The London Loop

A must-have guide for any walker looking for a challenge and wanting to escape the city, this explores the London LOOP London Outer Orbital Path (The London LOOP ) which follows a green corridor right around the capital. This spectacular route offers a circular walk among secret countryside that will make you forget you're within a few miles of Heathrow Airport, the A13, or the suburban sprawl of Croydon, Watford or Dagenham. Here is rolling downland near Coulsdon, the forest of Enfield Chase, the lonely Thames marshes at Rainham, the classical parkland of Bushy Park and a canalside stroll at Uxbridge. London could not seem further away. Split into 15 sections that each represent a day's walk of reasonable length, this walker's companion gives detailed descriptions of each walk, including numerous points of interest and key sites numbered in the text and on the maps for easy identification. With background information on everything from local history, architecture, archaeology, industry, land-use and wildlife plus full information on public transport access to the start and finish of each walk, this book shows you how to escape the Big Smoke for the day – without going too far!

For 140 miles, the London LOOP (London Outer Orbital Path) follows a green corridor right around the capital, offering a circular walk among secret countryside that can make you forget you're within a few miles of Heathrow Airport, the A13, or the suburban sprawl of Croydon, Watford or Dagenham. Here is rolling downland near Coulsdon, the forest of Enfield Chase, the lonely Thames marshes at Rainham, the classical parkland of Bushy Park and a canalside stroll at Uxbridge. London could not seem further away. Each of the guide's 15 sections represents a day's walk of reasonable length, and starts and finishes at a public transport point.

Join John Rogers as he ventures out into an uncharted London like a redbrick Indiana Jones in search of the lost meaning of our metropolitan existence. Nursing two reluctant knees and a can of Stella, he perambulates through the seasons seeking adventure in our city’s remote and forgotten reaches.

Packed with surprising and fascinating information, London's Lost Rivers uncovers a very different side to London - showing how waterways shaped our principal city and exploring the legacy they leave today. With individual maps to show the course of each river and over 100 colour photographs, it's essential browsing for any Londoner and the perfect gift for anyone who loves exploring the past... 'An amazing book' -- BBC Radio London 'Talling's highly visual, fact-packed, waffle-free account is the freshest take we've yet seen. A must-buy for anyone who enjoys the "hidden" side of London -- Londonist 'A fascinating and stylish guide to exploring the capital's forgotten brooks, waterways, canals and ditches ... it's a terrific book' - Walk 'Pocket-sized, beautifully designed, illustrated and informative - in short a joy to read, handle and use' -- ***** Reader review 'Delightful, informative and beautifully produced' -- ***** Reader review 'A small gem. A really great book. I can't put it down' -- ***** Reader review 'Fascinating from start to finish' -- ***** Reader review ************************************************************************************************ From the sources of the Fleet in Hampstead's ponds to the mouth of the Effra in Vauxhall, via the meander of the Westbourne through 'Knight's Bridge' and the Tyburn's curve along Marylebone Lane, London's Lost Rivers unearths the hidden waterways that flow beneath the streets of the capital. Paul Talling investigates how these rivers shaped the city - forming borough boundaries and transport networks, fashionable spas and stagnant slums - and how they all eventually gave way to railways, roads and sewers. Armed with his camera, he traces their routes and reveals their often overlooked remains: riverside pubs on the Old Kent Road, healing wells in King's Cross, 'stink pipes' in Hammersmith and gurgling gutters on streets across the city. Packed with maps and over 100 colour photographs, London's Lost Rivers uncovers the watery history of the city's most famous sights, bringing to life the very different London that lies beneath our feet.

Travel under the streets of London with this lavishly illustrated exploration of abandoned, modified, and reused Underground tunnels, stations, and architecture.

London Orbital is Iain Sinclair's voyage of discovery into the unloved outskirts of the city. Encircling London like a noose, the M25 is a road to nowhere, but when Iain Sinclair sets out to walk this asphalt loop - keeping within the 'acoustic footprints' - he is determined to find out where the journey will lead him. Stumbling upon converted asylums, industrial and retail parks, ring-fenced government institutions and lost villages, Sinclair discovers a Britain of the fringes, a landscape consumed by developers. London Orbital charts this extraordinary trek and round trip of the soul, revealing the country as you've never seen it before. 'My book of the year. Sentence for sentence, there is no more interesting writer at work in English'John Lanchester, Daily Telegraph 'A magnum opus, my book of the year. I urge you to read it. In fact, if you're a Londoner and haven't read it by the end of next year, I suggest you leave'Will Self, Evening Standard 'A journey into the heart of darkness and a fascinating snapshot of who we are, lit by Sinclair's vivid prose. I'm sure it will be read fifty years from now'J. G. Ballard, Observer Iain Sinclair is the author of Downriver (winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Encore Award); Landor's Tower; White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings; Lights Out for the Territory; Lud Heat; Rodinsky's Room (with Rachel Lichtenstein); Radon Daughters; London Orbital, Dining on Stones, Hackney, that Rose-Red Empire and Ghost Milk. He is also the editor of London: City of Disappearances.

A long distance walking trail around the edges of Greater London? That's not going to be very good, is it? I mean, it will all be houses and industrial estates. Burnt out cars and flytipped old kitchen units? And let's not forget the litter that will be absolutely everywhere. No, dear friend, better head out to the proper countryside, somewhere clean and shiny, and where you most definitely won't get mugged every five minutes. Andrew Bowden had truck with such naysayers. That wasn't the real London There was beauty to be find in the boundaries of the capital, of that he was utterly convinced. And so he set off to find it by walking the London Outer Orbital Path, or LOOP as most people call it. Along the way he found that London really was hiding some wonderful gems. The beauty of Scratch Wood, the joy of the Grand Union Canal, and even a field full of lavender. There was attractive parkland, fields full of crops, cracking rural pubs, and even deer wandering around a suburban housing estate. Plus a street called Bogey Lane. No, those naysayers were wrong. For on his journey, he found London to be a cracking place.