I made it to Hatton Cross

Most of my long walks are ad hoc and unplanned but I have also done some well established routes like the Thames Path, Capital Ring and London Loop, all of which pass very close to where I live. Of these London Loop has proved most problematic with me losing my way in Hounslow Heath. Twice.

This day I was determined to complete London Loop Section 9 Kingston Bridge to Hatton Cross and I enlisted the help of Google Maps which has a copy of the route that I could copy to my maps and view on my phone.

The first part of the route was of my own making, partially because it was easier to cross the Thames at Teddington than at Kingston and partially because there were other places I wanted to go.

I did join London Loop for a while in Bushy Park but then I took bit of a detour which included a longer section of the River Crane Walk because it is pretty and I knew that I could get a coffee in Kneller Gardens.

I rejoined London Loop as it passes under the A316.

From there it was largely a matter of following River Crane as closely as possible.

I was more confident about Hounslow Heath this time and Google Maps did the job, it helped me to turn left, just above the "H" in "Heath" when I saw nothing on the ground to suggest this. That is where I went wrong the second time.

The other wiggling in Hounslow Heath was all part of the route and helps to show why it is possible for people like me to lose my way there. The first time I missed the doubling back above the "un".

I also managed to avoid my previous error of confusing Duke of Northumberland's River for River Crane just north of Hounslow Heath and I managed to keep on the correct path all the way to Hatton Cross.

This section was new to me and that helped it to be my favourite section on the day. The other reasons for liking were that I saw just two other people and for most of the time I was walking on a raised wooden path through trees. It was hard to believe that I was almost at Heathrow.

I was tempted to continue along River Crane but a dual carriageway, tube line and Heathrow all got in the way at the end of the section and it was a lot easier to hop on a 285 bus which took me almost all the way home.

My extended route was just over 20km and took me just under 4 hours. The slightly slower than usual pace, 5km/hour, was due to some route checking and correction along the way and, to be honest, a few pauses to take out Pokemon Go gyms.

River Crane very much dominates this section of London Loop, and rightly so as it is relentlessly pretty and universally well maintained. My decision to include more of if at the start was a good one even if that meant tramping further through the mean streets of Fulwell (and other indistinct suburbs) to do so.

Having cracked London Loop Section 9  I now have my sights on Sections 10 and 11 which will get me all the way to Uxbridge.