My 3 Border Collies dogs absolutely love their walks at Foots Cray Meadows (also known as Five Arches), Foots Cray, Kent. The area consists of 97 hectares of open grassland and woodland with the River Cray running through the centre.
I access the Meadows from the A223 North Cray Road. There isn't a car park as such, but you can park along Leafield Lane which is a quiet little one-way lane off the dual carriageway. There are 2 gates from Leafield Lane into the park (or you can climb the fence while the dogs jump through the fence).
From here, walk straight down to the River Cray. It's a fairly shallow river, doesn't have a very strong current and is safe for dogs to paddle or swim in. I tend to walk along the east bank of the river, keeping the river on my left, and throw the dogs' floaty Kong into the river as I walk. They have a great time.
About half a mile along, is a little bridge. I cross the bridge and walk back the same way I've come, but this time on the west bank of the river obviously. On this side, you can either walk right alongside the river, through the woodland, or stay on the open grassland. The woodland on the west bank is called "The Alders". Many species of woodland bird can be found here including Black Cap, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Willow Warbler and Chiff-Chaff. You may even see Kingfishers which usually nest in holes in the riverbank. You will also hear the squawking of a large colony of green ring-necked parakeets. These tropical birds escaped from captivity many years ago, and have since bred successfully in the wild.
Keep walking along the river bank or across the open grassland and you'll come to the Five Arches Bridge and beyond the bridge, a large lake full of ducks and beautiful swans. (Don't allow your dogs to swim here, it's not allowed, and also the swans can get pretty annoyed about it!)
From here, you can see North Cray Wood on your far right, which is also quite pleasant to walk through, and there are acres of open space between the lake and the wood for your dogs to run. You can carry on walking for quite a way past the lake but there isn't another bridge across the river so you'll need to come back to Five Arches Bridge to get across to the east bank.
Cross Five Arches Bridge, and turn left, and a few hundred yards along, you'll find yourself back where you started.
A nice leisurely walk can take anything from 1 to 2 hours. There are no toilets in the Meadows but there are two garden centres and a pub in Foots Cray Road.
Submitted by
Sharon
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Road Map
Local Map
OS Map
97 hectares of open grassland and woodland with the River Cray running through the centre.
The park can also be accessed from the Sidcup side, from Rectory Lane which runs from Bexley Lane, Sidcup through to Footscray High Street. There is a car park on this side.
For further info see the official site
here
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