Sunday walk 2 & 3 - Cray river walk

The past three weeks haven't been the best for walking mainly because we haven't been able to get as far out into the countryside as we'd have liked to. The weekend after Meopham, Arup was working on the weekend and Claire and I decided to stay closer to home for our walk. The Cray is a local river (rivulet more like it) that joins the Thames near Erith.

The Bexley council website promised that it was a signposted walk so despite the lack of clear directions on the guide, we decided to give it a go. The whole walk is about 10 miles but we decided to walk from Foots Cray Meadows where the walk begins to Hall Place and then walk home - a total distance of between 4.5-5 miles.

Note: Arup and I did the same walk the following week because Claire was not well and I wanted to show Arup Foots Cray Meadows. The photos are from both walks.

We took the bus to Foots Cray and after dutifully taking pictures of All Saints Church because the guide mentioned it, entered Foots Cray Meadows.

All Saints Church

Now, I've lived in the Borough for close to three years and Claire has lived here all her life but neither of us really realised what a green borough it is. Take Foots Cray meadows. I'd heard of it but never really knew what it was and Claire, who had been there in her misspent youth (!), hadn't really noticed how pretty it is.

Foots Cray Meadows is a local nature reserve and a very popular spot for dog walkers. The Cray flows down the middle and the Cray walk follows it pretty closely. It isn't the biggest of rivers, but it is pretty and wooded and a lovely surprise in the middle of suburbia.

First view of the Cray

Signs - these are so welcome when you're sure you're lost!

The five arch bridge is a great spot to stand and admire the view and feed the mute swans and ducks.

Five arch bridge

When I did the walk with Arup, he was so happy to see the dogs and made friends with one. He would love a dog of his own but sadly with both of us working and me being asthmatic, it isn't really a possibility.

Arup's new friend

Bits of the walk are really Indiana-Jones ish because you can walk very close to the river's edge battling your way through the undergrowth. I got stung by some sort of nettle and it was itchy for days. Guess it's my first walk-wound!

The meadows are about 1.25 miles long if you walk along the river and at the end you have a choice of going to Hall Place via Bexley village (2 miles) or via Churchfield wood (3.25 miles).

Claire and I went via Bexley as we were hoping to get the borough's best ice cream at the Italian deli on Bexley high street. Sadly, it was closed and we were forced to get a drink at the pub instead. Which was quite funny because we were asked for ID and we didn't have any other than our 30+ faces! Unfortunately that didn't wash and we had to give the next pub our custom, which turned out to be worth it as we overheard a conversation in which the lady was asked if she'd ever have cosmetic surgey. She said 'I might do if my boobs fall down but I think they're quite nice at the moment. What do you think, love, don't you think they're quite nice?' No, sorry, I didn't get a picture of her!

The rest of the walk was a bit boring since it was just along he bus route that we often take. Hall Place was lovey as always and we walked around the gardens and greenhouse before heading home.

When I did the walk with Arup, we took the other route from the end of Foots Cray meadows but after a nicer, more wooded walk initially, we found ourselves on North Cray road and ended up walking all the way to Bexley along it. If there were signs taking us anywhere else, we either didn't see them or misinterpreted them. It was a longish walk but we were so disappointed by it (other than the quite lovely houses we admired along the way), we consoled ourselves with a picnic when we got to Hall Place. The rain, which had been promised, finally came while we were there but I can report that our new waterproof jackets did very well in protecting us.

On the way home, we went up Gravel Hill and took a different way home just to make things a bit excting. Oh and we have now established a walk night routine- burgers for dinner!