London Loop Section 22, Harold Wood to Upminster Bridge

20th August, 14:30, outside Harold Wood Station

“It’s only four and a half miles” I reasoned, “It’ll be easier to get home from Upminster Bridge too.”

So I finished my ice lolly and set out in the sunshine to walk section 22 of the London Loop, turning left out side the station down the very suburban Oak Road, into Fitzilian Road, and right into the gravelly Archibald Road past the allotments to Squirrels Heath Road and across that to escape suburban streets at the end of Brinsmead Road into Harold Wood Park.

The Harold from which Harold Wood gets its name is Harold Godwinson, the last legitimate King of England, before the country was occupied in 1066 by the Norman usurper William the Bastard. We’ve been ruled by foreigners ever since 😉

Some of the local street names recall the connection to Saxon royalty, for instance Athelstan Road and Ethelburga Road.

In Harold Wood Park I crossed the River Ingrebourne, the 27 mile long tributary of the Thames whose course the Loop shadows for much of the rest of Section 22 and indeed onwards to the Thames at Rainham.

I walked along a broad well-surfaced path between the Ingrebourne and Pages Wood, a recreational area with many paths and a wooden sculpture trail. Where the path passed beneath the power lines I paused to forage for Blackberries, my sandwich box was now empty and it seemed a shame to be carrying an empty box when I could be carrying the makings of a crumble instead. Particularly when a passing dog walker advised me that there were some apple trees up ahead which would provide something to complement the blackberries. I picked up three windfalls on my way through 😀

Passing out of Pages Wood I came to Hall lane, a busy road which I had to follow to get across the A127 Southend Arterial Road, built in the 1920s to link Romford to Southend-on-Sea and once described by Clement Attlee as “one of the worst pieces of main road in West Essex” due to problems with the road surface after it was constructed. It doesn’t look so bad now but it’s not the nicest stretch of Loop to walk along, especially on a warm afternoon, so I was glad to reach the shaded service road section and then to leave it and turn West down River Drive.

At the end of River Drive the path leading into the dense woodland came as a relief from the sunshine. A winding path led through the trees, fortunately not overgrown and in August not muddy either though I expect in winter it would be quite trying.

All too soon came a bridge over the Ingrebourne and it was open fields with no shelter for most of the way on. I rested a short while at the bridge, the next mile or so was going to be a slog. The Ingrebourne ran to my left, out of sight mostly as I plodded round two sides of a large wheat field that had already been cut, harvested, and the straw baled and carted off leaving only a big expanse of stubble baking in the afternoon sun with just the occasional dog walker circumnavigating it.

Leaving the field through an alleyway at its south western corner it was now back to suburban streets crossing the Liberty Line Romford to Upminster railway bridge in Wingletye Lane then along Minster Way to the end of the section opposite Upminster Bridge Station.

Upminster Bridge is the location of a windmill, “considered to be one of the finer examples of a ‘smock’ mill remaining in England. The name comes from the supposed resemblance to the smock once worn by farmers. Upminster Mill was built in 1803 by James Noakes, a local farmer”, says the Loop guide.

I was too tired at this point to walk down to it though so the only windmill I saw was the The Windmill pub where I could have a sit down and a nice pint of Abbot Ale before getting on the District Line towards home. I’ll check out the other one next time.

London Loop Section 22 ✅

London Loop Section 22 Flickr Album

London Loop Section 21, Havering-Atte-Bower to Harold Wood

20th August

Two Tubes and a Purple Train followed by a bumpy bus ride from Romford deposited me at Havering-Atte-Bower around quarter to midday to start the next part of my London Loop walk. It was considerably cooler than the last time I was here, enough to require a second layer in fact, although that would be put away before too long.

A short walk north from the bus stop on the green brought me to a Loop sign pointing east down a narrow path between a garage and a wooden fence, which soon became a narrow path between a wire fence and a lot of brambles. This was when I remembered that I meant to bring a walking pole, very useful for fending off sharp vegetation but not if you’ve left it in the back of the car on the other side of London 🙄

Oh well, the path soon widened out anyway and then led along the edge of an open field. To the right appeared a white water tower built in the 1930s but made to resemble a Norman tower. I followed the path left around the top of the field past a sad looking horse (Why the long face?) and then through a gap in the hedge over a sketchy-looking wooden footbridge, through some brambles and up over the brow of a low hill in an open field.

