Walking with Linda: 8 mile, New Beckenham to Eden Park Walk & Bethlem Museum of the Mind Visit.

Join Linda on this 8 mile, New Beckenham to Eden Park Walk & Bethlem Museum of the Mind Visit.

Please meet outside the front of New Beckenham railway station at 0950, ready to depart at 1000.  

We will walk via Beckenham Place Park and Kelsey Park to Eden Park where I have booked tables for lunch (at your own expense) at the Toby Carvery.  

After lunch we'll walk on to and through the grounds of Bethlem Royal Hospital where mental health patients are treated.  

We will visit the Museum that documents the history of treating mental health, and see Cibber’s statues ‘Melancholy’ and ‘Raving Madness’ on show in the foyer of the Hospital’s Museum.  

Bethlem Royal Hospital was founded in 1247 and was the first institution in the UK to specialise in the care of the mentally ill. It continues to provide in-patient care and has been based in south London since 1930. Situated within the hospital grounds, in a stunning Art Deco building shared with the Bethlem Gallery, Bethlem Museum of the Mind was formally opened by artist Grayson Perry in March 2015.

We will also visit the 'What it Felt Like' art exhibition of works by Charlotte Johnson-Wahl, the mother of ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson who was treated for mental health issues in Bethlem's sister hospital, Maudsley hospital. The artworks depict scenes of hospital life and explores the artist's feelings, her illness and treatment. 

We'll return to the Toby Carvery for a cup of tea or bar drink before catching our trains home from Eden Park railway station or you can go straight home at the end of the walk. 

The walk is limited to 15 walkers plus Linda.

Please bring drinking water, money to buy lunch and any other drinks and snacks you may want. 

Please dress for the weather on the day (and bring a golfing umbrella if it is expected to rain!).

Please check your transport times, and for any engineering works, at least the day before the walk and allow some contingency time for delays.  

The walk needs to depart on time for the comfort and enjoyment of those who have arrived on time. Thank you.