Why haven’t I finished? Fifteen segments that make up a ring, a Capital Ring of walking paths that loop inner London. By last autumn, when the nights began to close in and the oak trees were bare, I had completed 14 of the 15 sections. I was almost done with my 126km challenge, which had started as a lark three years earlier after I’d stumbled on to the trail near my home.
I’ve tackled east London’s concrete pathways, taken in the Thames Barrier, whose mighty floodgates protect the city upstream. I’d climbed Shooters Hill, a haunt for highwaymen and worthy of mention by Charles Dickens in a A Tale of Two Cities. I’d rested my feet on a bench at Crystal Palace, forever associated with the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations of 1851.
I’d walked past endless red brick rows and cottage gardens. I’d scurried alongside trash-strewn waterways (when it comes to canal upkeep, London, you could do better) and ambled through empty swaths of green.
Small challenges had stalled my trek. A foot injury halted progress for months on end. And transport threw up problems. The trains to the start of my walk were slow, or late or didn’t come at all. The English weather added its own complexities.
And life was determined to intervene along the way. A foot improved just as a knee went wonky. There were family traumas and deaths. But there were also births and marriages.
The Ring itself threw up obstacles. Signs to delineate the paths could be damaged, twisted or entirely absent. The walking instructions could be obtuse: on one section in the north-west I was told: “turn left on an indistinct path”. In the south-east, I found these instructions: “At a hollow oak tree, bear right along an earth path to a grassed triangle.” Detours for construction made some routes impassable.
Along the paths, I passed synagogues, Tudor pubs, halal food and more fried chicken than expected. Outside a warehouse in Newham, I marvelled as song rose from the rafters.
There’s just one segment left. It’s only 8.8km. Somehow, I am reluctant to finish. If I connect the Capital Ring, what next? Other walkers speak in hushed tones of a London LOOP, 24 parts, 242km. My walking shoes await.