Beverley Brook
> The Beverley Brook walk demonstrated that democratically lead walks do not work if the fuhrer fails.
>
> 8 of us set out on a glorious, if cold, day. We got remarkably lost on Barnes and Putney commons; poor map reading skills combined with an old map (Stephen thought it might have been published to foil the Nazi invaders) and a confusion between the 2 cemeteries meant a slow start. The paths were muddy, and we complained of inadequate signage – this was probably because we were not on the official Beverley Brook Path! All then went well through Richmond Park and along the edge of Wimbledon Common when we found the right path, and getting hungry found ourselves in Coomb Hill estate. This turned out to be a very posh, gated footballer houses and no sign of a pub or anything. Eventually we found a bus stop and took the first bus that arrived in either direction – we did not want to go TO anywhere, just away from where we were. Thus we arrived in Wimbledon and had a good lunch in “All Bar One”. After a bit of discussion most of us took the tube back to Putney Bridge and walked back to Hammersmith along the Thames path, which made a good finish to a rather unexpected walk.
Out District Line. Wimbledon Branch
Return 6.5 Miles New Malden Station regular trains to Wimbledon, Clapham Junction and Waterloo, 10 miles Richmond Station District Line and Rail.
Following Beverley Brook from the Thames at Putney through Barnes common, Richmond Park, round the edge of Wimbledon Common, then either on past New Malden to New Malden Station
OR
across Combe Wood Golf Course back to Richmond Park, Ham and the Thames at Richmond.
Pubs and eateries where the walk divides
The official Beverley Brook walk is only 6.5 miles, and the last mile looks a bit dull (on the map, but I can never tell from maps whether it will be “beautiful”) so I thought the purists and those who would like a shorter walk could go to the official end, New Malden Station; while those who prefer a longer walk could orienteer with me to Richmond.