Following the path across the field I came to the iron gateposts that were once the entrance to Pyrgo House. Just past here the footpath has been blocked, cordoned off with an electrified fence, the Public Footpath signs and Loop way-markers torn down and thrown in the hedge to provide a space for rich gits to play on their horses.

I followed the faint track alongside the electric fence up and around the horse ride to try and find the route of the Loop again. The route guide here is a bit vague, there are several paths. Once again the waymarker had been knocked down and moved so that it pointed the wrong way. Following the arrow alongside another fence with horses on the other side I came to a metal kissing gate, tied to this was another post with Loop and footpath markers which pointed in directions that made no sense and didn’t appear to be paths. After some messing about I realised that I was now some distance from the correct line of the Loop and had to just take a bearing across the field to regain it alongside Tench Pond Plantation. Come the revolution the bastards at (I think) Home Farm need to be first up against the wall 😦

By the sign imploring people to “please stop shooting our deer, we regard them as pets and our children play in these woods so it’s not safe” I turned North up the field edge then east through another field to reach Paternoster Row, a quiet lane leading past a number of bungalows to Widdrington Farm. Just before the farm I climbed over a high and quite wobbly stile to take Footpath 10. The route guide says this crosses Carter’s Brook but if so I never saw it. What I did see was my first deer of the day and even managed a slightly fuzzy long-distance photo of it.

Footpath 10 ended at Cummings Hall Lane along which I walked to Noak Hill Road by The Deer's Rest PH (too early to stop for beer) and past that turned into Tees Drive. This runs alongside the Carter’s Brook where it flows through the trees in a steep sided dell. Despite being next to the road with housing on the other side this strip of woodland was full of deer so I walked along the roadside, the trees were a bit low along the path anyway. I think that I spotted Bambi anyway, along with some of his friends.

From here I was following the Carter’s Brook, mostly unseen behind a broad strip of brambles and trees, first on the left then after crossing Whitchurch Road with it on the right along with more deer on the wide grass area between the river and the blocks of flats. Crossing Dagnam Park Drive I entered Central Park.

It’s nothing like the pictures I’ve seen of its New York namesake but it did provide a handy bench on which to pause for my picnic lunch. Although lunch was accompanied by loud rap music and the occasional waft of exotic roll-ups, so maybe the two Central Parks do have something in common after all.

In Central Park Carter’s Brook becomes Paines Brook and the Loop follows it South through a strip of green between the housing estates, eventually reaching the busy A12 Colchester Road dual carriageway. Fortunately it wasn’t so busy as to need the 1000 yard detour to the pedestrian crossing. Safely across I rejoined the path beside the Paines Brook through a field to Church Road, and then a short walk through residential streets to the end of the section at Harold Wood Station.

It was now quite warm so I treated myself to an ice lolly, sat on a bench across the road from the station entrance, and prepared to start Section 22.

London Loop Section 21 ✅

London Loop Section 21 Flickr Album.

Imberus 2025

16th August

August means at trip to Salisbury Plain to ride bus route 23A to the “lost” village of Imber, requisitioned by the military during the second world war and now only accessible to the public on a very limited number of days each year. Imberbus began in 2009, initially attracting mostly Men Who Like Buses but now also attracting large crowds of other people as well to take a ride on vintage and modern buses to Imber and other villages nearby.

Most arrive by train at Warminster where long queues form past Lidl to get on the buses to Imber and then on to the other destinations. I have previously done so too but last year and in 2023 those crowds returned to Warminster in the evening to find that GWR had cancelled most of the trains, leading to long delays at the station or trying to find another way home. This year I decided instead to repeat what I did in 2022 when the railways were on strike and there were no trains at all, I stayed overnight Friday and Saturday at the Green Dragon in Market Lavington, catching the first bus from that village at 1025 on Saturday morning having breakfasted well. This was a much less stressful way of doing things.

There was already a bus load of passengers waiting at the temporary bus stop when I arrived at 1010. At about half past ten a brand new double-decker appeared and began loading. It was joined a couple of minutes later by a vintage Routemaster so I got on that and both buses departed for Warminster via the interchange at Gore Cross and Imber village, where I alighted.

