London Loop Section 24, Rainham to Purfleet.

15th September, 13:42 hours.

I finished my picnic lunch on the sheltered bench outside Rainham station and prepared for the final push along Section 24 to Purfleet. When I say prepared I mean tried to arrange my socks so that they didn't rub on my toes. I first crossed the Tilbury Loop railway line via the level crossing and then over the High Speed 1 line to the channel tunnel on a tall footbridge. Didn’t manage to time it for a photo of a Eurostar train but here’s the view looking towards the continent.

Walking down the long ramp the other side I was hanging onto my hat in the blustery conditions, the yellow wind warning still very much in force. At the foot of the ramp I took the footpath along the north west edge of Rainham Marshes, then under the A13, crossing the slip roads using the light controlled crossings with very long wait times even when no traffic was coming, and back onto the narrow footpath around the edge of the marshes.

I was momentarily thrown here as the route marked on Open Street Map follows Ferry Lane around the west side of the K9 Industrial Estate but this is wrong and I was on the correct path eventually crossing Coldharbour Lane and between the two industrial parks to reach the Thames at the point where there used to be a ferry across to Erith, founded in 1199 AD. If there was still a ferry it would link Section 24 here to the start of the LOOP, Section 1 across the water in Erith.

I followed the path south towards the Tilda Rice factory, at a slightly lower level than the top of the river wall thus affording a bit of shelter from the wind but not from the first of the afternoon’s brief rain showers. The other side of the Tilda factory the path ran along the river bank and was much more exposed to the wind which was gusting strongly enough to make it hard to walk in a straight line. Not far along from the factory there are a number of World War 2 concrete barges, originally used to support the D-Day landings in Normandy they were placed here to shore up the Thames estuary flood defences after the damage caused by the storm and floods of 1953.

Close to the barges a sculpture stands in the river, this is The Diver by John Kaufman The sculpture consists of galvanised steel bands on a steel frame and is a monument to Kaufman’s grandfather and to all the people of the area who worked in difficult and dangerous conditions. I’m sorry but I couldn’t help thinking of The WickerMan

From here the LOOP follows the river bank while on the landward side is the fence and high grass slope of the giant Rainham Landfill, in use for over a century and currently run by Veolia. At least the wind was coming from off the river so if it smells I couldn’t tell you. Along the fence are a number of painted wooden “grave markers” with humorous “obituaries” on them.

I passed the large jetty where clay to cap the landfill is brought in and reached Coldharbour Point where the Thames turned directly east so that from here on I’d have views down the river all the way to the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge and the docks at Purfleet.

At Coldharbour Point is located Momentum, a modern business and logistics park, surrounded on the landward side by the landfill and with the south side close to the river bank but with a high security fence and lots of CCTV. A number of pairs of wooden benches have been placed between the fence and the footpath, each bearing an engraved metal “No Smoking” sign. Just as well I gave up years ago although in that wind I doubt I’d have been able to roll a fag let alone get it to light! 😃

Instead I rested a while and finished the contents of my Thermos flask, there being no prohibition on Bovril. I carried on alongside the river with the occasional annoying shower that stopped as soon as you’d got your coat on 😒. I could almost see the end of my journey at Purfleet now.

Beyond the landfill I joined the path on top of the old river wall embankment that separates Aveley Bay on the river side from Rainham Marshes. I could have used the more sheltered path on the landward side but then I’d have missed the views. Including the Ro-Ro cargo ship Aveline passing quite close to the river bank on its way to Dagenham.

Another short sharp shower got me as I approached the RSPB “Education & Environment Centre” and then I crossed the Mardyke into Purfleet.

I walked through the riverside gardens past the Heritage and Military Centre located in a former Gunpowder Magazine to the point where a last LOOP sign directs you past the Royal Hotel to the London Road opposite the War Memorial.

Unfortunately the hotel was closed, covered in scaffolding and builders, so no chance of a celebratory pint. I already knew it would be shut thanks to Diamond Geezer.

