The Green Chain Circular
I love a good geo-wander and this series is the result of a few months puzzling out a decent length urban walk in my area. The circuit is around 7.5 miles (12 km) and is almost completely walked along sections of the Green Chain Walk (The Ravensbourne Green Way and Capital Ring also feature). All of the information that you need is on this first cache page, and I've kept the details on each subsequent page brief to make it easier to follow along if you're using GPS. There is a handy PDF guide linked below, which is well worth printing out to take along with you. The attributes for this cache represent the walk as a whole. Please note that you cannot complete the circuit at night as various park gates are locked. The last time I did a complete circuit maintenance walk took me 4 hours non-stop
The Green Chain Walk is a linked system of open spaces between the River Thames and Crystal Palace Park. In 1977 four London Boroughs (Bexley, Bromley, Lewisham and Greenwich) and the Greater London Council created this Green Chain of 300 open spaces to protect them from building activity. Many parts of the system are also part of the Capital Ring route.
This is very definitely an urban trail, but with some great green open space. I'll be honest, some sections of this walk, The Downham Woodland Walk in particular, sadden me a bit as they have such history and could be amazing but are so obviously not treated well. There are still some local gems though, like Beckenham Place Park and Elmstead Woods - if you have more time then do explore these properly as this walk only really skirts them (and there are more caches here too if you don't already have them!).
I know they say Geocaching is not all about the numbers, but there are some days when you just fancy finding a whole bunch of them, and this walk should satisfy that craving. 52 closely placed caches including the bonus, and potential to pick up more along the way. As an added bonus, for the first few to find, if you complete the circuit, you may find a little memento waiting for you in the bonus cache. I will top these up when I have time to make them and am relying on people to take just one when they get there.
Ideally start at Ravensbourne - you can get the train or there is free on-road parking (though can be busy at commuter times). You could also start at Grove Park, but the bonus cache isn't really going to work out for you as you need to collect numbers along your way. The walk should all be dog / group / child friendly. Might be just about OK with a buggy though there is a narrow squeeze after the last cache (but you could walk round the long way or lift over). A couple of areas can get very muddy indeed after rain and there will be nettles and brambles in season! There are a couple of railway bridges with steps. There is a small clamber for one cache and others will require that you bring a magnet with you - though some early finders have found that something metallic (a nail or screwdriver for example) is better. You'll need your own pen as all the caches are micros and tweezers are almost essential as several of the caches are pretty tiny. .
There are a fair few small cafes and shops along the route and Chinbrook Meadow has a toilet block in the North West corner.
Have a good walk and happy hunting!
A few requests:
- Please put caches back exactly as you find them and well hidden. If you are caching with others then the person who retrieves the cache should put it back.
- Please use the "Needs Maintenance" log for any issues. I'm local and will fix them as soon as I can.
- I spent ages planning and placing this route so please make an effort with your logging - I do enjoy reading them! Having said that, I realise there are many caches so don't expect an essay for them all ;-)
- Please don't leave spoilers in your logs or spoiler pictures. If any caches seem particularly difficult then I'll adjust the ratings or improve the hint myself.
- Do look out for bonus numbers along the route and note these down. The bonus cache is a little walk from the end of the route and is the only cache that will have space for trackables / swappables.
You can download a handy pdf guide to take with you on the walk. SPOILER ALERT - this does contain the hints! And if there is a discrepancy in details between the website and the PDF then always believe the website as these will get updated more frequently!
Caches within Beckenham Place Park and Downham Woodland Walk nature reserves placed with the kind permission of Lewisham Council.
(Aug 17) The closure of a footpath has meant an adjustment to the route right at the end. The walk is slightly longer but includes an extra cache - now 53 caches including the bonus!
This series is being made open to all again (rather than premium only) - but caches will be archived as they get damaged or go missing, and the series will eventually be retired. Please look after the caches to preserve them as long as possible, and happy hunting!