Walking the London Orbital Outer Path: Section 13. Harefield West to Moor Park

Top left, yellow blob was my afternoon walk

I finished my pint at the Coy Carp and headed off into the Bucks/Hertfordshire countryside and I wasn't disappointed. It was such great weather and it was so beautiful. I was in a wealthy part of North West London as I was on the edge of London's largest golf course but I was able to get away quickly and into the countryside.

It was all a big change from my earlier walk along the canal. I suddenly had space and field after field. In fact it felt very much like walks around the countryside in Oxfordshire.

There were also loads of stiles. I know that as I get older stiles will become more and more difficult to navigate, but at the moment I am in peak stile climbing form1 11 years ago when I started this walking adventure I realised climbing stiles was fucking painful. In fact to be honest this kind of movement has been painful most of my adult life. Wonders of wonders...when the doctors finally removed two orange/melon size growths on my ovaries I realised I could turn and get over stiles without feeling like I was going to be sick. Oh the joy. It's a really pronounced difference and makes me feel great.

I finally entered a wood and again the atmosphere changed. I met two guys eating lunch on a bench and realised they were doing the London Loop section too. It was so rare to meet fellow loopers. (In fact my first time!) We had a little chat but I quickly left them to finish their sarnies. About 20 minutes later I was well and truly lost in the wood. The route signs had vanished and the paths were all coming to dead ends. I only had my google maps and written map instructions to guide me and I was getting nowhere. I was almost on the verge of slight panic when I could hear the 2 guys behind me. It was such luck to see them again. Luckily they had the Ordinance Survey map downloaded on their phones and we were able to GPS our way out of the wood together. Trees had fallen down in storms and completely blocked the path. I couldn't believe my luck to have bumped into these guys just minutes before I got lost for the first time on this walk. Maybe they were walking spirits sent to help me out when I needed it. (Yes, I do believe this has happened to me a few times whilst out walking!) As we were walking along together talking about different sections they had done. (They weren't doing it in order like me.) I kept thinking are you real or are you spirit entities sent to get me out of my first problem on this walk? I was on the verge of asking them but I thought it would be socially unacceptable, so I kept my mouth shut. After 10 mins or so I left them to continue ahead as they were walking much faster than me. (Much faster!) and I stopped for a bit to catch my breath and take some photos.

I was soon out of the woods and into Moor Park. (No sight of the men ahead.) This part of London is very exclusive all gated streets and massive houses. Walkers can get into the streets but drivers have to be invited by residents. It was all so ridiculous and uber wealthy. I was walking in one of the most exclusive housing estates in London. I've googled the area and it's home to lots of media types and TV producers. I was getting tired as I had done over 11 miles by this time, but luckily Moor Park station wasn't far. I was walking alongside the metropolitan line towards the only Underground London station within a private, gated community. All very different to my start in Uxbridge!

Here is a link to more information on how the 1% live! Moor Park Information