dareat fayanna fulande
Staci Mauger
London has been the home to the Kings and Queens of England for over 1000 years. Walking though London you can see and visit Royal Palaces and Grand Houses used by monarchs past and present.
Walk down narrow cobbled streets to discover 2000 years of architectural history from Roman remains through to the latest award winning and tallest buildings in Europe.
With numerous parks and gardens London is the greenest city in the world. Walk for miles on a picturesque footpath through four Royal Parks from Westminster to Kensington.
Statues of world figures and Monuments dedicated to historic events can been seen thoughout London, some internationally famous, others less well known.
On our central London walks you can visit some of the most prestigious museums and galleries in the world which house a wide range of historic, cultural and artistic treasures and artefacts.
A centre of world culture with permanent and temporary exhibitions, shows and events London has more international visitors than any other city in the world.
Where East meets West on the prime Meridian freedom of speech and religious worship from across the world is demonstrated in Londons ancient Abbeys, Cathedrals, Churches, Mosques, and Temples.
With a diverse range of peoples and cultures London is one of the top culinary capitals in the world, with 1000's of restaurants there are menus from every continent.
This walk has everything I want in a walking tour: a brilliant guide, an inspired route, lots of alleyways and hidden passageways, a secret garden, no end of surprises, fantastic A-List attractions, three stunning interiors, a pub, three rivers (two of them visible),
These 8 routes form the Walk London Network, one of the largest walking networks of any city in the world. These routes are specifically designed to be easily accessible by public transport and you can walk as little or as far as you want by walking them in sections.
Capital Ring
A walk through London's greenest suburbs, this 78-mile route is divided into 15 shorter walks, including Richmond Park, Wimbledon Common and Eltham Palace. Most of the route is accessible to wheelchair users - see the Ramblers' guide to Capital Ring wheelchair access (PDF 1.1MB).
Jubilee Greenway
Celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, this path for walkers and cyclists links the Olympic and Paralympic Games venues, including the O2 Arena, Greenwich Park and the Serpentine.
Jubilee Walkway
This route, created to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee, encompasses London's most iconic landmarks, from St Paul's to Buckingham Palace, and includes Bloomsbury and the City on the way.
Shine Night Walk London 2024 will start at Battersea Park and finish at Evolution within Battersea Park. All of our routes will take you past a range of famous landmarks such as Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and St Paul's Cathedral. Download your map to discover the landmarks that you'll pass on your Shine Night Walk.
Although we're proud of our achievements, there is still more to be done. The money you raise will help to bring us closer to our ambition of 3 in 4 people surviving their cancer for 10 years or more by 2034.
If you require any further information on the accessibility of a Shine Night Walk event or wish to bring a carer/helper to accompany you, please contact our Supporter Hotline on 0300 123 1022 (Opening hours are 8 am - 6 pm Monday to Friday and on Wednesdays, we are closed between 11 am and 11:30 am for staff training) or email us at supporter...@cancer.org.uk
The pedestrian entrance will be from Rosery Gate, marshals and signage inside Battersea Park will be in place within the venue. Please note, no access will be allowed from other entrances as the route follows the internal paths in the venue. Chip mat timings within the venue may also activated by your walking number if you walk near them - this means you will not have a correct finish time.
There is no designated event parking at Battersea Park, and several of the car parks within Battersea Park will be closed to the public. We recommend using public transport. Please aim to arrive at Battersea Park 45 minutes before your start time.
There will be a taxi rank which will operate near the Finish venue at Chelsea Gate. There will be plenty of taxi's available throughout the night. If you would like to pre-book a private hire vehicle, you must be collected from Rosery Gate on the South of Battersea Park, a one way system will be in place, any private hire vehicles MUST show the booking to enter this area.
The days soon merged into each other but the red line we drew on our maps kept extending across France from Calais towards Geneva. On the horizon soared the Alps that we knew we would have to climb to reach Italy. As complete amateurs, plagued with tendonitis, in beaten up trainers and with a complete lack of any all-weather gear (Paddy had abandoned his coat on day four), were we perhaps chancing our luck?
