ago. It’s now a mini-museum of Tudor life, perfect for family visits. From here, the still-vast forest stretches before you and would take days to explore fully. Be sure to carry a map, as mobile-phone signals aren’t always easy to come by. There are many features to seek out, but the two Iron Age forts, mentioned in the opening chapter, are a priority.
Barking and its Manors
Eastbury Manor House, Eastbury Square, IG11 9SN (Upney)
Valence House Museum
Becontree Avenue, RM8 3HT (Chadwell Heath)
Not many people go on a day trip to Barking, I’d wager, but it definitely has its charms. Any visit should include the remains of Barking Abbey, a major landowner in Medieval times. The town centre itself is surprising. Brightly coloured modern buildings (some perjoratively liken them to Lego) jostle with traditional brick builds and 1960s concrete. But the real star is Eastbury Manor, a 16th-century mansion house incongruously encircled by semi-detached housing. A tour takes a couple of hours, and includes impressive views from the turrets. Legend has it that the Gunpowder Plot was devised in this mansion. If you crave still more local history, take a 30-minute stroll to Valence House Museum in Dagenham. This attractive, timber-framed building serves as the borough’s local museum, and very good it is too.
Rainham Marshes
New Tank Hill Road, RM19 1SZ (Purfleet)
At the furthest eastern reaches of London, stretching into Essex, lies Rainham Marshes, a supremely wild spot and one of the South-east’s best destinations for birdwatching. A series of hides and reedbed boardwalks offer unrivalled vantage points to see swooping peregrines, whistling wigeons and flocks of lapwing. The marshland occupies former military land, and you can still find relics of the two World Wars lurking among the bulrushes. There’s a nominal entrance fee, but the good people of the RSPB, who staff the visitor centre and café, will often waive it if you’re a first-time visitor.
Upminster Windmill
The Mill Field, St Marys Lane, RM14 2QL (Upminster)
Even further to the east, but just within London’s borders, stands the magnificent Upminster Windmill. This so-called smock mill has survived for over two centuries, and now opens to visitors on select weekends through summer (check the website for details). The nearest tube is Upminster, but you should take the slightly longer walk from Upminster Bridge to see that station’s unusual concourse, which includes a large, tiled swastika, dating from a time when that symbol had no negative associations.
Chislehurst Caves
Caveside Close, Old Hill, BR7 5NL (Chislehurst)
Explore a London underground of a different ilk at Chislehurst Caves. These man-made caverns were hewn from the Kentish chalk untold centuries ago by Romans, or Druids, or Medieval miners. Despite what the guides might tell you, nobody really knows the origins of this 22-mile (35.4km) cave system, which only adds to the mystique. This Stygian realm became an underground city during the Second World War, as thousands of people sought shelter from the nightly bombing. That era is brought to life with a charmingly unconvincing series of mannequins. More costume can often be found above ground, where the local woods are used by live-action role-playing fans dressed as orcs, knights and wizards. There is undeniably a latent magic about this place.
Down House
Luxted Road, BR6 7JT (Orpington, then bus R8)
This quiet country retreat is not just a picturesque English Heritage house and garden, it was also home to Charles Darwin – one of the few human beings who will remain a household name for as long as there are households. For this reason, it has been nominated as a potential World Heritage Site, which would put it in the same category as the Houses of Parliament and the Tower of London. Because it is situated away from the centre in Bromley, it gets just a fraction of the visitors. The room in which On the Origin of Species was written will send a preternatural shiver down the spine of anyone who understands the immense importance of that work. For everyone else, well, just listen to David Attenborough’s multimedia tour and you’ll soon get your own spine tingles.
The White Cliffs of London
New Barn Lane, CR3 0EX (Kenley)
Did you know that London has its very own white cliffs? These chalky wonders can be found on the Neolithic site of Riddlesdown, towards the southern border of the London Borough of Croydon. Follow the London Loop walking path over this green space, until you ascend New Barn Lane. Look back, and there you’ll see them... the White Cliffs of London. It’s worth continuing along the London Loop for a few more miles. Eventually you’ll reach Farthing Downs: this long strip of semi-wild greenery also rests on chalk, and commands epic views towards the City of London (which authority, incidentally, owns this land).
