Jeb Clulow (in-line skater and cakehound) and Tony Coleman (navigator) invite you to get some exercise and sample the pastries that can be found on Camberwell’s borders
This 14-km circular route can be skated or walked. This guide is written starting at the gate lodge to Dr Lettsom’s late 1700s estate at 179B Camberwell Grove.
The route is divided into sections that are numbered on the map and the route descriptions do not include directions to the cake stops, for which you will have to follow the map on the Society’s website, your nose or your smart phone.
1. Grove Park to Warwick Gardens
Skaters’ note: good surfaces, fast on the descent, outstanding views of the Shard and Crystal Palace.
Directions: start at the junction of Camberwell Grove and Grove Park. Go along Grove Park and take the first right up the short rise. At the top is the blue plaque on 9 Grove Park, site of Dr Lettsom’s estate house. Bend left and descend toward Lyndhurst Grove. At the bottom turn left, follow the one-way and enter Warwick Gardens on your left. Continue through the gardens and fork right to the far gate.
Cake: the charming Petitou Cafe at 63 Choumert Road, has cake in abundance and is close to the route.
2. Warwick Gardens to Burgess Park via Talfourd Road
Skaters’ note: exceptionally smooth descent to Peckham Road, then mixed, but mostly flat and fast with a counterflow cycle lane on Wells Way. Initially, no particular views, but the route leads to St. George’s Church and the Camberwell Beauty tiled mural on the end of the old laundry.
Directions: exit the gardens and turn right on to Lyndhurst Grove then immediately left on to the tree-lined Talfourd Road with its outstanding Victorian architecture. Descend to Peckham Road, turn right, then left into Southampton Way. Follow Southampton Way and turn right at the lights into Wells Way. Continue until the lights by St George’s Church, now flats. Turn right into St George’s Way and, after 80 metres, left into Burgess Park.
Cake: the Toad Bakery at 44 Peckham Rd, (renamed from Frog Bakery following a legal complaint by a Covent Garden restaurant of the same name).
3. Burgess Park to Urlwin Street via Addington Square
Skaters’ note: surfaces are flat and fast, extensive views of the lake with fishermen’s tents and the lovely St George’s Church tower to guide you.
Directions: in the park, fork right on to the main path and go under the “Bridge to Nowhere”. This path follows the course of the old Surrey Canal and was once a thriving wharfside. After about 300 metres, turn left on to Cobourg Road. Pass the sports centre, fork left and go round the end of the lake. Follow the straight path back across the park with the tower of St George’s Church as a beacon. Fork right and pass under the Wells Way tunnel.
Keep going for about 450 metres. The old kiln you pass on the right was built for turning seashells into building lime in the days when oysters were a cheap food. Carry on as far as the carved log on the left with the cafe behind. Turn left, leave the park and enter Addington Square with its Grade II listed buildings. No. 33 Addington Square was once the base of the notorious Richardson gang.
Leave the square by the road on the right. Turn right at Camberwell Road and cross at the lights into Urlwin Street.
Cake: the Clubhouse Cafe that you passed in the park has outdoor seating including handy sheltered nooks for blustery days.
4. Urlwin Street to the Henry Moore Statue
Skaters’ note: flat, variable surfaces, on leafy, tree-lined roads then vertiginous council towers.
Directions: go under the railway bridge then past the charming two-, three-, and four-storey houses of Urlwin Street, pausing at no. 14 where Michael Caine lived as a child.
Turn right at the end of Urlwin Street then left into Grosvenor Terrace. Continue to the end, passing the charming little Grosvenor Park with its swings on the left, then through the barrier at the end and turn right on to Bethwin Road. At the end, cross John Ruskin Street and head up the steps into the Brandon Estate. Carry straight on with Trevelyan House to your left and exit on to Hillingdon Street on the other side with a car park ramp on your left. (There is a step-free route around Trevelyan House if you turn left on John Ruskin Street and then follow right wherever you can.)
Cross the road diagonally left and turn into the branch of Hillingdon Street in front of you. Pass Brawne House on your left and then fork left on to the footpath at the far side of the block. Continue on this footpath with another block of flats on the right. At the multiway junction with the footway that goes under Molesworth House, a grassy slope is in front of you.
At the top is Henry Moore’s sculpture Two-Piece Reclining Figure No. 3.
The sculpture was placed there as part of the Greater London Plan by Patrick Abercrombie for redevelopment after World War Two.
