Inspired by Think Feet First Kate and her daughter Ela, 12, have decided to walk the Capital Ring – a walk around London about 78 miles long that threads together parks and open spaces, mostly following pleasant residential roads in between.

• Going it alone...

  May 31, 2009

  I did the next walk on my own – the sun was shining and Elara was on holiday without me so it seemed an indulgent thing to do – and a good way to get to my brother's who lives in Forest Hill.

  

  I turned down King John's walk to the sight of nothing but fields and horses ahead of me and Canary Wharf; the eye and the BT tower looking very far behind me indeed. It was hard to believe I was only half a kilometre from Eltham High Street.

  The walk was lovely and the greenest yet. There are a couple of stretches that look like you are walking down a street on the map but in actual fact you are heading through narrow strips of an old wood. In some areas you might think you have slipped into a Harry Potter book with place names like Marvel's Lane and Quaggy River.

  Highlight of the walk was the immense and beautiful Beckenham Place Park. I was meant to stop there but carried on walking almost to Penge to pick up my connection to Forest Hill.

  Next walk will be through Crystal Palace and on to Streatham….

• Picking up the pace...

  May 24, 2009

  Even with two bank holidays there hasn't quite been enough weekend for me to get as far as I had hoped with the walk in May. However, one last minute push saw us get from Oxleas wood to Eltham.

  This really was new territory for me – I have never been to Eltham before - or even driven through it. We arrived earlier than our walking companions so decided to have a traditional breakfast to fuel ourselves for the coming walk at the café in the woods. Not the healthiest of beginnings but we had time to burn off the extra!

  The walk starts downhill and then through a series of parks ending in Etham Palace – which was really lovely. The day was perfect – hot and sunny, with ice cream and homemade lemonade overlooking a moat! Not what I expected to find in South East London.

• The second leg of our Capital Ring walk...

  April 26, 2009

  We started the second walk back in Woolwich with a slightly more southern group of friends and family joining us for a sunny and hot walk from Woolwich town centre to Oxleas Wood at the top of Shooter's Hill.

  This was a bit out of my normal area and so close attention to the map was needed as here the Capital Ring passes across a number of other walks.

  The walk started off following the Thames and then headed south (and uphill!) through Maryon Wilson Park. This was a beautiful park with pretty hills, quiet woodlands and a small animal park! It was the perfect place for a spot of lunch.

  Then we skirted around the back of Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Woolwich Common before heading up to Oxleas for a well deserved cup of tea and cake – looking across towards the North Downs.

  I've been to Oxleas Wood by car quite a few times so it felt quite a bit of an achievement to have got there by foot power.

  We're looking forward to the next walk – as it starts with a nice long downhill stretch!

• Every journey begins with a first step…

  April 20, 2009

  Every journey begins with a first step…

  Looking for a weekend activity that will help Ela and I keep fit and healthy I discovered I actually live around 200 metres from the Capital Ring - a 78 mile walk through London mostly through parks.

  Our initial reaction was “78 miles - not in a month of Sundays” but with six months of Sundays (allowing the odd weekend off of course) this was definitely doable.

  The day we started on was so sunny it felt like June as we walked the five odd miles from Plaistow to Woolwich in Greenwich. We were joined by a number of friends and a dog, all who live in the area too. I was worried starting so close to home would be a bit dull and familiar – but Newham is helpfully flat and being one of the Olympic boroughs it really seemed a fitting place to start.

  And it was not dull – you see things in a different way walking. Going over the A13 was terrifying – the footbridge actually bounces as you walk over it. The bridge is supposedly designed that way but I wasn't so sure and decided to run across as fast as I could. Then in Beckton park we saw ponies grazing on the playing field.

  Steve Redgrave bridge offered a great view of jet ski stunts and planes coming in to city Airport and then we headed for the beach on the Thames at North Woolwich – complete with sand it was then through the foot tunnel to end the days walk…Until next time!