26th August 2026
Having completed both the London Loop and the Capital Ring I suppose next on the list would be their little cousin, the Green Link Walk. This is only 15 miles long according to TfL, or 16 miles according to Inner London Ramblers. It leads from the edge of Epping Forest to Peckham. No one knows why it goes to Peckham 😀
The Ramblers' guides divide it into 4 convenient sections with the first starting near Wood Street station on the Chingford branch of the Weaver (London Overground) Line so that’s where I went first.
Technically the route begins at an unmarked point on a footpath in Rising Sun Woods about 0.4 miles east of Wood Street Station, accessible only by the number 20 bus between Walthamstow Bus Station and Debden. Wood Street Station is given as an alternative start point. I didn’t feel inclined to walk up Upper Walthamstow Road and back on a warm, humid day just for the sake of OCD so I started at the station.
Leaving the station I crossed Wood Street and turned left past the builders’ suppliers and garden centre in the Old Station Yard and then right into Barrett Road, following it round left through a short pedestrianised section by the former Manual Instruction Centre, now Wood Street Studios where apparently they now ork cows.
Barrett Road continued to the right and I followed its uneven paving all the way to the end, crossing Shernhall Street and turning right into Addison Road. What I had meant to do before Addison Road was divert into the Ravenswood Industrial Estate and get a coffee at God’s Own Junkyard but I completely forgot - just as well really since it's only open Friday - Sunday. I really must go back there some time. Anyhow, onward up Addison Road past the huge National Hero Service mural on the gable end of a house, created by Holy Moly UK during the height of the 2020 plague. Better than banging cookware together.
Addison Road led to Beulah Road and where this bore left into Orford Road I was greeted by the site of the ornate Old Town Hall. I had reached the gentrified environs of Walthamstow Village. It was easy to tell from the number of small restaurants and cafes with names like Village Pizzeria, Village Public House, and The Village bakery. Also many other restaurants, galleries, clothing shops, and a Gail’s obviously.
I carried on down Orford Road resisting the temptation of the Queen’s Arms, around First Avenue and to the wide, busy Hoe Street which I crossed, turned right over the railway bridge by Walthamstow Central Station and then into Selbourne Road passing Walthamstow Bus Station and then across Walthamstow Town Square Gardens. Had we not been two months into a drought this would have been the first bit of “green” on this Green Link Walk. As it was only the trees showed any shade other than a yellowy straw colour. The next bit would be much more colourful since it went the full length of Walthamstow High Street and its famous market, the second longest in Europe, beaten only by the Porta Potese in Rome, which admittedly is twice as long. I’d be surprised if that had as many bargains. I’d bet that it doesn’t have two Lidls either.
At the western end of the High Street I crossed Blackhorse Road near St. James Street Station and headed west along Coppermill Lane. There are a lot of very odd bird-themed signs along Coppermill lane, presumably connected to the nature reserve at Walthamstow Wetlands further along the lane although I’ve not been able to find any explanation online.
There’s also a huge floral mural on the gable wall of a shop/house on the corner of Cassiobury Road and the rather quiet for lunchtime Coppermill pub both of which I passed before crossing the River Lea Flood Relief Channel. Passing between the reservoirs of Walthamstow Wetlands and the Coppermills Water Treatment Works the road narrowed, losing its footways and becoming the sort of almost rural lane that seems to give urban bloggers and YouTube vloggers a minor panic attack.
Given some major rainfall this would also be a much greener part of the Green Link. A noise above alerted me to the presence of people working in long cradles on the towers of the 275kV power transmission lines which run across the wetlands from Tottenham to Hackney. Rather them than me. Especially since the forecast cloudy and overcast weather had in fact now turned out to be few clouds and sunny. At the car park just before Coppermill Lane dived under the railway line with a headroom of only five feet I turned left onto Coppermill Fields, another barely green bit of Green Link.
I sought refuge from the sun under a large Willow tree whose branches ran along the ground making a handy place to sit in the shade for a while watching passing joggers and a family picking blackberries on the far side of the open field. Curses! Had I brought a packed lunch today I would have had a suitable container to do likewise😞
At the other end of Coppermill Fields the path passed under two railway lines first by passing under a tall bridge and then immediately through a low subway, where the Weaver Line of the Overground crosses over the Greater Anglia Lea Valley lines at right angles.
I emerged onto a broad straight tarmac path leading across Walthamstow Marsh to Leyton Marsh. To the right across the marsh lay the River Lee and the part of the Capital Ring along which I’d walked a month ago. This time my route to Lea Bridge Road would lie east of the marshes, past the riding centre where behind the trees someone was practicing making a horse jump over fences, noisily.
At Lea Bridge Road I turned left and walked along to Bus Stop W outside the Lea Valley Ice Centre, which marks the end of Green Link Walk Section 1.
Green Link Walk Section 1 ✅
And then I carried on along Lea Bridge Road on Section 2. Only as far as The Princess of Wales though because I was sorely in need of a pint. I’d passed this canalside pub when doing the Capital Ring but it was absolutely packed at the time and I had many miles still to walk that day. Not this time though🍺
After which I caught a train from Lea Bridge Station and realised that I’d been there before too, coincidentally having walked there from God’s Own Junkyard in April 2022.
Twenty-nine photos on Flickr from Green Link Section 1 Opens in a new page or a slideshow below if your viewer supports it.
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