Tracking The Tube: Central Line: Leg 7: Loughton to Epping

 

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Weather: Very warm and sunny
Distance Walked:  20.2km
Distance By Tube: 7.9km
Stations Visited: 4
Fantastic Place: Farmland between Debden and Theydon Bois

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The stupidly hot weather in May has continued into June and July! We've not had any rain for over a month and the landscape through which I walked was dry and parched, more akin to the Mediterranean rather than London. To be honest this was the least Londony walk I have done. Apart from the small regions around each of the stations, I saw very few people and 80% of my walk was either through open farmland or forest. It felt more like a walk I would do on holiday, apart from having to cross the M11 a couple of times!

The Four Stations On This Leg

The walk started as most do with a bit of suburbia before entering a park with tennis courts and parched grasses. The path led down to a pretty stream and then some light woodland before emerging into a road with some light industrial units just north of the M11. This could have been anywhere on one of my walks in east, west, north or south London!

Debden station is rather nondescript and led into a narrow path beside the track with lots of buddleia in flower which had attracted dozens of butterflies of at least four different types. 

 

The next section of the walk was the least inspiring as I wound my way through an ugly industrial estate before passing a large building surrounded with tall chain link fences with coils of barbed wire on top and more security cameras than you could shake a stick at. Large scary signs advising "no parking" and "no photography" meant I hurried on in case I be mistaken for a wrong-un! It appears that this is part of the Bank of England. Bank notes are printed here and when they reach end of life, stored and shredded here as well. 

Bank of England Building (not my photo!)

 Historic photos of construction of the Debden site. 

After leaving the industrial landscape behind I entered my first patch of farmland. Here only stubble remained but it was still a bit of a surprise so close to the factories before and the roar of the M11 to my left. I soon had to climb up to a bridge over the motorway that allowed a farm track to cross. On the other side the track continued with farmland on either side and no sign of other walkers or people of any sort to be seen. Eventually the track reached a farm building and a proper surfaced road that became busier as I approached the village of Abridge. Quite a pretty place with at least 3 pubs, a florist, bistro and a funeral parlour. An odd mix!

I got a bit lost as I missed the footpath turning off the road just before the bridge as it was overgrown with nettles and brambles. The next couple of hours of walking was through open fields and gentle rolling hills, small streams and patches of woodland. This was so unexpected and also very relaxing walking. Most of the walks have been stop start as you cross roads, dodge lime bikes, and pedestrians while this section I could get into a good rhythm just checking every 15 minutes or so which way to go at field junctions. Apart from the odd bramble patch where the paths crossed tracks and minor roads, the path was clear and way-marks were fairly well maintained. This is not always the case on some of my wilder rambles. Wheat was waiting to be harvested and the smell of hot straw and the sound of birds and crickets was everywhere.

 

This time the path went under the M11 via a busy road with limited sight lines making it a bit tricky to cross. The the path climbed up to a ridge, the first proper climb for a while but it was worth it with a stunning view across to the towers of the city and docklands on the horizon. 

 

The path then returned to civilisation including crossing the tube line via a footbridge and soon entered the village of Theydon Bois. Probably the most interesting fact is that it has no street lighting. It does have a very nice bagel shop where I refuelled with a cracking salt-beef bagel with lashings of mustard and pickles before heading off to the final stop on the journey.

After a short stretch of road walking I plunged off road into Epping Forest. This was pleasantly shady and cool after the baking sun of the open farmland of the previous leg. A wide clear, level track meant I could relax and just walk. In town I tend to have my ear buds in, listening to music while I walk to take away the noise of traffic, but on this walk I just had the sound of birds and the breeze, and the occasional dog having fun chasing balls and sticks, to keep me company. There were a few more people in this section but still not busy.

The M25 runs through a tunnel in this section and you can hear the roar of the traffic a short distance away as it enters the tunnel. Before long I was walking through Epping and the terminus of the line, though of course before 1994 the line continued to North Weald and Ongar. Perhaps I might walk that section on another day.

 

 

 

Tracking the Tube: Central Line 06: Leytonstone to Loughton

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Weather: Very warm and sunny
Distance Walked: 15.3km
Distance By Tube: 8.70
Stations Visited: 6
Fantastic Place:Lord's Bushes and Knighton Wood

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May's weather had been record breaking and I was dreading that it would wither continue today or switch to thunderous downpours, For once it was a happy medium and although it was hot it wasn't has hot as the previous week.