Cake: keep going
5. Henry Moore Sculpture to The Enduring Tangerine Tree via the Church of St John the Divine
Skaters’ note: surfaces are flat but variable, mostly fast. Views of the classic brick church of St John the Divine and the grass roof on the Myatt’s Field Centre at Eythorne Park.
Directions: return to Molesworth House and take the middle of the three paths, the one edged with set-in pebbles. The path takes you across the open parkland and small copses towards St Agnes Place. Turn left on St Agnes Place then right on to Bolton Crescent and cross Camberwell New Road at the lights. Turn into Foxley Road.
Follow Foxley Road to the end, cross Vassall Road and head down Elliott Road, past the church on the left, follow right into Cancell Road then after 200 metres emerge left on to Eythorne Road at Eythorne Park. Half-way along on the right is the Enduring Tangerine Tree column.
The Enduring Tangerine Tree, is an eye-catching column decorated with tiles printed with old photographs. The real tree, said to have been grown from a pip brought from the Caribbean, is planted elsewhere in the park.
The area was redeveloped in 2017 and won a Housing Design Award
Cake: Cable Cafe, 8 Brixton Road. The cafe is described on Google as “an intimate, vintage-chic venue offering baked goods, light bites and a full bar, plus live jazz weekly”.
6. The Enduring Tangerine Tree to Elam Open Space via Myatt’s Fields
Skaters’ note: surfaces are flat and fast with views of Myatt’s Fields
Directions: follow Eythorne Road with the park on your right. Continue and exit left through the pedestrian area of Fairbairn Green and out into Ackerman Road. In front of you is the structure known as the Camberwell Submarine which disguises the flues of the underground heating centre for the surrounding estates.
Continue for 350 metres and turn right into Calais Street and, at the end, enter Myatt’s Fields Park.
Turn right in the park and cross diagonally to exit on to Knatchbull Road at the far corner. You will pass the bandstand on your left. Turn right on Knatchbull Road, pass Longfield Hall and the Minet Library and then turn left on to Lilford Road. After 120 metres, with the Remakery on your left, turn right into Elam Street and then enter Elam Street Open Space.
Cake: Annapurna Cafe, 39a Loughborough Rd, is a calm and pretty neighbourhood spot.
7. Elam Open Space to Ruskin Park via Cambria Road Tunnel
Skaters’ note: flat and mostly fast, complete mixture of views from leafy to brutal, historic and geological.
Directions: navigate through the playground and the wetland area to exit at the other end of the park, on to Gordon Grove. Turn left and pass under one of the three railway arches. Go straight on at the junction into Eastlake Road. Continue to the end, turn right and cross busy Coldharbour Lane, then turn left into Harbour Road.
Carry on to the end and you will see the blue plaque for Fred Karno on the wall of Clockwork Studios in front of you. Fred Karno has been described as the originator of slapstick in theatre and circus. In his day, the building was called the Fun Factory and up to 200 people worked there.
Turn right on Southwell Road and then first left into Cambria Road. The petrified wood bollards at the entrance to the tunnel mark the entrance to an art project relating to the Cambrian period, a geological era when life on earth exploded into complex multi-cellular animals.
Pass through the tunnel and take the first left into Northway Road. Follow to the end and enter Ruskin Park.
Cake: Four Boroughs, Coldharbour Works, 245a Coldharbour Lane, is a 10-minute diversion but is worth the extra steps. Bring a bag to carry your organic, artisanally roasted, ground coffee.
8. Ruskin Park to Grove Park via Champion Hill
Skaters note: surfaces ok but hills, hills and more hills.
Directions: turn right immediately inside the park gate and go up the hill past the great Turkey Oak with its carved fallen branch. Continue to the top. There are good views from here to Battersea Power Station and the skyscrapers in the City. Exit on to Ferndene Road at the top. Turn right on Ferndene Road, then left into Deepdene Road and left again into Acland Crescent. Follow the bend to Denmark Hill, turn right and cross over.
Turn left on to Blanchedown and keep straight ahead to enter Green Dale ahead of you. Follow the cycle track and exit on to Champion Hill after about 80 metres. Continue to the end and cross at the lights into Grove Hill Road. Take the first left into Camberwell Grove and go downhill to the starting point at the junction with Grove Park.
Cake: FCB at Denmark Hill station, or, for the brave, a blast down Camberwell Grove for the millionaire’s shortbread at Lumberjack Café on Camberwell Church Street.
Illustrations: Jane Moxham
