Charlie Forman introduces the 40-mile route across London he has devised and invites people to join him in Hadley Wood this weekend for the first of 14 walks

Ever wondered what it would be like to walk right across London? Now you can find out.

London Walks is promoting a guided tour, from the Hertfordshire border with North London, to Surrey in the south, via 14 bite-sized sections over the early autumn.

It all starts with Enfield and Barnet. Whether you dip in for a section or do the full journey, it’s a way of experiencing London like never before.

The walk deepens understanding of how London has come to be. For example, the 18th Century division of common land still determines some of routes around Enfield. The Green Belt and the garden city movement have also played a role – Londoners have shown a longstanding desire to stay connected with the natural world.

That connection means most of this route can be off-road, through woodland, open spaces, parks and lanes – taking in some of the city’s loveliest landscapes. Only a third of its 40 miles are on pavements.

The walks will be like studying the rings of growth on an old oak – wide in times of plenty and narrow in times of dearth.

But it’s not just looking backwards. The status of the Green Belt is being challenged, many new developments come without green space, transport patterns alter, neighbourhoods change. So it’s a walk to learn from the past, to look at what’s being planned and to conjure with ideas about the future city.

The first steps are on the Hertfordshire border just north of Hadley Wood this Saturday (6th) and Sunday (7th). The morning takes you to High Barnet and, if your legs are still game, you can stay on for an afternoon that ends at Woodside Park.

There’s a village green, ancient hayfields, rural parish churches, the ghost of 18th Century parkland. There’s also pasture wanted for housing, parkland wanted for football, and a council estate reinventing itself as a 21st Century version of a garden suburb. London’s present needs are pressing on the patterns of the past.

London Walks have a team of guides to take you every step of the way. I will be there throughout. Having a lifelong association with these early sections, Dr Ann Robinson will be contributing too. There are still places if you’d like to book any of the sections on the London Walks website.

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else. £84 annual supporters get a print copy by post and a digital copy of each month's before anyone else.