Notting Hill, London. 5 miles mainly on the flat

Very varied urban walk, taking in the multicoloured mansions of Notting Hill, famous for their association with the popular culture of the 1960s and now with their quiet elegant shopping areas specialising in rare antiques, women''s designer clothes, florists and restaurants with no menus on display. With house prices here averaging £5m, the main contrast is with the state of the same properties in the 1960s and 1970s, as seen in the photographic displays in the Tabernacle, a local multicultural community centre on the route. The display shows the same properties then in multiple occupancy, many of them owned by the notorious landlord Peter Rachman, who exploited the West Indian immigrants who lived there. 

Then we get to the bustling Portobello Road with its markets and artisan cafés, and the dominant once-infamous (but now desirable and Grade II*- listed) Trellick Tower by Ernö Goldfinger. The area is bisected by the massive Westway dual carriageway, providing a location for various alternative art projects. 

The area itself is fascinating.  The walk (from London's Hidden Walks, volume 1), however, gets very convoluted at times in order to go past properties that appeared in films of the 1970s or housed rock groups of the same period.  Of course, we knew about them all, but I suspect the walk would be less interesting for anyone born after 1965. ❤❤❤

The Lea River Valley and Olympic Park, London, 7 miles on the flat

The River Lea rises near Luton and flows from Hertford down to the Thames. It was mostly canalised in the 18th century and became an important barge freight route. The walk starts at Tottenham Hale and takes in the various locks and tunnels of the Lea Navigation, then takes a detour across Walthamstow Marshes and Hackney Marshes, which are preserved as areas of important scientific interest. 

As the path finally joins the canal towpath, you skirt the site of the 2012 Olympic Park, where the landscape and much of the building have been nicely retained and are a popular sports and recreation facility.

Many of the tunnels and canalside buildings along the route sport the usual London graffiti. But when we finally left the walk at Hackney Wick, the graffiti there is extraordinary both for the shear amount (hardly a surface left unpainted) and also for its quality as an artistic medium. ❤❤❤❤❤

Hammersmith to Richmond, 8.5 miles on the flat

An interesting, but hard-surface, walk along the north Thames footpath, with detour to Chiswick House (picnic in the gardens),  the splendid late18th-century St. Peter's Church at Ravenscourt Park, where Rhiannon's father-in-law (Catrin's grandfather) was vicar from 1965-75, very fine, very expensive, but very floodable houses on the riverfront, Kew Gardens and Kew, where Olivia's parents lived for a period, the monstrous pile of Sion House on the other side of the river, and ending up on familiar territory for me in Richmond, where my kids both lived in the early 2000s. Lovely late autumn sunshine. ❤❤❤❤ 

The Capital Ring: Woolwich Arsenal to Falconwood 6.2 miles

This is the recommended first walk on the route if one is doing it sequentially. Woolwich has a long military history.  It was the site of the Royal Naval Dockyard from 1512 and, until relatively recently, its details were hidden on maps for security reasons. Many of the buildings have had well documented roles in conflicts over the centuries, but are now converted to residential accommodation, art centres, cafés, etc. with views over the Thames to the Thames Barrier, the Millennium Dome and Canary Wharf. Woolwich still has a ferry to take passengers over to the other side of the Thames.

The Ring follows the Thames Path initally, then joins the Green Chain Way, which takes in a series of parks and green spaces, (we counted seven in total) and crosses the rather creepy and deserted Woolwich Common, which was used as an army assembly point in the 18th and 19th century before soldiers collected their weapons from the arsenal and went off to war. It climbs to the top of Shooters Hill, one of the highest points in Greater London at 132 metres. The route partly runs along Watling Steet, the same road that we have followed in rural Cheshire.  It ends at Eltham or Falconwood for convenient transp;ort back to town.  An interesting and varied route, worth doing on its own. ❤❤❤❤

The Capital Ring: Finsbury Park to Alexandra Park, 6 miles 

An easy start to our attempt on the London Capital Ring (78 miles), taking in a number of different woods and apparently rural paths, created as the Parkland Walk on a disused rail line that was saved by local activists from becoming a motorway. Fine views of London from Muswell Hill. (about 100 metres). We are still not decided at this stage whether to undertake the Ring methodically or piecemeal, but it made a pleasant Sunday afternoon walk with some interesting features.❤❤❤