The sunshine attracted 16 Poly Ramblers on this walk in historic Bexley village and along the Cray river to Sidcup.
Nobody in the group knew what their home town or village were worth. But I could tell them that Bexley, in the Doomsday Survey of 1086, had 41 inhabitants, with 100 pigs and 10 ploughs, and was valued the equivalent of £20.

We passed the poor house which, in 1787, had 40 ‘inmates’, Freemantle Hall, 15th century Kings Head pub, the renovated mill, the church of St Mary and the graveyard. We walked along the edge of Churchfield Wood listening to many birds singing. We enjoyed this peace whilst it lasted as we had to walk briefly along the busy A2.  We reached Hall Place, a beautiful house built from 1540 and extended in bricks between 1649 and 1666. The highlight was the Queen’s Beasts, a hedge of topiary installed in 1953 to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. It depicts animals from royal coats of arms.  We had lunch outside by the river – picnic or food from the cafe. My order had been forgotten so our break was longer than planned. But it was lovely to sit in the sun.

We made our way back to Bexley – over the A2 this time – passing the National School established in 1834, Victorian almshouses dating from 1837 and an old brewery.  We walked on the other side of the railway line and were suddenly in the countryside. We were in the Cray Valley with farmland and cattle in a field – on the other side of the barbed wire fence. We joined the Cray river and walked alongside it to Footscray Meadows and then crossed it by way of the Five Arches Bridge. We left the river and made our way to North Cray Woods. Out of the woods, it was approximately one mile along the road to Sidcup station where the walk ended.

Dominique

Photos by Ida and Joyanna