I have been inside the church at Imber before (I’ve been coming to Imberbus since 2018) so didn’t need to join the very long queue to see it again.

Instead I took some photos and video of the village, and the various vehicles either parked or in service and then joined the queue in the hot sun to get a bus to the village of Chitterne via Gore Cross, correctly estimating that it would arrive about midday and that the King’s Head would be open. It’s important to keep hydrated after all on such a sunny summer day 😏

The pub was doing a roaring trade but I found a shady spot in the garden to drink my beer. Refreshed I walked back to Chitterne Church which is where the buses stop and turn around. I didn’t need to wait too long before I was on another Routemaster back to Gore Cross. It was an open top bus but I know how low the trees are coming out of Chitterne so wisely rode inside - I like my hat to remain on my head 😃

Gore Cross is a roughly square patch of dust and gravel set amongst open fields on the edge of Salisbury Plain. It can be a bit windswept and there’s no shelter. Wearing a hat or bringing a parasol is recommended. Here is the interchange where the buses to and from Warminster and Imber, Chitterne and Tilshead, New Zealand Farm Camp, and Brazen Bottom and The Lavingtons converge. This makes it a good place to photograph and video buses and there were a lot of people doing just that.

Including me until I took a ride on an open top RT to New Zealand Farm Camp - inside to get some respite from the sun. There is nothing much at New Zealand Farm Camp apart from an opportunity to look at the view and or hop off for a photo opportunity before returning to Gore Cross.

I had intended to go to Warminster and back, mindful that I’d need to be on a bus back to Market Lavington not too late but a different opportunity presented itself. For a couple of years I’d seen the blue and white British European Airways Routemaster KGJ 602D visiting Imberbus as it was being restored. This year it appeared to be in service albeit not displaying a route number or destination blind. Enquiries confirmed that it was running and that it was going to Brazen Bottom and The Lavingtons.

Ideal, I could ride back in comfort - there are not many Routemasters with so much leg room, and on what is now a very rare vehicle. It’s in terrific condition and inside carries notices in English, French and German advising passengers to fill in their boarding card before arriving at the airport because these buses used to carry passengers from the West London Air Terminal in Cromwell Road where they would check in, to Heathrow Airport. Their luggage was carried in a closed trailer towed behind the bus. Having been born and lived near Heathrow I can actually remember seeing these buses with their trailers running on the M4 motorway before the Piccadilly Line was extended to Heathrow Central in the late 1970s, after which the central London check in and bus service was ceased.

No motorways here, or luggage trailer, but some narrow lanes across the military training areas to the remote temporary bus stop at Brazen Bottom (which is actually quite high up) and then down a long steep narrow hill to Market Lavington. Here I alighted and after watching BEA2 depart and a couple of other buses come and go I finished my Imberbus adventures for 2025 and headed for a cool shower, dinner, and beer. A much more civilised end to the day than waiting ages on a crowded station platform to board an packed two carriage train hoping none of my connections would be cancelled. I might do it again next year.

There’s a lot more photos in this Flickr Album.

 

7 minute Video uploaded to Youtube 28th August 

Eyam

 

3rd August

On my way back from Scotland earlier this year I stopped overnight in Stoney Middleton in the Derbyshire Dales. At the time I decided it would be good to come back with some more time to explore and since I was going to Market Harborough to the tank show and would therefore be half way there anyway I booked a holiday cottage for a few days in nearby Eyam.

Eyam’s main claim to fame is the story of how the village chose to go into isolation so as to prevent infection spreading after bubonic plague was discovered there in 1665. Following the decline of the local mining and associated industries the main local economical activity is tourism with Eyam being promoted as “the plague village”. The story may well have been embellished by various writers since the early 19th century but it’s a good one to bring in the punters. I have visited Eyam before as a day tripper but as for staying there, well it’s been 370 years since the last case of bubonic plague so I reckon it should be safe enough 😏

My accommodation was just off the main street so couldn’t have been more conveniently located for exploring the village with its church, village green complete with stocks, and signs outside the houses listing the names of the 17th century plague victims and other historical notes. Most of the buildings are picturesque and built of local stone, save for one large house built in red brick near the village green, appropriately named The Brick House.

