Oct: Leytonstone in the service of democracy

As some of you already know, my sister was diagnosed with cancer in September. I thought very hard about giving up the walks campaign in the circumstances, but I have decided to resume them once I get in the mood again. I now hope to complete the original 300 miles as soon as possible, presumably by the end of March. Once the campaign is over, I am going to start on an even bigger campaign to raise money for other brilliant causes.

I have done no conventional walks lately, but I have done rather a lot of walking for one of my occasional jobs, working for those charming people in Electoral Services of a certain borough council. I had to make repeat visits to more than 900 addresses in Leytonstone, always using only public transport. I have done this round since 2001, and have always wondered how many miles I would clock up. This year the cumulative total was 28 miles, though it felt more like 128 because of all the material I had to carry.

I used to enjoy living in Leytonstone, though I must confess there are not many amazing sights there. The parish church of St John is a pleasant building from the 1830s. It is noteworthy mainly for the several interesting characters buried in the churchyard, particularly the members of the Buxton family, including a notable anti-slavery campaigner and a man who played a key role in saving Epping Forest for the public.

Total: 28 miles
Overall total: 137 miles

Sep 23: The Lea and the East India Docks

Another walk in good company, this time with my old friend Tony Drayton. As usual in company, the walk was more about enjoyment than the mere clocking up of miles. Instead of following the Lea Valley Walk along the Limehouse Cut, we chose to go to the mouth of the River Lea, via the remains of the East India Docks and Trinity Buoy Wharf, the former headquarters of Trinity House. For me, it was a welcome return to this area, which I had photographed and written about for the brilliant Port Cities website (http://www.portcities.org.uk).

We then crossed over to the former Essex side of the river, passing the disused 1860 railway bridge and the former headquarters of the Gas Light and Coke Company, and rejoined the Lee Navigation at Bow Locks. In its final stage through London, the Lea Valley Walk seems to follow the Navigation rather than the actual river.

The section of the walk contains many fascinating features, including the bridge carrying Bazalgette’s Northern Outfall Sewer (for a great description, see another piece of my writing on the Port Cities site), and the original factory in which "Matchbox" toys were made.

We ended the walk with a few Scotches at the Princess of Wales pub by the Lea Bridge Road (and later several more at the Hitchock Hotel in Leytonstone).

Today: 8 miles
Overall total: 109 miles

Sep 17: Upminster and Cranham

A short walk today to see a small local charity in action, the Wanderers Haven Animal Sanctuary in Cranham, just east of Greater London. I found out about them at last November's Chelsea Animal Charities Fair, and decided to go along to see their annual Open Day.

The WHAS is typical of many small rescue and rehoming centres that do fine work on a very tight budget.


The outward walk from Upminster to Cranham was mostly through dull suburbia. Fortunately, the return leg from Cranham to Emerson Park included a pleasant section past the Woodland Trust’s Pot Kiln Wood, and a crossing of the small River Ingrebourne.

A short walk, not part of my schedule, but it takes me into three figures for the campaign.

Today: 4 miles
Overall total: 101 miles

Sep 12: A return to Reading…

Unforeseen circumstances took me back to Reading University, the place where I had my first lecturing job back in the mists of time over a decade ago. With a sunny day and plenty of time to spare, I set off in search of old haunts.

The University is set in a particularly attractive campus out in Whiteknights. In the old days, the park always seemed full of students enjoying the sun, and dozens of hares or wild rabbits (I never learned to tell them apart). As this was still the summer break, the campus was almost empty for a change.

The walk back to the town centre encountered the usual heavy traffic, and I noticed many new buildings had appeared in the meantime, and most were fairly forgettable.

There is nothing forgettable about the ruins of Reading Abbey. This powerful Benedictine (originally Cluniac) house was the burial place of Henry I and possessed a valuable library. Only a small part of the Abbey has survived, though the ruins are still impressive.

Nearby is Reading Prison, immortalised by Oscar Wilde, who spent two years as an inmate here. Also nearby are Forbury Gardens, once open ground belonging to the Abbey but now an impressive Victorian public park sympathetically restored in recent times.

One of my favourite ways of relaxing after finishing lectures at Reading was to walk along the Kennet to its confluence with the Thames.

Much new development has taken place along the Kennet, but a rest alongside the Thames was as satisfying as ever. I took a pleasant walk along the river as far as the railway station, and resolved not to leave things for another twelve years before coming back.

Today: 5 miles
Overall total: 97 miles

Sep 11: The Essex Way (I)

I made a late start today, so I didn’t expect to get very far. I took the Central Line to Epping and headed off for my first encounter with the Essex Way.

This was fairly pleasant walk, passing a small nature reserve at Gernon Bushes Wood and then an attractive stretch of woodland, in which I spotted a brilliant elderly fly agaric (Amanita muscaria). Just past Toot Hill I met a playful German Shepherd Dog called Ben.


The highlight of the day was the superb church at Greensted-Juxta-Ongar, with timbers dating back to the 10th century. It is the only surviving timber Saxon church in Britain. Two of the Tolpuddle Martyrs were married here.