The Six Stations On The Walk

Soon after leaving Leytonstone station I passed the rather impressive 1911 buildings of Leytonstone school. Looks quite posh for a comprehensive. The nearby church is also quite striking, built in the late 1800s and featuring a lot of flint. 

 The first area of open land, Leyton Flats was soon upon me. A wonderful open space with ponds and woodlands. The walk was already better than I thought it was going to be

 

Leyton Flats

After the woods a fine pond with more swans than you could shake a stick at. At work we have pons with two swans. When the cygnets emerge the cob has a murderous habit of drowning any other duckings or goslings that may be minding their own business. This bunch however were very friendly!

Swantastic

 Snaresbrook station has a wonderful wildflower and wildlife garden, very well maintained in a small very steep space. 

Wildflower Wonders

There were some splendid front gardens on this walk and one had an absolutely huge, what I assume to be, banana!

Is that a banana in your garden...

 After South Woodford the walk descended beneath the North Circular, for about the tenth time on this series of walks. The underpass here was quite pleasant however. 

 

Light At The End Of The Underpass

On the way from South Woodford to Woodford there is an odd dual carriageway that leads to a bridge that is out of use for cars due to structural issues. Looking down the road is quite spooky in a post apocalypse day of the triffids sort of way!

After Woodford station and several roads with big detached houses with big expensive cars parked out front the path goes through another large open space, Lords Bushes and Knighton Wood. Easily the best part of this very enjoyable walk, this mixed woodland offered welcome shade and the opportunity to chat with many dogs and their walkers.

After Buckhurst Hill station an area of sports fields and parklands lead to the final stop at Loughton and it's very attractive architecture.

 An interesting point is that the variety of designs of stations on this walk. There was no unifying style unlike some of the other walks I've done on this project.

 

 

    
 

 

Tracking the Tube: Central Line 05: Liverpool Street to Leytonstone

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Weather: Sunny intervals and Warm
Distance Walked: 13.71 km
Distance By Tube: 10.45 km
Stations Visited: 6
Fantastic Place:The Hub Cafe in Victoria Park

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This walk took me out of "My London" into the East London Badlands! Some bits were familiar from the Capital Ring while most of the route was new. A walk of two halves, the first two thirds through interesting streets with lots of art, and large open parks. The last third a bit of a trudge through dull repetitive suburbs.

 

The Six Stations On The Walk

The walk started out in bright sunshine and the narrow canyons of financial London. There were some interesting sculptures near the old market buildings of Spitalfeilds; a goat and a family of elephants.

 This part of the walk and the whole of the leg to Bethnal Green is part of London I don't know at all, and I've lived in the city for 2/3 of my life. It is colourful and vibrant with a mix of buildings old and new. Lots of street art as well. This street scene is not far from the modern financial district with all the concrete and glass. Also at this point I'd like to say that Douglass Adams was wrong. In the Hitch-hiker's Guide series of books he postulated a Shoe Shop Intensifier ray that meant that shoe shops proliferated everywhere. He was wrong. It is coffee shops.

 

 

On almost every corner in this part of town there is a coffee shop, then a few doors down another one. And not just the chains, lots of cool, hip people sitting in small independent shops as well.

Possibly my favourite coffee shop name

 

 

 

Bethnal Green station is one of those that is totally below ground and was the site of one of the worst civilian tragedies during the war when 173 people including 62 children were killed in a crush when attempting to enter the unfinished station which was being used as an air-raid shelter.

A striking memorial with the names of the victims is at the entrance to a nearby park. The walk soon reaches a bridge over the Regents canal and the next stretch follows the canal south through the Mile End Park. This is a very pleasant spot with lots of birds on the water along with many colourful canal boats.

Crossing the busy Mile End Road via a green bridge I found Mile End station then turned back north following the east side of the park until I reached the Hertford Union canal - which joins the Regent Canal near this point. A smaller but no less attractive waterway. Waterways, be they natural or man made do add an air of calm to an city and I'm so glad many of them are being improved in London (though having been trapped by an enthusiast at an event near the Cotswold canal they can talk the hind legs off of a donkey!).

 

Victoria Park is a classic London Park. Big with lots of mature trees, wide paths and places for people to relax and children to play. Most importantly it has an awesome cafe at the centre ideal for hungry walkers to refuel before heading off on the next leg of the journey.

The next leg follows the Greenway which I last walked on the Capital Ring. It sits on the embankment that contains Joseph Bazalgette's Northern Outfall Sewer. Even if you didn't know this you could guess as there was a very strong stench of sewage in the air as I strolled along.

 

The last time I walked this the Olympic Stadium was being constructed for the 2012 Olympics. They have been and gone and now the stadium is home to West Ham. 

