Today's GOC London's walk continues the Capital Ring circuit which we started last month. The Capital Ring follows one of the strands of the much older Green Chain walk network in Outer South East London. (Some of you may recall that we covered part of this walk was covered a year ago by GOC under the Green Chain heading. However that time we walked via Sundridge and Elmstead Woods; this time we will take a more northerly route via Downham).

Our walk links a number of parks and green corridors to avoid most of the surrounding built-up area. These include Beckenham Place Park, a lovely wooded park at the southern end of the borough of Lewisham, and the smaller and more formal Cator Park.

At the end our walk lies Crystal Palace Park, from 1854 the site of the famous - and enormous - Crystal Palace. This burned down in  a spectacular fire in 1936 which could be seen from many parts of London. The park retains much of interest, including a number of lakes and the famous dinosaur sculptures. It is also the home of the National Sports Centre. The park and surrounds are dominated by the 900 foot Crystal Palace Transmitter.