London Loop Walk 22, 23 and 24 – Harold Wood to Purfleet

Posted on 25 Jun 2017 by Phil

Due to the London Bridge railway works this weekend, fast trains were running from Orpington to Cannon Street, so it seemed an idea opportunity to easily get to/from the “Eastern” termini and finish the London Loop.

The start was at Harold Wood Station:

and initially followed suburban streets (many in this area have Saxon names):

After walking through Harold Wood Park, countryside soon beckoned:

But, all to soon, it was back to road walking, including crossing the busy A127:

Then more woodland to Upminster:

At times, the path became quite indistinct!

But then crossed the River Ingrebourne and round the edge of some very scrappy fields:

The route emerges near Upminster Bridge tube station, the end of this section:

Section 23

Yet more road walking led to Hornchurch Football Station (I’d not heard of it either!) and a tarmac path following the River Ingrebourne:

After crossing yet another main road, we enter Ingrebourne Valley Nature Reserve, part of Hornchurch Country Park:

“Hornchurch Country Park is a large area of glades, attractive mature woodland and meadows. It is hard to believe that this park, which was created in 1980 from a huge landfill site, sits on thousands of tons of household and industrial rubbish!”

The path leads into Ingrebourne Hill Park, with a nice lake:

and the inevitable “urban sculptures”, this one possibly reflecting that this area used to be an RAF airfield:

Then we’re back to roads leading to Rainham village:

I took a break from walking to visit the National Trust “Rainham Hall”:

Then onto Rainham Station, the end of Section 23:

Section 24

This section starts by crossing the normal railway using a level crossing, then the high speed line with an enormous footbridge, the ramps of which you can see in the background:

A long ramp from the footbridge leads into Rainham Marsh:

But industry is never far away:

and the noise of the A13 overpass:

It’s then a sequence of marsh and industry all the way to the Thames:

The plaque on the concrete flood wall commemorates an ancient ferry crossing:

Eventually, the path settles down to follow along the Thames:

past some abandoned World War II concrete barges originally built to support the D-Day landings:

The signs across the marsh are very distinctive:

This is the view across the river to Erith, where I started the London Loop 15 months ago!

As the path winds endlessly on, the Dartford Crossing comes into view in the distance:

This is a brilliant Geocache hide, a plastic pot with a screw top lid “hiding in plain sight” in the top of this post:

After following alongside a landfill site for ages, the view opens out to the high speed rail line and the A13 across Aveley Marshes:

Then a very strange RSPB visitor centre:

Finally Purfleet itself is reached:

Purfleet Station is the end of this section, and of the London Loop:

15 miles of London Loop walking today and 2 Geocaches found.

Whilst it wasn’t too hot, it was very tiring as so much of the route was on hard paths and roads.

This is the end of my London Loop journey. It’s been an interesting experience, and has shown me many wonderful parts of London that I’d probably never have seen otherwise. Would I do it again? Not sure – though it might be interesting to do it in reverse in a decade or so!

Want to read it all again? See London Loop Walk 1 – Erith to Bexley

For more information on the London Loop, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Outer_Orbital_Path and https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/walking/loop-walk

So what’s next? Watch this space!

London Loop Walk 20 & 21 – Chigwell to Harold Wood

Posted on 14 Jun 2017 by Phil

Another sunny day (though perhaps too warm) so time to return to the excitement of the Central Line to Chigwell. There is a good service to Hainault (2 stops to the south), but only three trains an hour onwards, so it wasn’t the fastest journey ever!

The first part of the route was retracing my steps through Chigwell:

Which has an ancient pub – “Facing St. Mary’s church is an ancient timber-framed public house named the Kings Head. Ye Olde Kings Head (now also a restaurant) has the title of being the most famous pub in Essex. Its impressive façade inspired Charles Dickens to include it in his novel Barnaby Rudge. It was also the favoured watering hole of the legendary 18th century highwayman, Dick Turpin, who started his criminal career, it is said, poaching deer from the nearby forests of Hainault and Epping.”

Finally, countryside was reached:

Then a stretch over some farmland (it was this point I wondered if shorts were the right choice today!):

Then a pleasant recreation ground at Chigwell Row:

and a nice wood – “Chigwell Row Wood owes its survival to the far-sighted Victorian inhabitants of Chigwell. Concerned that tree clearance in the area would deprive them of a place to walk and exercise, they set up a charity to ensure its survival. It’s now managed by the staff and volunteers at Epping Forest Country Care.”

After crossing a main road, the route goes through Hainault Forest Country Park – “In 1130 when much of Essex was woodland, Henry I, son of William the Conqueror, designated this area The Royal Forest of Essex. It was used exclusively for the kingly sport of hunting. Hainault Forest Country Park is a surviving fragment of that vast verdant landscape, as in 1851 Parliament gave its consent to land being drained and fenced, and 100,000 trees were felled. Fortunately, Hainault Forest has now been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.”

With a nice lake:

and a large meadow:

with Docklands and London just visible in the distance:

The inevitable golf course then needed to be crossed “Follow the (invisible) yellow markers. Do not stray from the path. Do not upset our precious golfers with your nasty walking attire” (or something like that!):

After a narrow winding path through some woods, it was back to open farmland, with some more views of London in the distance:

The route then goes through Havering Country Park – “Havering Country Park has a rich and varied landscape with splendid views over the woods and meadows of Essex’s countryside. The giant sequoia trees that line both sides of the Avenue were planted in the 19th century. Their towering reddish trunks may look impressive, but these American
immigrants are small compared to those that grow in its native Californian hills which can grow to 300 feet (90 metres) high, have a trunk diameter of 35 feet (10 metres) and live for 3,000 years or more. They are the largest living things on Earth.”

and a nice church at Havering-atte-Bower, the end of Section 20:

Section 21

Havering-atte-Bower isn’t the ideal place to break a London Loop section, only having a bus service to civilisation (well, Romford) every 1½ hours (and none on Sundays). But open country is nearby:

leading to what used to be Pyrgo Park “These days nothing remains of the house save this rusting sentinel defying time. In its heyday Pyrgo House was home and playground for King Henry VIII’s daughters Mary and Elizabeth who as children grew up happily together here.”

More fields followed – despite looking idyllic, this was actually quite heavy walking on stubble over rutted ground:

Eventually, nicer paths were reached:

But all too soon, we’re back to suburbia at Harold Hill – “Harold Hill and Harold Wood probably derive their names from various connections with King Harold Godwinson
(Harold II), who was defeated by William the Conqueror in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings.”