Jan 1: The reclusive Roding

I had hoped to start the year with a brisk local walk from Ilford, following the River Roding right down to its mouth at Barking Creek, where it flows into the Thames. I had heard about the ‘River Roding through Ilford’ project, part of broader regeneration schemes for the Ilford area, and had hoped to see a great deal of the river.

Things did not work out very well. Foolishly, I chose to follow the west bank of the Roding. After a few hundred yards, vicious brambles prevented me from going any further. To continue south, I had to walk alongside the North Circular Road, which was a particularly unattractive prospect even though traffic was light today. After a while I climbed over a high fence to access another stretch of the Roding, but a combination of a mini flood plain and more vicious brambles forced me to head back for Ilford via the road.

Undaunted as ever, I walked along a shabby stretch just before the Romford Road bridge, and then turned to follow the Roding south along the east bank through South Ilford. This area will be the main focus of the ‘River Roding through Ilford’. This seemed logical - although it is a residential area, there is no access to the river. The Roding can be glimpsed though several locked gates, including one that announced the Thornhill Road Allotments – probably the least cultivated allotments I have ever seen.

Only some distance south, near the insipid new housing developments close to the District Line bridge on the way to Barking, was it possible to access a short stretch of the river. After getting wet during a burst of rain, I got fed up and decided I had had enough for one day.

Today: 4 miles
2006 total: 4 miles