Siân Rowland, a proud Londoner, uses London as her launchpad for endless discovery, balancing her work as an education adviser with her passion for playwriting and travel. Embracing the wild possibilities of midlife, she often heads off on solo adventures and is thrilled to be part of the vibrant Sole Sister Ramblers community.
When you think of the capital of England, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Maybe it’s the iconic London red buses or black cabs, our bustling streets where commuters rub shoulders with shoppers and tourists. Maybe you think of West End theatres, vast skyscrapers, and landmarks like the London Eye or Buckingham Palace—or perhaps it’s the crowds, the traffic, and the noise.
A day in London can be exhausting and overwhelming to the senses, but we Londoners have been keeping a secret from you: more than 40% of Greater London is green space, and the capital boasts over 3,000 parks, from tiny pocket parks tucked onto side streets to grand royal parks like Hyde Park and Regent’s Park.
In fact, London is technically a forest, with over 20% tree cover, so you’re never more than a few moments from a peaceful green space. We might not have miles of mountain trails, but there’s always somewhere new and exciting to take a Ramble.
I’ve been exploring London’s green spaces for years, and as a member of the London Sole Sisters Ramblers, I’ve revisited well-loved spots and discovered new ones too. One way of doing this is by hiking the London Loop (London Outer Orbital Path).
The London Loop follows a 150-mile (240 km) circuit around Greater London and is divided into 24 trails that start and end at public transport hubs. Led by two intrepid leaders, we recently set out on Section 5, which runs between Hamsey Green, just south of Croydon, and South Coulsdon. As a South Londoner, it’s an area I know fairly well, but there are always surprises along the way—if we can stop chatting for long enough to enjoy them!
The joy of a Ramble with the Sole Sisters, for me, is getting to know women from all walks of life and sharing the small delights along the route. On this damp autumn day, we stopped to admire various mushrooms and fungi and marvelled at a huge chalk quarry—now unused but magnificent in its beauty—the sort of thing you’d miss if you were whizzing past in a car.
As we scrambled over stiles and along narrow paths, we spotted gliders from Kenley aerodrome making their silent, eerie journeys across the grey sky and even came across an observatory in the middle of a field!
As we meandered through the chalky grasslands of Happy Valley and Farthing Downs, we reflected on how our ancient Saxon ancestors had also walked these routes and buried their dead with a view across the valley. That view now stretches across Canary Wharf and the gleaming towers of London’s financial district.
The link between ancient and modern is a recurring theme in London. The land here is owned and run by the City of London Corporation (the square mile that formed the ancient heart of London), as are many commons and downlands. We came across a herd of cattle that graze peacefully on the downs and earn their keep by cropping the grass. This being the twenty-first century, however, they now wear reflectors on their hooves in case they wander into the road on a dark day.
From here, the downs stretch all the way to the South Coast and cross the ancient pilgrim routes linking the cathedrals of Winchester and Canterbury, immortalised in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales written in the fourteenth century.
In addition to the London Loop, there is also the Capital Ring, a 78-mile (126 km) set of 15 walks circling inner London. On these routes, you come across gems like the remains of the Victorian Crystal Palace (which burnt down in 1936), the Walthamstow Wetlands nature reserve, and the Olympic Park in the east of the city. The London Sole Sisters have also been exploring these routes, and I was particularly fascinated by the Wetlands of Walthamstow.
This is a traditionally working-class area built on industry, and the Wetlands housed reservoirs that once provided clean water for households in East London. Now swans skim the surface and herons dip for fish as visitors walk, run, and cycle around the area.
A group of us enjoyed a leisurely Ramble through the wetlands and climbed the Coppermill Tower for sweeping views across London. We discovered that at one point, the area around the mill even had its own currency! We often say that London is just a series of villages linked together, and this holds true to this day.
I mentioned London’s many parks. My first walk with the London Sole Sisters was through the central parks, where we saw the famous pelicans of St James’s Park near Buckingham Palace, the ornamental gardens of Regent’s Park, and Buckingham Palace itself as we wandered through Green Park.
Slightly further out, we’ve rambled around Richmond Park, Europe’s largest enclosed urban park at 2,500 acres (1,000 hectares). This is where King Henry VIII enjoyed hunting and where deer still roam.
It’s such a treat to be wandering along a path and spot a herd of deer camouflaged in the bracken. Once, I was lucky enough to see does swimming in the lake while young bucks splashed and frolicked nearby. When the stags bellowed that it was time to go, the whole herd stepped out of the water and disappeared silently into the trees as if they had never been there.
Our Canadian sisters might know that George Vancouver settled in Richmond when his exploring days were over, as he loved the view from Richmond Hill. We Londoners also love our river, and the Sole Sisters often Ramble along the Thames Path, passing houseboats and riverside pubs, ancient wooden jetties and football stadia.
When the tide is out, small beaches appear, and you can climb down onto the foreshore where treasures like Roman pot shards and 18th-century clay pipe stems can be found. We leave these treasures behind, however, as only licensed mudlarkers with a permit from the Port of London Authority can collect them.
As we near the end of 2025, it’s been fun reflecting on the year of rambles I’ve enjoyed. I can’t wait to add more to my collection in 2026 and meet more amazing women walkers. It feels like London has come under the political microscope recently, but those of us who love this city know that we are small links in a vast chain of history and, like the Thames, we move and flow with the times.
Next time you come to visit, seek out some green spaces and explore a different side of London.
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