Transport for LondonRoute details
Green Chain Walk: Section 6 Oxleas Wood via Eltham to Mottingham
| Walk facts | Details |
|---|---|
| Distance: | 3.9 miles (6.2 km) |
| Location: | Greenwich, Bromley |
| Start: | Oxleas Wood (GR 442-760) Get there with Journey Planner |
| Finish: | Mottingham Lane (GR 418-731) |
| Factor: | Green Chain Walk: Section 6 Oxleas Wood via Eltham to Mottingham |
| Recommended direction: | Northeast to southwest |
| Terrain and surface: | Mostly level with some short, gentle slopes and one stepped footbridge. Evenly split between tarmac paths or pavements and rough paths or tracks. No stiles. 1.9km (1.2ml) beside roads |
| Points of Interest: | Oxleas Wood, Shepherdleas Wood, Eltham Park North and South, Conduit Head, Eltham Palace |
| Signage: | Complete. Logo: 'a linked G-C' and text 'Green Chain Walk' |
| Temporary Diversions: | |
| Refreshments and toilets: | Pubs at Falconwood, Eltham and Mottingham. Cafes at Eltham. Public toilets at Eltham and Mottingham |
| Public transport and breakpoints: | NR: Falconwood, Mottingham. Buses at these points plus Eltham and Middle Park Avenue |
| Links with other walks: | Capital Ring Sections 1 and 2, Green Chain Walk Sections 3, 7, 8 and 9 |
| How to get the map: | Download it from www.walklondon.org.uk or call 0870 240 6094 |
| Principal promoters: | LB Bexley, LB Bromley, LB Greenwich, LB Lewisham |
Walk details:
- A relatively gentle GCW section, whose route is shared with Sections 1 and 2 of the Capital Ring.
- From Oxleas Wood (at the junction with GCW 3) it follows rough paths and tracks through Shepherdleas Wood (where GCW 7 provides an alternative route to Mottingham) and Eltham Park North.
- You pass the Long Pond, frequented by waterbirds, and a signed link with Falconwood station.
- A broad, level footbridge over the A2 Rochester Road (where the Capital Ring's Section 1 hands over to Section 2) takes you into Eltham Park South, where a tarmac path leads to Eltham itself.
- A short, rough path through Conduit Meadow passes first a signed link to GCW 7 in Avery Hill Park then Conduit Head, a vaulted red-brick structure where the flow of water from springs was once controlled to feed the moat of Eltham Palace.
- Residential roads parallel to the High Street lead to the palace, which from the 14th to 16th centuries was the equivalent of Windsor Castle, being the royal out-of-town residence.
- The Great Hall and moat survive from those times, and the palace is open to the public.
- An ancient track called King John's Walk leads down to Mottingham, passing the end of GCW 7 (link to Mottingham station).
- You cross a railway line by stepped footbridge, then the A20 Sidcup Road, to reach Mottingham Lane and the junction with GCW 8 and 9.