 

 

Building works caused a detour from the planned route here and a very tiresome walk alongside main roads towards Stratford Stadium. Lots of the Olympic arenas still stand and are used for sports and other events. Stratford station is very busy with lots of different lines converging and a major shopping mall. 

 

The walk from here through Leyton and Leytonstone was very dull, lots of very samish Victorian and Edwardian terraces and I was quite glad to see the last station on this leg. Even more pleased to see it had a water fountain so I could fill up my bottle as I had got quite thirsty.

 

Leytonstone station has a number of mosaics commemorating the films of Alfred Hitchcock who was born in Leytonstone.

The Birds

Rear Window

 

One feature of the walk I've not mentioned was the amount of vibrant street murals decorating buildings, even on quite grubby side streets. Here is a selection.

Also cats!

 

 

 

 

Tracking the Tube: Central Line 04: Queensway to Liverpool Street

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Weather: Sunny and Very Warm
Distance Walked: 12.37 km
Distance By Tube: 7.68 km
Stations Visited: 11
Fantastic Place:Grosvenor Square

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Stations on this walk

 

 

I wasn't particularly looking forward to this leg of the walk as I assumed that I would be trudging along the length of Oxford Street - the Central Line runs underneath it for some way. Also the crowds would make walking, and taking shots of the stations hard. Thirdly this was a part of London I know well, shops and galleries we often visit so there wouldn't be any surprises. 

I was wrong.

The walk started in the wide open expanses of Hyde Park. I have lived and worked in London for almost forty years and for some reason have not frequented this huge open space much during that time. The start of the walk took me down to the round pond and the Watts statue of Physical Energy.

Physical Energy

The Round Pond

 

We recently visited the Watts Gallery in Surrey a few weeks ago and saw the model for this and other sculptures by Watts so this was an interesting coincidence. The pond was full of birds, swans, geese, ducks etc, most with young in tow (unlike our ponds at work where the swans kill the other young waterfowl).

From here the path took me to the Serpentine, another large lake. At the north end of the water is a fine Italianate garden with fountains. Very busy with tourists but still on a warm sunny day a relaxing place to stop.

Italianate Gardens

 

Italianate Gardens

 

There are some interesting sculptures in the park at quite varying scales. The statue of Physical energy, a Henry Moore arch and a smaller scale carving of insects. 

 Leaving the park at the busy Marble Arch, which is being refurbished at the moment due to water getting in and rusting the iron supports, I entered the frenzied chaos of Oxford Street. Whatever day of the week, which ever season of the year, no matter the time of day, it is busy. Also no matter which way I am walking there always seems to be more people coming towards me than walking in the same direction. How does that work? It has got worse since the wide use of mobile phones as everyone is glued to them (despite Oxford street being a phone snatcher's paradise) so you always have to be aware to make a last minute side-step to avoid walking into someone.

 

I was glad to turn off the main drag and drop south to Grosvenor Square, former home of the American Embassy. This has now moved down to Nine Elms and the former building is now being converted into posh apartments it seems.

 

Statue of Eisenhower Outside the Former Embassy

 

The gardens are due to be refurbished soon but it was still a nice place to pause and take a water break. There are other statues in the gardens as well as a memorial to the 67 victims of the 9/11 attacks.

 

My route took me briefly back to Oxford Street for the next few stations (Bond Street, Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court Road) and in between each following the winding narrower streets south of the main shopping streets. 

 

Heading south towards Holborn I crossed the viaduct that carries the road over the now hidden Fleet River.

 From the viaduct you get a good view of the former meat market at Smithfield which is now closed and is due to become the new site of the Museum of London.

 

The next part of my walk took me through part of London I didn't know, the Inns of Court. Fabulous buildings and open spaces between Holborn and Chancery Lane

 

 

Onwards towards St Paul's past the Old Bailey where I almost did jury service (summoned for duty but not called to serve) and onwards to Bank where the old and new architecture stand cheek-by-jowl.

 

By now it was time for those working in the Square Mile to knock off work for the day and have a drink, so all the little cafes, bars and pubs had a flock of city types hanging around outside, more obstacles for a tired and hot walker to avoid!

 

Saw a few interesting sculptures and things on the last leg to Liverpool street, including a statue of a cordwainer (made shoes, cobblers repaired shoes) and possibly the worlds smallest TARDIS. 

 

The Doctor would never fit in this

 

Selfie in a Sphere at Liverpool Street

 

The next leg takes me away from "my London" into the badlands (ha) of East London.