Hamsey Green, South Croydon to Riddlesdown - a summer country walk
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- čas přidán 26. 08. 2023
- A nice summer walk exploring old land between Hamsey Green, the Whyteleafe/Kenley border, Riddlesdown and Sanderstead - quite a bit of history in this area including a quarry, a highwayman and a rifle range! British summer at its best and also an update on a "mystery" from one of my previous videos, too . . .
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Link to this walk on OS Maps: explore.osmaps.com/route/1794...
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#hamseygreen #sanderstead #riddlesdown #riddlesdowncommon #kenley #philswalk&talk
We moved to Hamsey Green in 1970 & I remember exploring all around Riddlesdown, a total contrast to where we used to live in Thornton Heath. Myself & a schoolmate did get through the quarry fence once at the top, the opposite side to the path you took. it was only a chain link fence in those days with a few holes here & there. There were signs warning of crumbling rocks etc. We didn't get close to the main cliff edge, There are some shelves with lesser drops! Crossed the railway a few times. Schoolboy adventures. Then my parents got a couple of Cocker Spaniels so I would often walk them around the downs. I recall a lot of the fields were still farmed then.
It’s very pleasant there, loads of history. I’ve still got some other things to film over there at some point!
Had many a walk there as my family came from Caterham on the hill lovely memories
Thanks for the video great content
A most enjoyable walk Phil.Thank you. I watch videos like this from all over the UK whilst doing my exercise routines but I like these local ones best of all.
Thanks Gary, glad you enjoy them, another one going live soon!
What a memory blast for me, i moved to michigan 20 years ago from kenley, when the rose and crown was there they had a memorial of a v2 bomb that landed on the pub, as you look at the front of the old pub to the right in the tree line they had a old twisted bit of metal and a plaque explaining but im sure its gone now the pubs gone, i went to riddlesdown myself and left in 89 and spent many a games lesson(Mr Hood i think) running across there in the rain, i never knew about the shooting range but can totally remember that field at the end of hoister heights, thank you for making this video as it made my day to see it 👍
Glad you enjoyed it, I’m now thinking about what happened to the V2 fragment! 😂
Used to walk to riddlesdown on a Sunday after lunch with family
I remember a cross country run there in the snow. We ended up just having a snow ball fight. Never liked being hauled in front of Mr Baker!
Drunk in the Rose and Crown a few times when I worked in Kenley.
Another great video, wonderful walk.
Cheers mate, these nostalgia walks are great fun!
I had a few beverages in the rose and crown
The dip with bench fills with water in the Autumn, Winter, creating a pond.
Thanks Darren 👍🏻
Really enjoyed that trip down memory lane. I used to live in Wentworth Way and went to Atwood then Riddlesdown schools. For both schools we could hop over the garden fence and walk to school. All looks a bit different now and certainly don’t remember all the public footpaths and info boards. Have recently retired so think maybe a visit south to do a few of your walks on a nostalgia holiday might take place one day!
So glad you enjoyed it Wendy, nostalgia is a great thing, hope you are able to come back and see how things are nowadays 😊
Good stuff.
Thanks! 👍🏻
Lovely video on such a beautiful day. We moved from London to Riddlesdown in 1951 when I was three. I used play on Riddlesdown common with my friends, playing and cycling in the bomb craters. I went to Roke School in Kenley , until I was eleven then went on to Riddlesdown School which had only just opened. We would play by the top of the chalk pits, no heavy fencing back then. This has certainly been a walk back in time, so enjoyable.
Thank you, I’m so glad you enjoyed it and that it brought back some memories 😊
My mum went to riddlesdown when it opened Diane tingley and I went it 1984.
I also used to play in the bomb craters back in the late 60’s / early70’s
Many thanks for another great video. I remember doing the Riddlesdown, Happy Valley and Farthing Down walks. Their are some ancient mounds nearby which were used to bury local kings. Addiscombe and Addington are named after someone called Aedda or Adda. I wonder which mound that king is possibly buried in?
Thank you, I assume there will be some archaeological records somewhere? Either that or we may never know!
@@philswallow It's speculation on my part, but the name of the landowner is called Aedda or Adda - according to my book of place names and Wikipedia. The name isn't Christian so I assume the origins of the place names date from the fifth or sixth century. I've just googled 'Burial Mounds Saxon Kings Riddlesdown', and it seems to me that quite a few saxon bones have been discovered in recent years.
Hi Phil, I was recently looking at a Railway Atlas of London & there was a reference to Gardner's Pleasure Resort Railway on Riddlesdown, 1890 to 1934, no relation to the Hamsey Green Gardner as far as I know. The Corporation of London website verifies this. Have you come across this before? Just wondered where it could have been. It said the site was sold for housing after William Gardner's death.
Hi mate, it was on Godstone Road, Kenley. No relation as you say. There is a Bourne Society plaque marking the site: bournesoc.org.uk/blue-plaques-locations/plaque-4-gardners-tea-rooms-godstone-road-kenley/. It’s shown on this map, too: maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.1&lat=51.32835&lon=-0.10518&layers=168&b=1&o=100&marker=51.328271,-0.105143
@@philswallow Amazing, thanks for the info . I've passed that many times, never knew of its existence. Seems a lot of little local gems disappeared in the first half of the 20th century.
@@fluffybadger9832 yes indeed, a huge need for housing - sounds familiar!
Thanks Phil, looking on the satellite the area looks like farm fields in how they are divided up.
Was it farmland originally?
Also, wasn't there an old Roman Road on top of Riddlesdown?
Hi Bill, yes it likely would have been farmland then I think. Borough Farm was where Waitrose in Sanderstead is, Hamsey Green Farm (Martin Close) had a lot of land, also Batts Farm (Tithe Pit Shaw Lane) and Warlingham Court Farm (opposite Batts Farm) would have had land, this is in the middle of all of that - possibly others too. Yes I believe there were Roman roads there - I guess they are the straightest ones! 😁
@@philswallow
As a teenager, just remember the Roman Road being the emphasis in Riddlesdown, along with the courting couples in the long grass!
Great video. Riddlesdown was my playground as a kid. Used to frequent the R&C when I was old enough (remember they used to have strippers on a Sunday lunchtime 😀 not that I ever went in then.) It was next to Gadoline House where the infamous Anne Summers factory used to be. I remember one year when there was a storm and piles of how should I put this, adult literature was blown into the grounds of the primary school behind… ooops. Not suitable for 5 year olds 😱
Is the old trig point still up on the path that runs from behind riddlesdown school to Hamsey green ? Think your video just deviated off near it.
Haha, some good and funny memories there mate 😂. I think it is still there, stay tuned for more planned trips/films from that area!