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Mark Moxon's Travel Writing

Capital Ring: Day 4: Crystal Palace to Streatham

The view over Croydon from Biggin Hill
The view over Croydon from Biggin Hill

If you want to get the best out of this section of the Ring, try to do it on a clear day, because by far and away the best aspect of the walk from Crystal Palace to Streatham are the views. This is one of the hilliest parts of London, and although it makes this walk rather more tiring than 3.9 miles might sound on paper, it's worth the effort. In cloudy weather with poor visibility, though, the suburban nature of the walk might not be that thrilling, as it's the vistas peeping through the houses that make this such an enjoyable yomp.

Lovely Norwood

Norwood Grove
Norwood Grove

The views just keep on coming, too. After a short dip through yet more tiny remnants of the Great North Wood (which you also visit on day 3, and which gives its name to Norwood), the Ring ducks back into suburbia, but it's suburbia with yet more wonderful views. You'll go past houses that make the most of this fact, with elaborate (though somewhat tasteless) balconies facing south into the sun, but it's not long before the Ring turns off into a park called Norwood Grove, and what a lovely place it turns out to be.