Instead I headed along London Road against the flow of secondary school pupils, half of whom were looking at their phones rather than where they were going, to the end of Section 24 and the end of the LOOP at Purfleet railway station. Is there anything to mark the end? Is there buggery. Not a footpath sign, not a LOOP information board, nothing to take a photograph of to mark the achievement. Also the kiosk outside the station was shut and I was thirsty so I just got on the next train to Fenchurch Street and had a celebratory pint in The Ship in Jews Row instead 🍻

London Outer Orbital Path - ✅

A Flickr Album from Section 24 is here.

 

 

London Loop Section 23, Upminster Bridge to Rainham

15th September

I arrived at Upminster Bridge station on the District line at about ten past eleven in the morning which gave me plenty of time to complete sections 23 and 24 of the LOOP. First however a short diversion to Upminster Windmill, the actual mill this time rather than the pub as on my last visit at the end of Section 22.

Upminster Windmill was built for James Nokes, a local farmer, in 1803. It is a Grade II* listed building and in terms of quality, completeness and significance it is widely considered to be amongst the very best remaining English smock mills, so called because its shape is said to resemble the traditional clothing of agricultural workers. It is owned by the London Borough of Havering and managed by the Friends of Upminster Windmill. It works and they have open days but today the slats on the sails were fixed open and the stiff breeze was turning the fantail that keeps them pointed into the wind. Talking of wind today there was a Yellow Warning for high winds and it was certainly very gusty.

From the windmill I returned to the route of the LOOP along residential streets, occasionally holding onto my hat. Once through Hornchurch Stadium’s car park the way ahead shadowed the River Ingrebourne, as it would for much of the remaining walk. Passing through an open grass area and then crossing the river on a footbridge to a stretch of scrub, woodland and rough grass with the unseen river now behind trees on my left. Across Hacton Lane and around the children’s play area I followed the well surfaced path through Ingrebourne Valley Local Nature Reserve, through shallow puddles until the route turned away to the right over a little wooden bridge provided to allow dry progress when the River Ingrebourne frequently breaks its banks at this point. As it had indeed today.

Past another playground and a visitor centre and now I was entering Hornchurch Country Park, formerly RAF Hornchurch. Looking at the mostly wooded area that you pass through it’s hard to imagine that from 1928 until 1962 this was a military airfield, one that played a major part in the Battle of Britain being a Sector Airfield of RAF Fighter Command’s 11 Group, covering London and the south east of England and was attacked by the Luftwaffe on twenty occasions. It’s a lot quieter now but there are a number of leftovers dotted around from its wartime days, including several “pillbox” bunkers.

I passed Ingrebourne Marshes and climbed the slope up to where the control tower once stood, of which nothing remains but a good view to the south west.

The route carried on down the Ingrebourne Valley parallel to the river until turning west to skirt around Albyns Farm Lake and then south west again by Albyns Farm itself. This much restored and rebuilt medieval manor is surrounded by the sort of strikingly off-white high rendered wall that wouldn’t look out of place around a Spanish hacienda. Part way along which is a very large set of black wrought iron automatic gates with the name across them picked out in gold lettering and a CCTV entry system. It was probably the most Essex thing I saw all day (even if now technically in Greater London). I didn’t dare stand in front of the gates to take a photo though.

Onward through field and wood to cross Ingrebourne Hill where I made the short diversion to the hilltop viewpoint. The path up to the viewpoint has been laid out in a series of lazy back and forth loops by some planner and which therefore mostly has a desire path cutting across them directly to the top because no one has time for that nonsense. There’s a good view from the top, particularly of towers, cranes, and the odd wind turbine across Dagenham, Becontree, and Romford. I returned to the LOOP via the other zig-zag path (mostly, see above) and beside Lake Stilwell to join the Rainham Road and turn south towards the village of Rainham itself. I passed the telephone exchange and its adjacent Albion pub, crossed New Road near the roundabout and then along Bridge Road over the River Ingrebourne again before nipping into Tesco for a pee because every little helps 😀

Then I carried on along Bridge Road following signs to the railway station which is the end of Section 23. I found a bench beside the station that was out of the increasingly strong wind and took a break for half an hour to eat my picnic lunch, (ham and cheese sarnies, crisps, a flask of Bovril, and some grapes that were a bit past their best if you’re curious) and prepared to tackle Section 24 to Purfleet. That will be covered in the next blog though.

There’s the usual collection of photos from Section 23 in this FlickrAlbum.