Did you know things like this existed within the M25? Sprawling woods full of winding paths and happy squirrels?

How about this? A lovely little disused castle hidden away on the top of a hill?

A rose garden with killer views in the grounds of a now demolished building from a couple of hundred years before you were born, perhaps?

Or a tiny little meadow?!

On Sunday, Charles and I walked the first section of the Capital Ring, a 78 mile walk around London that goes through as much greenery as possible. At one point, it sweeps just past my flat and through Crystal Palace park,somewhere I’m a little more familiar with, but the first section goes from Woolwich to Falconwood, an area in the borough of Greenwich that neither of us had a clue about.

We started the day by getting the Thames Clipper from Waterloo to Woolwich, and then set about the 7.1 mile section that weaved first along the Thames path, before cutting through gorgeous parks, beautiful woodland and one scary patch of open common that Charles described (quite accurately) as “slightly murdery.” And he lives in Stockwell.

Despite the fact we knew the walk took in green space as often as possible, we weren’t quite ready for the amazing ruins of two old houses (Jackwood House and Castlewood House), the strange Severndroog Castle (described aptly in the route guide as ‘eccentric’) and the lovely Oxleas Meadow (think Primrose Hill but with rural views) and its gorgeous accompanying wood. Without doing this walk, I never would have known such amazing green spaces existed so close to London. It wasn’t until we got on what felt like the loudest tube in history to go home that we realised just how quiet and peaceful it had been.

70-odd miles in various sections is going to take us some time – especially with the logistics of having to get to and from places like Hounslow and Greenford for the northern sections – but we’re hoping to complete the whole thing eventually. Obviously, I’ll keep you posted!