Things to do and see
Cray Riverway - Stage 1, Footscray Meadows
Route Guide
The following paragraphs describe the route for walkers starting at Foots Cray
Meadows and travelling northwards through the Borough of Bexley to the River Thames.
The entire walk covers a distance of approximately 10 miles but it is possible
to start and finish this walk at various points along its length.
To start, enter Foots Cray Meadows from Rectory Lane just south
of All Saints Church. This ancient Church of 13th Century origins was extensively
restored in the 1860's. The church has a wooden bell tower with shingled spire.
Foots Cray Meadows are a valuable public amenity, but the site is also of
considerable value to wildlife due to the diversity of habitats available. These
include meadows, woodlands and wetlands associated with the River Cray.
As you walk along the east bank you will pass through meadow grassland. Although
it is not as floristically varied as a traditionally managed wildflower meadow
there are still several species of grasses and many attractive wildflowers including
birdsfoot trefoil, spotted and black medicks, ox-eye daisy, brown knapweed (Hardhead)
and common mouse ear.
Cuckoo flower or Lady's smock can also be seen flowering in early summer,
this is the food-plant for the caterpillar of the locally uncommon orange tip
butterfly. Foots Cray Place, a Palladian mansion built in the 1750's was destroyed
by fire in 1949 and only the stable block, pavilion and walled garden remain.
The site of the former Foots Cray Place is situated on the western side of
the River Cray and to reach it requires a detour from the waymarked route.  Further
north the river widens out to form a lake which supports a large population of
waterfowl including breeding mute swans. The main landmark is Five Arches
Bridge - 2 across the Cray (photo courtesy of Tony Coppen),
which was built circa 1781 to link the two estates of Foots Cray Place and North
Cray Place.
North of Five Arches Bridge there is an interesting area of woodland on the
west bank 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.
One of the unusual groups of birds to be found in Foots Cray Meadows is a
colony of ring-necked parakeets. These tropical birds originally escaped from
captivity and have since bred successfully in the wild.
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