We crossed the border into Switzerland at the Col de Coux above the ski resort of Morzine in the French Alps. The scenery was breathtaking in both senses of the word but we strode on, only stopping to refresh ourselves in the icy cold mountain glacial streams. It was a relief to leave the roads and footpaths behind and to be able to enjoy walking without the constant fear of being run off the road by another incompetent driver.
Deciding to avoid getting caught up in the rat race, Andy Ward set off to walk from London to Istanbul on a whim. 5,000 kilometres, 2 pairs of shoes and a fractured leg later he crossed the river Bosporus into Asia.
Since then Andy has been professionally managing North Pole expeditions in the Arctic. When he's not working he can almost always been found waist deep in a river or loch pursuing his greatest passion in life, fly fishing.
Four long, hot, mosquito-plagued weeks took us across Italy to reach the Balkans. In the heat of the day we would shelter from the sun in the shade, write our diaries, snooze and I would practice my new hobby of resoling my boots with discarded rubber from the roadside. The countryside changed as we entered the rolling hills of Slovenia, which eventually flattened into Croatia.
We reached the Serbian border at nightfall for an early crossing the next morning, and clambered over a hedge and collapsed in the long grass of our campsite. Before long the stove was lit, beers had been opened, and our little tents had somehow erected themselves in the darkness. Our goulash was quickly devoured, we crept into our sleeping bags, and not for the first time, it seemed that the alarm on my phone was beeping me back out of my happy slumber before my head had hit the pillow.
From Serbia we continued gradually southwards. As the nights drew in and autumn slowly turned to winter, we crossed into Bulgaria. With 4,000km under our belts we were in reasonable shape, and with cooler afternoons allowing us to walk from dawn till dusk the miles were flying by. We passed into the north-eastern tip of Greece, and two days later crossed our tenth and final border, into Turkey.
No-one can quite agree why the Romans decided to build a wall around Londinium, as it was known then. Nevertheless, in 200AD, the wall was built and was one of the largest construction projects in Roman Britain. Over the medieval and Tudor periods, the wall was added to, maintained and enhanced.
In the 18th century, as London expanded, the gates and parts of the wall were destroyed, primarily to improve traffic flow. The remaining ruins are now scheduled monuments, often looking slightly adrift in a sea of glass and steel.
When William the Conqueror built the Tower of London in 1077 he incorporated a section of Roman wall into it. This was unfortunately lost during medieval upgrades to the Tower. You can still see the line of the old wall however inside the Tower, should you visit.
For our first stop we are at the ruins of a medieval postern gate. Built between 1297-1308, it was located at the point where the wall met the moat of the Tower of London. It was used as a pedestrian gate and defensive tower, right up until at least the 17th century.
To work out which bit is Roman, look out for the lines of red tiles. The Romans included these horizontal lines to strengthen the structure, possibly as a spirit level during construction or possibly to stop damp rising through the wall.
How has it survived? Well, over the years it became incorporated into the foundations and walls of industrial and residential buildings. It was rediscovered during the construction of a warehouse in 1864. It was decided by the then owner of the warehouse to preserve the wall. During excavations in 1962 the remains of a rectangular Roman turret were discovered which likely had a stairway within it to access the parapet.
Walk along Vine Street for our next stop. There is a stretch of Roman Wall in the basement of the buildings on your left, currently a building site. Included in the building works there is apparently a plan to fit viewing panels.
You will now be where the Aldgate used to stand: one of the seven gates in the city walls. This open area still has a palpable feeling of being on the edge of the city. A gate was built here by the Romans over the road to Colchester: one of their major thoroughfares.
Geoffrey Chaucer, of Canterbury Tales fame, lived in rooms above the Aldgate from 1374 whilst he was a customs official for the Port of London. More on some of the other uses of the gates below in the Bishopsgate section!
Note the name of the church here (also on the map): St Botolph without Aldgate- meaning it was outside the Aldgate. St Botolph was the patron saint of travelers. A church dedicated to him is therefore often found at the city gates, for people setting off on their travels! We will see a couple more on our walk.
As you set off on the next section of the walk, note the street name- Houndsditch. There was a outer ditch around the exterior of the wall. The name Houndsditch is thought to be named for the fact that this particular area of ditch was a popular spot for the Romans to dispose of their dead dogs. Indeed, during 20th century excavations, quite a lot of dog skeletons were found here! You can see it on the map above.
c01484d022