Bexswa one

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

Mainly an OK route with reservations at the Swanley end and one or two details. I've uploaded an alternative.
It's an extra 900 metres from Bexleyheath Station to the Broadway.

I walked this route from Swanley to Bexleyheath on Easter Saturday in late March. It’s a very good route in the main, easy to follow, but there are a couple of sections where the urban walking is unnecessarily long winded and that made me a bit grumpy!

At Swanley it is much better to walk north of the station into the town centre along St Mary’s Road. Sidswa Three does this, for example, and Daisy describes it in her review. The bridge across the railway at the station is open to non ticket holders, so its easy to connect to other slow way routes heading south.

My other grump came at Bexley, where the route goes along the busy Bourne Road rather than the more direct and quiet Albert Road.

Maybe it’s worth making a new route option, but tbh it should be possible for anyone walking this route to use their judgment and make adjustments on the hoof!

The other place I had a problem was the footpath south east of Birchwood Road, which is overgrown and impassable (photo 8). The path shows clearly on google maps, but since the satellite image was taken it’s completely overgrown. The solution is to walk around on the track. (Photo 9, 10) Photo 11 is the footpath sign from across Birchwood Road, the gap in the hedge here is kept clear and passable at least.

Other than that I had no issues - the gate at the livery on Stable Lane seems to be permanently open (photo 5); although I went by on a Saturday morning, which is probably peak hour for pony mad visitors!

Joydens Wood was glorious, I took Daisy’s advice about which path to choose. (Photos 2,3,4)

I had a lovely lunch at Bexley, excellent for refreshments.
The walking is pretty easy underfoot, but I’d still recommend boots rather than trainers.

So overall I would recommend this route but with a strong nudge to cut the corners off if you want to!.

On a December day in a week of day-long frosts and freezing fog this was a beautiful and spookily quiet walk. Joyden's Wood was especially atmospheric, with delicate icicles festooning spiders webs and hazel twigs, and whole trees fully silvered by frost, a natural Christmas Grotto. When I rewalked it on a May evening there were a few more people about and it was also very lovely.

Along the way there were stiles, a couple of anti-motorbike and/or anti-horse width restrictions, a kissing gate, prominent tree roots and non-drop kerbs, but it avoids muddy sections despite the bridleways and so many local stables using Joyden's Woods. There was a little no-pavement road walking on Stable Lane and near the golf course (but not golfer traffic), both were very quiet each time I was there.

This route overlaps with SidBex 2 until crossing the A2 then the River Shuttle. Apart from the A2 below you that section is fairly quiet on residential roads. Bexley village is quite pretty, with lots of places to eat, buses and trains. A few short paths later is Stable Lane, which has no pavement but quiet, leading only to various stables. At the end the route goes through Mount Mascal stableyard, through an gate which was open but is motorised and has a keycode entry pad. There's no signage within the yard. This all put me off the first time and I used a winding path through Joyden's Wood instead. I've since checked that it is definitely a Right of Way and a local told me it is always open. On my next visit, approaching from the other end, it was fine.

This route is easy to follow through the woods keeping to the larger tracks. It goes past a picnic site and small area of heathland. Down the eastern edge of the wood the route line is a bit vague, use the footpath close to the edge. It's lovely and you can briefly see the Faesten Dic ancient earthworks. Using the bridleway could be extremely muddy, as on nearby SidSwa 2.

There are many other ways through Joyden's Wood on smaller paths including the Faesten Dic trail. The Woodland Trust's own map is more helpful than than OS maps. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/woods/joydens-wood/

After Joyden's Wood the route joins SidSwa 2 along footpaths: beside fields, a golf course (another eating option - it's open to anyone) and a garden centre. Next is Swanley Park and there's a chip shop soon after, and then a rather shadowy alleyway. You could take a longer but greener detour following the edge of Swanley Park (OS maps are not that helpful here either, mini map attached). If you don't need the shops etc in Swanley's centre, the station/route meeting point is closer down St Mary's Rd (also shown on the mini-map). Once at the station you can cross over to join another Slow Way without needing a ticket as there are no ticket gates, but the station probably does close at night. Swanley is in the TfL travel zone despite being in Kent and there are also some TfL buses.

The main test was in winter 2022 but Bexleyheath to the River Shuttle was spring 2022. Joyden's Wood to Bexley was rechecked in late spring 2023.

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