Had a stroll around Ongar, only to discover there wasn’t much in the way of public transport to get me back to London. After a look at the former tube station, now the home of the restored line to North Weald, and a shot of strong black coffee, I darted back the way I came. It got quite dark just short of Epping, and I almost got lost trying out a few hare-brained shortcuts.

Today: 16.5 (7.6 on the trail)
Overall total: 92 miles

Sep 3: St Peters Way (III)

I had not intended to split St Peters Way into several stages, but it seems to have worked out this way. Today I caught a train to South Woodham Ferrers, with the intention of rejoining the Way near Wickham’s Farm and walking as far west as I could.

I chose a different, and altogether more scenic route to the Farm, and the walk seemed a lot shorter thanks to an unexpected half an hour of work over the phone.

Once I started moving west, the first highlight was the small nature reserve at Thrift Wood, an SSSI and an important site for several species of plants, insects and birds.

At Bicknacre, I made a diversion to find the ruins of the Augustinian priory. This turned out to be more difficult than I had envisaged. The original access indicated on the map is now blocked off by a new housing development, and few of the locals had any idea of how to get it.

Undeterred, I eventually made my way around the back of the school to find an impressive gateway.

The section between the Hanningfields and Stock is particularly pleasant. East Hanningfield has a pleasant Victorian church, but West Hanningfield church is a real gem with a wooden tower. Unfortunately, both churches were locked.

The last highlight of the day was the wonderful tower mill at Stock, completed around 1816. A working windmill until about 1936, Stock has now been restored by a local society and is open to the public on the second Sunday of each month during the summer.

I then faced a 3-mile walk to Billericay to catch the train home. Fortunately, it was getting dark by the time I got there.

Today: 19 miles (10 on the trail)
Overall total: 76 miles

Aug 7: The Peace Trail

My first walk with company, in this case the excellent company of my good friend Richard Challoner. As usual whenever we walk together, we managed to digress all over the place, and clocked up 6 miles over a 4-mile trail.

The London Peace Trail links many sites with associated with the Peace Movement and other worthy causes, and seemed a fitting way to commemorate the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing (on the previous day).

The Trail begins at the Friends’ House in Euston Road. The park in nearby Tavistock Square contains monuments to Gandhi, the victims of Hiroshima and the conscientious objectors who have refused to shed blood. These lie across the road from another poignant scene of recent bloodshed – the site of the London bus bombing, which took place exactly one month before our walk.

The Peace Trail continues to Red Lion Square, with its monuments to Bertrand Russell, philosopher, peace campaigner and Nobel Laureate, and the conscientious objector and politician Fenner Brockway. The Trail moves on to Trafalgar Square, passing the statue of Edith Cavell and the church of St Martin in the Fields, where peace campaigner Dick Shepherd served as rector for many decades.

The Trail passes Westminster Central Hall, famous for its political rallies and for hosting the first meeting of the United Nations in 1946, and the Sylvia Pankhurst Memorial and Moore’s “Burgers of Calais” in Victoria Tower Gardens.

After crossing the Thames, the Peace Trail ends at the Tibetan Peace Garden in Harmsworth Park, opposite the huge naval guns of the Imperial War Museum.

Today: 6 miles (4 on the trail)
Overall total: 57 miles

July 30: St Peters Way (II)

Another stage of St Peters Way, carrying on eastwards from my last walk. I took the train to Althorne, and walked through Latchingdon to join the trail at Mundon Creek. I managed to get lost when the trail seemed to disappear halfway into a wheat field. With harvesters working adjacent fields, I felt a bit like Cary Grant in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest.

Happily, I found my way out and rejoined the trail. Maylandsea seems a blight on the coastline, but just to the east is the fascinating Mayland Creek. Before long, I arrived in the charming village of Steeple, with its weatherboarded houses and the parish church with its unusual masonry.

I decided to stop at Tillingham rather than press on to Bradwell. A Scotch and a black coffee fortified me enough to make my back to Southminster. For part of the way, enjoyed an interesting conversation with a local man, who told me many things of the recent history of the area. On the journey home, I worked out I had walked more miles off the trail than on it.

Today: 17 miles (7 on the trail)
Overall total: 51 miles

July 23: St Peters Way (I)

I joined this trail near the middle at Wickham’s Farm, after a long walk from the Crouch Line station at South Woodham Ferrers. I managed only 8 miles of the St Peters Way, but these included some of the finest sites on this trail.

There are some fine views east from Purleigh, and an attractive parish church (unfortunately locked). In Mundon, three miles further east, were two real gems.

St Mary’s church was closed for worship in 1970 and is now under the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches. It is currently being restored after damage from subsidence.

Just east of the church is the unforgetable sight of "the Oaks" - a field of around twenty gnarled, pollarded and very dead oaks. Apparently, they perished following the lowering of the water table. The oaks reminded me of Caspar David Friedrich’s stunning painting Abbey in the Oakwood. They are now a favourite haunt of barn owls.

The rest of the walk seemed a bit of an anti-climax after the oaks. I walked further east to the end of Mundon Creek, then headed south 3.5 miles to the station at Althorne for the train back home.

Today: 16 miles (8 on the trail)
Overall total: 34 miles (24 on the trails + 10)