While planning a different walk I noticed a strange dead-end path around Gatwick Airport. Looking on Google Street-View (link below) I couldn’t see the start of the path at all so I decided it had to be explored. It didn’t turn out quite how I expected, but it still made an interesting Bank Holiday walk.
Interactive Map: https://www.mapchannels.com/videomap/map.htm?folder=29726&map=29726-gatwick-and-the-river-mole---the-footpat
This walk starts at Riverside Garden Park, Hawley, just outside of Gatwick Airport. We go for a quick stroll through the park in montage, passing the Gatwick Stream, Gatwick Airport Monorail and both the North Terminal and South Terminal. When we arrive at the start of the footpath it turns out to lead from the North Terminal Premiere Inn Hotel through some lovely woodlands along the A23 London Road and around to the Travelodge. At that point it leaves the main road and goes for a lovely meander along the River Mole and through the “North West Zone Biodiversity Area” passing the airport’s stormwater facility, some abandoned off-site car parking, some overgrown footpaths, aircraft repair yard and various other pieces of Airport Infrastructure until we get to the boundary fence right up against the Runway. Unfortunately the journey has to finish where the river goes into a tunnel under the runway and the footpath just ends at a dead-end, cut off by the airport boundary fence. It was an interesting exploration of a quirky and little-travelled footpath and well worth exploring it yourself if you like. Check out the Open StreetMap link below for the location.