Elmers End — New Addington
Elmnew two
Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Elmnew here.
Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Elmnew here.
By Daisy C on 01 Mar 2023
Description
The northern/Elmers End half is mostly on roads, quite busy ones for about a mile in total, but has a long green section through Long Lane Wood and Ashburton Fields and going past a couple of other greenspaces on Shirley Ch Rd. The southern end is entirely off road until the final few residential streets, using Shirley Heath and the woodlands around it, then the woodlands which border New Addington. It is around 60% off road. It is longer than ElmNew 1, but that has no off-road sections at all and this route is very green and peaceful.
This route joins the London Loop (Section 4) halfway along Shirley Church Rd, leaving in Threehalfpenny Wood, the waymarks are useful in the woodland. The exit from Rowdown Woods into New Addington is the second (right) on the rising slope after Castlehill Ruffs Meadow but the exit before or after (the last) will both bring you out within a few hundred metres.
If coming the other way, the path uphill from Kent Gate Way isn't very clear, it's easier to go into the meadows of Spring Park (entrance clearly visible from Kent Gate Way crossing) and then take any one of the clearer paths uphill into the woods to join the perpendical wide track and the London Loop.
On the route directly there a just a couple of convenience stores at the Shirley / Addiscombe Road junction, and many spots would be good for a picnic. You could detour to a small shopping parade in Shrublands (Bridle / Broom Road) which includes a cafe and pub, map attached. The route passes across multiple bus routes.
London Loop details https://innerlondonramblers.org.uk/18-articles/265-walking-the-loop.html
The northern/Elmers End half is mostly on roads, quite busy ones for about a mile in total, but has a long green section through Long Lane Wood and Ashburton Fields and going past a couple of other greenspaces on Shirley Ch Rd. The southern end is entirely off road until the final few residential streets, using Shirley Heath and the woodlands around it, then the woodlands which border New Addington. It is around 60% off road. It is longer than ElmNew 1, but that has no off-road sections at all and this route is very green and peaceful.
This route joins the London Loop (Section 4) halfway along Shirley Church Rd, leaving in Threehalfpenny Wood, the waymarks are useful in the woodland. The exit from Rowdown Woods into New Addington is the second (right) on the rising slope after Castlehill Ruffs Meadow but the exit before or after (the last) will both bring you out within a few hundred metres.
If coming the other way, the path uphill from Kent Gate Way isn't very clear, it's easier to go into the meadows of Spring Park (entrance clearly visible from Kent Gate Way crossing) and then take any one of the clearer paths uphill into the woods to join the perpendical wide track and the London Loop.
On the route directly there a just a couple of convenience stores at the Shirley / Addiscombe Road junction, and many spots would be good for a picnic. You could detour to a small shopping parade in Shrublands (Bridle / Broom Road) which includes a cafe and pub, map attached. The route passes across multiple bus routes.
London Loop details https://innerlondonramblers.org.uk/18-articles/265-walking-the-loop.html
Status
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Information
Route status - Live
Reviews - 1
Average rating -
Is this route good enough? - Yes (1)
There are currently no problems reported with this route.
Downloads - 3
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Geography information system (GIS) data
Total length
Maximum elevation
Minimum elevation
Start and end points
Elmers End
Grid Ref
TQ3580068436
Lat / Lon
51.39871° / -0.04925°
Easting / Northing
535,800E / 168,436N
What3Words
haven.ticket.rooms
New Addington
Grid Ref
TQ3821362234
Lat / Lon
51.34240° / -0.01699°
Easting / Northing
538,213E / 162,235N
What3Words
oasis.ozone.goals
| Elmers End | |
|---|---|
| Grid Ref | TQ3580068436 |
| Lat / Lon | 51.39871° / -0.04925° |
| Easting / Northing | 535,800E / 168,436N |
| What3Words | haven.ticket.rooms |
| New Addington | |
|---|---|
| Grid Ref | TQ3821362234 |
| Lat / Lon | 51.34240° / -0.01699° |
| Easting / Northing | 538,213E / 162,235N |
| What3Words | oasis.ozone.goals |
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review
Daisy C
23 Oct 2022 (edited 26 Jun 2023)Lovely route with a very long woodland section. The southern section all the way from Addington Vale (rather charming) to Shirley Church Road is through a long chain of contiguous woodlands with a few meadow and even heathland sections. There is no way to avoid road walking in the northern end, but all is on pavements, sometimes very quiet, sometimes on busier but very leafy roads with generous shady pavements. One section is noisy though, with little to redeem it except the 'Wild Bean Cafe'. The alternative northern half of ElmNew 1 has nothing that noisy, but it has a steady presence of traffic on all but a few short streets (I have tested it) and has no respite from the pavements. The northern half of ElmNew 2 is broken up by a long stretch through Ashburton Fields and Long Lane Wood. On a map it looks like there might be a way (just one way) through to get the best of both, but unfortunately there isn't a Public Right of Way through the hospital at the end of Poppy Lane.
There isn't technically a PRoW through the woods alongside New Addington either, but the land is owned by Croydon Council and is promoted as one of their green spaces. There are PRoWs through the woodlands north of Kent Gate Way (Spring Park, Three Halfpenny Woods, Shirley Heath, etc) but they are each open to the public, owned by City of London, Woodland Trust and others.
The sightlines for the road crossing of Kent Gate Way aren't great, and the subsequent turnings of the path up the hill are unclear on the ground vs the map. Especially just at the bottom of the very steep path (close to a scramble). But there's no need to stick to this line. Crossing a bit further east, by the bus stop, then heading up through the Spring Park grassland is very straightforward. And the uphill paths beyond there can't really be any worse. Diagram attached.
The route joins the London Loop at the top of that hill and there is good signage throughout until you finally leave the woods at Shirley Church Rd. It does wiggle around a bit, but I prefer that to potentially wasting time by dealing with unmapped tracks, disorienting curved paths, no views to landmarks or lack of signal for phone apps.
The route has accessibility limitations. Mainly the very steep slope near Kent Gate, but several logs across tracks, protruding roots, mud, kissing gates, some fairly brutal anti motorbike width restrictions, these all mainly in Croydon Council Land - south of Kent Gate. ElmNew 1 is all on road/pavements.
Facilities: Bus routes 314, 353, 130, 194, 119, 36. A newsagent and a petrol station "Wild Bean Cafe" at the Shirley Rd/Addiscombe Rd junction.
ElmNew 1 and 2 join together for a while near the middle on Shirley Church Rd, you could swap from one to the other.
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