Being Sunday it was quite busy but having settled in I waited until early evening to go for a wander round, by which time it was much quieter. The Miners Arms owes it’s name to the former source of the villager’s income and is a decent local pub, good beer from local breweries too.

Monday morning was remarkably wet, very much not walking weather, more reading a book weather. Around three in the afternoon though it brightened up considerably so I took a walk over to Stoney Middleton. It might have been sunny but it was also very windy on the top of the hill, with strong enough gusts to make holding a camera steady difficult. The tail end of Storm Floris which was giving Scotland a good seeing to I suppose. Some great views up there though and a steep climb back up “Jacob’s Ladder” to Pretty Wood and back to Eyam via the Riley Graves, a small plague graveyard now looked after by the National Trust but open to all to visit and admire the views to the south. In a bit of poor timing I arrived back in Eyam before opening time and couldn’t be bothered to hang about for half an hour so went back to the cottage via the village shop to buy something for tea.

Tuesday promised changeable weather with scattered showers all day. I didn’t fancy my planned walk so postponed it and got a bus to Bakewell about 20 minutes away. Bakewell it turns out has an excellent local museum in The Old House. Of course if you are visiting Bakewell you have to get a Bakewell Tart or a Bakewell Pudding. Or er, one of each 😋 Having explored the town I took advantage of being a buswanker for the day and stopped off for a pint in the Red Lion in the town centre, which either hadn’t taken down all the Xmas decorations or had started putting them up early. Then dodged the rain showers at the bus stop before riding back to Eyam.

Wednesday was much improved weather wise so I put on my boots and backpack and headed north out of the village up a steep path past the site of an old mine and up onto the ridge of Eyam Edge where I turned West and followed the lane to Bretton with long scenic views to the north and south. There was a nice cool dry breeze up there and it was a pleasant walk with hardly any traffic. Beyond Bretton the track ahead was subject to a long term temporary closure but I was heading downhill to the village of Foolow anyway. I arrived in Foolow near the simple church and village green with its very circular pond.

I sat on a bench for a while in the shade watching two MAMILs comparing bicycles. The sort of bicycles that cost the sort of money that would get you a fairly good second hand car. The breeze had gone and the sun was now quite hot. Also it was midday and my holiday let host had recommended the Bulls Head Inn so… I sat outside in the sunshine with a pint, watching the world go by and fending off the occasional jasper. Very pleasant it was too. Like being on holiday.

Suitably re-hydrated I carried on on a footpath across the fields - and several drystone walls with a variety of stiles - to get back to Eyam. It had been a rather nice hike, only about four and a half miles albeit gaining nearly 700 feet in altitude in the first six tenths of a mile, and warranted a lazy afternoon to follow.

On Thursday it was time to go home. For a change I plotted a route avoiding motorways and therefore also avoiding the M42 around Birmingham and the M25 around London. Surprisingly this added only about 20 minutes to the journey time, being a more direct route. More pleasant too.

Yes, there’s a Flickr Album with lots more photos 😀

 

 

Operation Market Harborough

 

2nd August

I enjoyed this big military vehicle show held on the Market Harborough Showground last year so made a repeat visit in 2025. For convenience I stayed at the nearby Premier Inn and convenience is the only good thing about it. They have a big pub/restaurant attached but you’re not welcome there at half past five on a a Friday evening if you’re on your own. Their loss was the St. Mary’s chippy’s gain. And a very nice chippy tea it was too. 

Next morning I drove to the showground, waved my QR code to get in, and got on the outside of a breakfast roll. Then had a wander amongst the static exhibits and stalls until the action started in the main arena. 

The advantage of Operation Market Harborough is that compared to many shows it has an absolutely huge arena area which means there’s space to really drive tanks properly rather than plodding round in first gear. Also big holes and steep humps can be dug out and piled up. This is good for the tanks, good for the spectators and frankly a lot of fun for the owners and drivers.

This video gives a flavour of the action 

 

I had a great day, as you can see the weather gradually improved from “are we going to get wet?” (No) to “Ouch, sunburn” and I stayed until after five o’clock before heading into Market Harborough to get food before heading back to the hotel rather tired.

Many photos were taken, they're in this Flickr Album