(1) Leaving Grove Park railway station, depart alone Pullman Mews towards Barring Road. The road name changes to Downham Way. Pass Downham Way Family Church, go up the steps or ramp and turn right for a very short distance along Downham Way, then go right down the steps to follow the path along the side of The Green, (the little green space next to the church). Go down some more steps at the other end to Ballamore Road. Turn left along the road and follow it, as it bends right to a crossroads with Shroffold Road.
(2) Cross Shroffold Road and keep straight ahead along Ballamore Road, passing Merlin’s School, until you reach a T-junction with Reigate Road, opposite a children’s playground. Cross Reigate Road and turn right, almost immediately forking off left along a footpath, Railway Children Walk (A), signed as part of the Capital Ring and Green Chain Walk.
[A] The path is named after the well-known children’s novel written by E Nesbit, the pen name of Edith Bland (1858-1924), who lived in the area in the 1880s. The local railway may have partly inspired her work. The Capital Ring is a 125km/78-mile circular walking route round inner London via Woolwich, Crystal Palace, Richmond and Finsbury Park, supported by Transport for London.
(3) Follow the path through a green space and cross the railway bridge.
[B] The railway line was opened in 1865 by the South Eastern Railway as a more direct route from London to Dover in response to competition from the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. Looking left from the bridge you can see Grove Park sidings and the site of a serious accident that killed 49 people in 1967, when a broken rail derailed a train. Also visible is the large Hither Green Cemetery.
On the other side of the bridge you pass the entrance to Grove Park Nature Reserve, (a mix of woodland, scrub and an old plum orchard managed by a community committee, which includes part of the garden of Nesbit’s former house. There’s a comfortable wooden seat here).
Keep ahead along the surfaced path to Baring Road (A2212).
(4) Cross Baring Road at the traffic island and turn right along the other side. Cross the junction of Coopers Lane, and then turn immediately left along it. (This is a broad airy lane looking across to Mottingham and Eltham). Keep ahead to the T-junction with Somertrees Avenue. Turn right into Somertrees Avenue and cross at the traffic island then turn right and left along the drive in front of Grove Park Library. (There is a play area here).
(5) Turn left along Marvels Lane, passing the distinctive buildings of Grove Park Hospital .
[C] Grove Park Hospital was opened as a workhouse for the poor of Greenwich in 1904, and was used by the Army Corps during World War I. It has now been redeveloped as housing, but there is an NHS clinic and nature reserve in the grounds joining the River Quaggy.
Keep ahead along Marvels Lane and just after you cross Edward Tyler Road on the left, cross at the island on the right, then turn left, continuing along Marvels Lane on the other side and crossing Luffman Road. Just past here you cross the river Quaggy to reach a Green Chain Walk signpost.
(6) Turn right along the footpath on the left hand side of the River Quaggy (D). (The river runs in a concrete culvert here – but you’ll soon see it following a more natural course).
[D] The River Quaggy (also known as the Quaggy River or more simply Quaggy) is an urban river, 17km in length, passing through the south-east London Boroughs of Bromley, Greenwich & Lewisham. The name probably originated from the words, 'quagmire' and 'quaggy'. The name of the river featured in E Nesbit's 'The New Treasure Seekers'. It is a tributary of the River Ravensbourne, which in turn flows into the River Thames.
Continue ahead to reach Chinbrook Road (B226).
(7) Cross Chinbrook Road at the zebra crossing and continue ahead along the Quaggy into Chinbrook Meadows.
[E] Chinbrook Meadows was originally occupied by Chinbrook Farm (a dairy farm). The area became a park in 1929 when it was formally opened to the public. A church was built by the Shaftesbury Society, in 1935, as a 'mission hall' on the border of the park in Mayeswood Road. It was used as a Baptist Church until 2005 when it was taken over by the Jubliee International Church.
Soon after the meadows open out you reach a path junction: here turn left and follow the edge of the meadows along a line of poplar trees. Past a children’s playground you reach a cross-roads of paths where you turn right, alongside the railway. Ignoring path junctions, keep ahead past the tunnel entrance, across the Quaggy and along the main path which soon bends right ,away from the railway and towards the white café building. (There are toilets both in and next to the café). Keep ahead at the junction by the café and leave the Meadows by the main gate with its wave-shaped decorations.
For a slightly shorter walk you can cut out most of the loop round the Meadows: when you enter the park don’t turn left but keep ahead to a signpost and information boards. Here turn right to the café then right again to leave the Meadows.
(8) Turn left along Amblecote Road, following the station link signs. (You pass an old oak tree in a round planter). Pass Amblecote Meadows and continue to the T-junction with Chinbrook Road. Turn left, then left again along the busy Baring Road back to Grove Park Station. (There are toilets on the corner of Chinbrook Road and in the station).