London’s Peaks: 12 things we learned walking to the capital’s high places

What do a nondescript road next to Kensal Green tube station, a prominent mound on Putney Heath, and Eaglesfield Recreation Ground on Shooters Hill have in common? They are all the highest points in their respective London boroughs.

Over the past 12 weeks, we have been walking to all of them as part of our podcast, London’s Peaks. The idea was inspired, in part, by Jonny Muir’s ‘12 Summits of London’ challenge, in which he ran to the peaks of the 12 inner-London boroughs all in one go – covering some 41 miles in a tad over six hours. Jonny is an ex-running club mate of ours and an extremely fit man. His achievement sounded hugely impressive; it also sounded like hard and lonely work. So we decided on a more social and sedate alternative: walking to the 12 peaks, accompanied by interesting people from each borough. En route, we would discuss the borough, London and life in general.

We had the concept; now for the name. Heights of London? Summit to Talk About? Eventually, we settled on London’s Peaks for two reasons: it sounded similar to “London speaks”, which reflected our ambition for the podcast to be a collection of interesting and diverse London voices; and it’s a name that could be easily transported to other cities when the podcast inevitably went global.

While we are starting to think that the phonecall to do Hawaii’s Peaks may never come, we have gathered a broad range of perspectives on life in London, as told through some of the inspiring people who call the capital home. Here are 12 things we learned walking to our city’s high places.

London could become a national park

Did you know that 47% of London is green space? Us neither, until we hiked to the summit of Wandsworth with “guerrilla geographer” Dan Raven-Ellison. As we battled podcast-hampering winds on the plains of Richmond Park, Dan talked us through his campaign to turn London into a “national park city”. Passionate in his belief that a greener, better connected, more biodiverse city would benefit not only our collective health, but also the capital’s economy, Dan finished with a rallying cry for Londoners to “rip up their paving slabs”.

Everyone should visit Walter’s Way

When you think of the borough of Lewisham, self-build anarchist housing complexes probably aren’t the first things that spring to mind. Yet, just off One Tree Hill, that’s exactly what you’ll find. Walter’s Way is a street lined with houses people have built themselves following the flat-pack model devised by anarchist architect Walter Segal. We have Will Hodgkinson – author, music critic and proud Peckhamite – to thank for introducing us to it. “Segal thought the housing market was weighted unfairly against the owner,” says Will. “And what he wanted to show was that [building houses] isn’t actually that difficult.” The results are impressive. With its stylish chalet-like housing, Walter’s Way feels like a little bit of Scandinavia squirrelled away in south-east London.

London is the centre of the universe

A few minutes into our chat with Dr Marek Kukula, public astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, he made the little-known but extraordinary claim that Greenwich played host to a fairly significant event. Namely, the beginning of the universe. “The Big Bang happened on this very spot,” he explained, before qualifying it with, “and it also happened everywhere else: The Big Bang was everywhere at once.” Baffled, we continued our stroll round Greenwich Park, as Marek provided a rich history of Greenwich – allowing us to picture the borough as it was in its maritime heyday 300 years ago. Londoners lead busy, chaotic lives, and learning about our universe made us realise the triviality of many of our earth-bound worries.

London is a walkable city

The capital can feel like a sprawling urban maze, negotiable only by public transport, but it’s actually a very walkable city. What’s more, as comedian Shappi Khorsandi remarked on our walk to the highest point in Hammersmith & Fulham, walking is empowering. “It puts you on top of the city, and gives you a peace and an ease,” she said, adding: “But I do love the tube – I have lived on it like a rat!”

London has a lost history

Walking through Islington, you might stroll straight past The Eaglet pub on Seven Sisters Road without giving it so much as a second look. Yet this seemingly unremarkable building has a remarkable history, as London historian Jerry White explained on our walk to the peak of the borough. On 19 September 1917, The Eaglet suffered a direct hit during the first-world-war “harvest moon” raids, killing the four people hunkered down inside. No plaque commemorates them. It’s just another one of the war’s little-known tragedies – and another London building with a fascinating, forgotten history.

The city can be a hostile place

Up-and-coming rapper Awate offered an at-times harrowing insight into his experiences of growing up in the borough of Camden, including memories of being chased by members of the National Front and being targeted by police. As we neared the peak of the borough, it was suggested to him that he was painting quite a bleak picture of life in London. “Bleak for who?’ he shot back. “This is a real picture.” He was right, of course. What we looked at as bleak is the day-to-day reality for many Londoners; it just took walking with Awate to remind us of it.

