London Loop Section 20, Chigwell to Havering-Atte-Bower

10th July

You’d have to be slightly unhinged to go hiking when the temperature was forecast to reach 29° C, wouldn’t you?

So a week after completing Section 19 I was back at Chigwell Station to carry on along Section 20. I wasn’t the only hiker out but they must have been going somewhere else since I didn’t see any of them on the trail.

I walked up High Road to rejoin the Loop at the junction with Chigwell Rise and carried on northward past St. Mary’s Church before turning right up an alleyway on a footpath signposted as Epping Forest Countrycare walk. This came out on Vicarage Lane, which I crossed and went through the gap opposite, climbed over two fallen trees and walked through a scruffy bit of woodland to find a Loop waymark and a realization that it would have been easier to have carried on up Vicarage Lane and turned left up a much clearer footpath. Here I turned left through a small open field then through a gap to follow the path along the edge of a field of wheat about ready to harvest.

OpenStreetMap showed the Loop going diagonally right through this crop but there definitely isn’t a footpath there so I’ve edited it to show the correct route as per the guide directions. Which say continue to a meeting of several paths near Old Farm then turn right down a track and then left onto a green lane. This led gently uphill around two sides of another field of ripe wheat to cross the Chigwell Brook. You wouldn’t know you were crossing a brook unless you checked the map though, it seems to be partly culverted and the ditch by the hedge was dry. At the end of a hedge I bore left to follow the footpath across the next field. Which had been ploughed up.

Too much trouble to run a tractor wheel across to make a path obviously. Just keep filling in the forms for the tax handouts and complaining about townies coming into the countryside. I made it across but it was treacherous to walk on and twice I almost turned an ankle. Also it was getting quite hot. On the far side I joined the path along the outside fence of the Chigwell Water Treatment Works. A path goes left off the drive to the water works, behind some unseen houses then left at what was a stile into a paddock, under some trees to a gate and through part of the garden of the house on the left then past another stile (the stile-free alternative route in the Loop guide seems currently to be unnecessary) to go between fence and trees to eventually reach Chapel Lane.

At the end of Chapel lane I paused to look at the Victorian chapel before crossing over Lambourne Road and turning left then right through the recreation ground to the edge of Chigwell Row Wood. The route turns right after a short distance into the wood over a small wooden bridge. Or in this case beside a small wooden bridge because a sizeable working party, complete with roadworks signs, were rebuilding it. Fortunately the ditch which it spans was completely dry. I met other members of the working party clearing undergrowth and tidying up as I made my way through the wood to emerge at the A1112 Romford Road dual-carriageway. There is no pedestrian crossing here, you just have to take your chances crossing first the northbound two lanes to the broad central reservation then the same for the southbound. Once across I found the squeeze stile and entered Hainault Forest Country Park. Follow the path through scrub. Bear right on reaching a more open area by an isolated oak tree. says the Loop guide. This might be easier to follow at a different time of year but with several overgrown paths leading into, if not necessarily out of, the scrub I couldn’t say for sure if I took the right one(s). The one I did take at least passed a fallen log under a fairly shady tree (did I mention it was hot?) and so there I stopped to eat my picnic lunch, accompanied by the calls of Chiffchaffs and Blue Tits.

After lunch I carried on through the wooded part of the country park until I reached the Boating Lake, which appeared to be free of boats but not of Canada Geese who all chose that moment to get out and walk across my path while giving me funny looks. Being in the middle of a flock of geese is a little intimidating.

The section through the country park is a bit short of Loop waymarks and having followed the track uphill along the edge of the woods and looking back for a distant view of that London in the heat haze.

I inevitably then took the wrong left turn through the woods, eventually doubling back at the top of the hill to find the entrance to the golf course on my left rather than right.

I crossed the fairway noticing a huge column of thick black smoke far to the south and followed the path along the length of the narrow strip of woodland called Mile Long Plantation. There are a few Loop markers through here along with yellow paint marks on the trees to mark the footpath - although there’s no consistency as to which side of the path the painted trees are which is erm, helpful. Before crossing the final fairway and leaving the golf course I had a rest on a bench beneath a tree. Diagonally across the next field and then by field edge paths I came out on a metalled track that led through Lower Park Farm and its barking dogs and left onto another farm track, crossing the River Rom and heading up a long slope.

The way ahead continued to rise steadily, turning left at Clockhouse Lane with more views of London and then into the woods of Havering Country Park. The way through the woods lies along Wellingtonia Avenue, with Giant Sequoia tress either side which were planted in the 19th century so not quite as giant as Giant Sequoias can get. Although it was partially shaded in the woods there wasn’t a breath of wind so the long slog up the slope was hard going in the afternoon heat. Eventually the path levelled out and left the country park, passing St. John the Evangelist church and somewhat bizarrely Den’s Nosh Burger Van (open Thurs - Sun 0930-1600) with its very welcome cold drinks fridge. I bought a bottle of Iced Tea and went and hid in the shade behind the bus stop while I waited for the 375 to Romford.

London Loop Section 20 tick.

If any of the embedded photos in this post fail to display it will be due to Flickr’s increasing unreliability. At the time of writing even I can’t see them. Apparently they are aware of the problem and have added my account to the list of those affected. Here’s a link to the FlickrAlbum for Section 20 but whether you’ll be able to see it is anyone’s guess.

Here's an alternative link to the album on Google Photos just in case Flickr remains broken.