Inspiral – the end to the beginning. Three walks on segments 34, 35, 36

On Sunday 24th April: Quarries, Chalk and Pit/falls – Join Artist and amateur geologist Gail Dickerson on segment 34 of Inspiral Trail for an exploration of all things chalky and geological by Riddlesdown Quarry near Kenley Station to walk across chalk towards New Addington. This will be a fun interactive riddling walk, exploring InspiralLondon Trail through the eyes of an artist inspired by geology.

Apart from the large quarries such as the site of Riddlesdown – Kent was riddled with smaller diggings and caverns such as the infamous deneholes whose origin and ubiquity on the outer skirts of London and onto the Downs, remained a riddle in the 19thC. Sudden collapses and sinking could occur anywhere our ancestors might have quarried for chalk and flint. See for  Darenth Valley example.

Further information on deneholes can be accessed here.

For the walk we meet at 11 am Kenley Station on Sunday 24th April. The walk will end at New Addington at 4pm where there are transport links into central London.

Please bring suitable clothes and walking shoes for changeable Spring Weather plus a picnic. We ask all participants on walk to sign up here on eventbrite and give a small donation to our collective artist-led project.

On 30th April Reveil 9 Pitcher Walk – a soundcamp inspired walk streaming across North Southwark to arrive at Stave Hill Ecology Centre around 12/12.30pm for a welcome lunch. 

We will meet at Peckham Rye Station at 10.30 am to share InspiralLondon streaming – exploring through unexpected soundscapes, some of the lost or hidden ecological infrastructure found across North Southwark as we move toward Reveil 9 base: along the lost waterway of Surrey Canal, to Glengall Road (crossing Old Kent Road) across towards MillWall and the new greenway to Southwark Park – to walk from Canada Water then onto Stave Hill.

Please bring suitable clothes and walking shoes for changeable Spring Weather. We ask all participants on walk to sign up here/eventbrite and give a small donation to our collective artist-led project.

On 1st May: An Experimental Archaeology of Water: on the geodetic, in dowsing for time. On segment 35, with InspiralLondon Director and lapsed archaeologist Charlie Fox exploring watery leylines, pre-Roman remains and the legacy of hidden civilisation located in waterborne energy lines. Meeting at Knockholt Station on Sunday May 1st at 11.30 am to finish walk at Eynsford Station around 4pm.

This section of the trail traverses some beautiful down land countryside and then cuts back towards London along the energy lines of the Darenth Valley, as the river wends its’ way to Dartford. We will visit the Druid’s picnic spot, orchid-filled ancient woods, Lullingstone Hill Fort, skirting the Roman Villa, the Castle to end the first part of walking at Eynsford Station.

Darenth apparently means ‘fed by streams where oak trees grow’ – but much of the spring sources of the old river have been captured by the Medway watershed and this river was in danger of almost dying, starved of waters in the 1980’s. Since then conservation works and renewed care of this beautiful waterway means much of the valley is accessible. For the Romans and pre-Roman the valley was a rich mosaic of farmland and forest supporting up to 13 Roman Villas. There were possibly as many Celtic Iron Age Farms along its 22 miles.

This walk seeks to search for, celebrate and uncover some of the more hidden and inaccessible, using dowsing and other experimental archaeology techniques – inspired by the watery leyline theories of Guy Underwood elucidated in his book Patterns of the Past and the Celtic map theories of Graham Robb. This is a walk that delves into the pre-Roman origins of London and its hidden energies. At the same time, we can enjoy walking this section and looping back into the world of another visionary – Samuel Palmer who painted his most arresting works in Shoreham.

We meet at Knockholt Station on Sunday May 1st at 11.30 am to finish walk either at Eynsford Station around 4pm or Shoreham Station around 5pm.

Please bring suitable clothes and walking shoes for changeable Spring Weather. We ask all participants on the walk to sign up here/eventbrite and give a small donation to support our collective artist-led project.

Our Blue Porcupine Trail Walk has been postponed until summer 2022.

In Summer we will explore Gravesend and the beginning and end of Trail through an interactive search for the Blue Porcupine. A work created by artist Sarah Sparkes with Local Poet James M’Kay. You are invited to pay homage to former or contemporary fauna of the marshy landscapes by joining the Trail of The Blue Porcupine:

These four complimentary walks explore the depth geology, hidden archaeology and mythic structure of landscape, topography and place that is traversed as you walk slowly along sections of InspiralLondon 300 mile long trail.