The struggle for equality is far from over

In a similar vein, Sophie Walker, leader of the Women’s Equality (WE) party, explained why she believes London is the “worst place to live in the UK if you’re a woman”. En route to the summit of Westminster – just north of Regent’s Park – Sophie explained that “women working in the capital city earned £70bn less than men in 2016”. She also spoke about the issue of childcare and the uncertain financial position many new mums are forced to accept. Perhaps ironically, Sophie’s hope is that the WE party will one day no longer be needed, but for now, she said – as the unspectacular peak of St John’s Wood Park loomed into view: “Women’s voices need to be heard.”

Fitness is a force for good

One of London’s Peaks common themes is the transformative power of fitness. En route to the highest point in the borough of Westminster, we chatted to the ever-modest Paul Sinton-Hewitt, founder of parkrun – a global running phenomenon – about the free, weekly 5K event’s humble beginnings (the first event was held Bushy Park, west London) and stratospheric rise, and the immeasurable, positive impact it has had on millions of lives. “Parkrun is for everybody,” Paul said, “whether you’re an Olympic athlete or pushing a pram,” and that, in essence, is the secret to its success.

Happiness is altruism

Danny Bent was voted one of the 100 happiest people in the UK. His secret? “Helping others,” he explained as we walked up Gipsy Hill to the highest point in Lambeth. In 2014, Danny organised a coast-to-coast relay in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings to raise money for those affected. Initially aiming to raise around $20,000 (£15,500), the relay captured the hearts of a nation, and the total money raised reached an incredible $550,000. On his return to the UK, Danny founded Project Awesome in London: an early-morning loud, colourful, free workout that, in a similar vein to parkrun, has provided both a community and a means to get fit for hundreds of Londoners.

The ‘peaks’ aren’t often very peak-like at all

Oxygen is not required to scale the summits of London. The highest peak in the 12 inner-London boroughs, located on Spaniards Road in Camden, stands a far-from-lofty 134 metres above sea-level. The lowest, in Tower Hamlets, is a mere 16 metres (tellingly, it’s next to a canal). However, in their own small, unloved way, these summits do have a certain significance. And scaling them, we think, helps you to look at the city anew.

London’s cemeteries are fascinating

When we started London’s Peaks, we underestimated the role that cemeteries would play in the podcast. Yet, time and again, the walks seemed to gravitate towards graveyards. In Hammersmith and Fulham, Shappi Khorsandi discussed identity and Iran while yomping through Kensal Green cemetery. Further east, walking through Camberwell old cemetery, Will Hodgkinson expressed his desire to have his ashes fired out of a cannon Hunter S Thompson-style, “so long as Johnny Depp foots the bill”. Johnny, an avid listener to the podcast, refused to comment.

Londoners look out for one another

In a time of such division and discord, a welcome sense of compassion and humanity was provided by Ivo Gormley, founder of GoodGym. As we strolled along the Regent’s Canal – from Limehouse to the not-so-lofty summit of Tower Hamlets: just east of Bethnal Green tube station – Ivo explained how, after running to deliver the weekly paper to an elderly neighbour, he first came up with the idea of combining fitness with community work. “It became a really nice way to convince myself to get out and do a run twice a week,” Ivo said. “It’s an exciting thing to do: to have that little adventure to go and do something useful for someone else.” Now, thousands of GoodGym volunteers perform their good deeds throughout the city – and London is a healthier, closer community for it.

The summits and walking companions

Camden – Awate
Spaniards Road (134m) – just above Hampstead Heath

City of Westminster – Sophie Walker
St John’s Wood Park (52m) – junction of St John’s Wood and Boundary Road

Greenwich – Marek Kukula
Shooters Hill (132m) – highest point of Eaglesfield Recreation Ground

Hackney – TBC
Seven Sisters Road (39m) – road-side overlooking Finsbury Park

Hammersmith and Fulham– Shappi Khorsandi
Harrow Road (45m) – College Road, next to Kensal Green tube station

Islington– Jerry White

Highgate Hill (100m) – road junction of Dartmouth Park Road and Highgate Hill

Kensington and Chelsea– Paul Sinton-Hewitt
Harrow Road (45m) – exit of West London crematorium

Lambeth– Danny Bent
Westow Hill (100m) – road junction of Anerley Hill and Church Road

Lewisham and Southwark – Will Hodgkinson
Both Sydenham Hill (112m) – road junction of Crescent Wood Road and Sydenham Hill

Tower Hamlets: Bethnal Green – Ivo Gormley
Bethnal Green (16m) – a road bridge over the Regent’s Canal in Bethnal Green

Wandsworth – Dan Raven-Ellison
Putney Heath (60m) – a prominent mound at the northern end of Wimbledon Common

London’s Peaks podcast is available to download on iTunes and acast.

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