Blaelt one

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Blaelt here.

Mostly in agreement with what has been said previously. Decent route along mostly quiet streets and footpaths.

It's a very direct route, and goes along lots of very quiet, low-traffic roads and footpaths, plus a few small to medium parks. Considering the limitations, I think it's pretty good. The Blackheath end is along affluent, quiet and leafy roads and by a small pond with loud geese. Kidbrooke has three parks, very little traffic and a station with a handful of shops etc. From there the route runs close to the train line and the *very* busy A2, for me it is a background rumble, but others might call it noisy. Much of the route is also a cycle path.

There are a couple of design oddities. Between Casterbridge Rd and Kidbrooke Park Rd the route loops south on roads via Ensign St. But why? There's a perfectly nice footpath between the top of Cator Park North and a playground. Over Kidbrooke Park Rd the line goes a bit haywire again, going right through a large building to get to Kidbrooke Station, and ignoring the nearby crossing. Both quirks are probably from maps that showed the road layout of the long-since-demolished Ferrier Estate until quite recently, the rebuilding has been slow. And happily the building works near Kidbrooke Station are (nearly?) done and there's no block to walking through.

I think the other reviewer's issue "along the highway" was probably Edith Nesbitt Walk. That links Westhorne Ave and Well Hall Rd and is sandwiched between a raised part of the A2 and a sports field and public park, both are behind railings, trees or hedges. It is the noisiest part of the route, but you can't actually see the cars, much. I have seen blokes lingering there sometimes, but not for a while, and it hasn't put me off. Photo collage attached.

There's also a map/diagram which shows an easy diversion to avoid Edith Nesbitt Walk via Kidbrooke Lane and a better line for either side of Kidbrooke Park Rd.

Edited to add photos and note that works around Kidbrooke Station are done.

Starting from Blackheath the first short section of the route is pleasant until Kidbrooke, when it gets very confusing near the station. After navigating a diversion around the big property developments you can rejoin the original route, which is ok until it starts going along the highway. This stretch is quite long, is really noisy and the areas around the path are dirty and felt unsafe. I walked back a different way along a ‘boring’ road, but this was nevertheless less stressful than the original route itself.

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