The best way to explore west London is to follow the Thames. The riverside towns of Chiswick, Twickenham, Teddington, Richmond and Kingston all hold their charms. Chiswick gets its name from an old medieval cheese market or farm. This area was the country home of painter William Hogarth, but the Hogarth House Museum isn’t as tranquil today, nestling as it does in the shadow of the Hogarth Roundabout. Nearby Chiswick House and Park are both worth a tour.
Twickenham’s sporting attractions are world famous, but it’s also a top choice for a riverside drink. The White Swan pub has one of London’s most unusual beer gardens. At high tide, it becomes completely cut off from the pub. Ill-prepared drinkers can expect soggy socks. Teddington is home to famous television studios. The ‘fish-slapping dance’ from Monty Python was filmed on the lock here, which also marks the point where the Thames stops being tidal.
Richmond is a major town in its own right, with hundreds of shops, cafés, bars and restaurants. We’ll visit the park in a later section, but for now, explore the postcard-perfect riverside. And note the old Georgian houses close to the bridge. These aren’t 18th century at all, but modern pastiche designed by Prince Charles’s favourite architect Quinlan Terry.
Kingston is another sizeable conurbation. It’s often considered downmarket compared to Richmond, but this ignores an impressive history. Five Anglo-Saxon kings were crowned here, and you can still see the Coronation Stone in the centre of town. Kingston also contains one of London’s oldest bridges, a short humpback affair known as the Clattern Bridge that spans the River Hogsmill.
As well as the Thames, the west is also blessed with some of the capital’s best stretches of canal. One very satisfying walk takes you along the banks of the River Brent, which meanders and merges with the Grand Union Canal. Start at Brentford Bridge, the scene of a small skirmish during the Civil War, and wind your way northwards through two centuries of industrial history. The canal is still used by industry today, as can be seen at the GlaxoSmithKline building, which takes in water to cool its colossal HQ. Further along, a couple of wooded spaces bring something more natural to the towpath. Towards Hanwell, I’d heartily recommend you break your walk with a quick (or long) stop off at The Fox, a homely, friendly local with a staggering and award-winning choice of real ales. The waterway then bifurcates. Head west to see an impressive series of locks alongside an old asylum. These culminate in an astounding piece of Victorian engineering: a point where the canal passes over a railway and simultaneously tunnels underneath a road. This was Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s last and least well-known major project, and is best viewed from the roadside above. More of Brunel’s handiwork can be seen if you instead follow the River Brent at the branch point. This soon leads up into Hanwell proper, where you can see the Braithwaite Viaduct carrying the Great Western Railway over the Brent Valley. The nearby Viaduct pub commemorates the project, and offers views of the structure from its upstairs room (ignore the other windows, though, which face towards the concrete bulk of Ealing Hospital).
The Uxbridge area also gives good canal. This often-forgotten quarter is known to most Londoners only as the place that sounds a bit like Oxbridge and is situated at the end of the Metropolitan and Piccadilly Lines. The town centre is nothing special, but head a little further west for some of the most beautiful waterscapes in London. Here, the River Colne, River Frays and the Grand Union Canal perform an intricate dance around one another, occasionally inviting smaller watercourses into the quadrille while jealous lakes look on. The picturesque tangle coheres north of Uxbridge, at Denham Deep Lock, where Fran’s Tea Garden provides an idyllic stopping off point. Carry on north along the canal until you reach The Coy Carp – quite possibly London’s most westerly pub – on the edge of Harefield. It’s a homely place to finish up the perfect outer-London walk.
The hills of Northala
Kensington Road, UB5 (Northolt)
In 2008, London gained four new hills: this quartet of peaks is known as Northala Fields, and takes its name from the Old English version of Northolt, the nearest conurbation. The hills may lack vintage, but they pack in plenty of heritage. A million tons of rubble were transported from the demolition of the old Wembley Stadium, dumped beside the A40, and hewn into the verdant teats that stand here today. The largest peak offers excellent views across north London, and towards the crowning arch of the new Wembley.
AT THIS HOUR:
For those who can tolerate the frigid temperatures, an early-morning dip in one of Hampstead Heath’s bathing ponds is a bracing way to start your day. The three pools, one for men, one for women and one mixed, open around 7am in the summer, or 8am in winter. It’s £2 to get in.
