Watken one

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 75.00% of reviewers

Not much of a link but a walk by Ken from Kennington although I suggest it would be better described as Oval. An area of London totally new to me so even a main road walk has interest. I deviated into the park and nearly missed the turn and exit. The east side offers traditional three story terraces with occasional gaps perhaps from war time losses. The Imperial War Museum was not of interest to me and would anyway be closed but the park offered a break from traffic. I found the next road crossing needed a minor further move east to offer a safer route. Any accident there should offer a rapid response from an ambulance as there were a score or more parked up on the next street. I failed to locate an approach to the station at the plotted turn but a back track got me up an escalator. There appeared to be too much metal in the roof to allow my Garmin to maintain contact with the satellites. A loss of signal resulted perhaps in my failure to find the precise meeting place but then the two routes don’t appear to end at the same location! An enjoyable walk which the bus had managed to cover in less time. I say this because heading to Kennington from Smithfield by bus was very slow and walking back from Waterloo was quicker.

PS. A Jig saw in the digs was Terence Cuneo’s Under the Clock and I had heard that a statue to the artist was at Waterloo station so I attempted to locate it. The statue was present from 2004 to 2014 when it was removed to form the centrepiece of a new quadrangle at Brompton Barracks, home of the Corps of Royal Engineers.

A fairly direct route which follows some busy roads for the majority of it. However you are also able to go through the edges of some parks which improves it somewhat.

I have suggest WATKEN Two as a slightly longer but maybe quieter alternative.

I walked this route from Kennington to Waterloo. Despite the fact that it sticks largely to main roads, I was very very pleased!

I diverted into Kennington Park, which is always lovely. The stretch to the Imperial War Museum was actually quite good, as there are lots of shops, pubs, and interesting buildings to see along the way. I stopped by the museum, which broke up the route nicely and was a great addition to the day.

Finally, the urban wandering on approach to Waterloo Station was really great - it was great to be so close to Waterloo Station but not really be able to tell! And then you emerge, and the station is right there.

I enjoyed this route a lot.

This is a very direct, main road connection from Waterloo to Kennington. There are limited other options but I feels there must be a better, if slightly longer route.

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