Against the Flow: London Loop III
A bank holiday Monday allowed for an excursion with S to continue our greater capital epic. This is the third of our anticlockwise takes on the London Loop and begins on the other side of the Thames, at the point where the official walk would end. We are glad to cover this stretch now, not because there is nothing to see or understand but because the Capital Ring walk taught us that parts of east London can be both tedious and pungent. This has been true for a few hundred years and understood by the wealthier property owners, safely positioned away from the industrious Thames and its malodorous advertisement on the prevailing wind. While the real workings and working histories of Londoners is exposed here unashamedly and in honesty, it will be pleasant to finish the complete adventure in a bucolic setting.
Purfleet on Thames is reached by rail via London Bridge and the Jubilee Line. From Westham the C2C will take you to the Purfleet station. Return from Harold Wood is via the Elizabeth Line to Farringdon and back down to Burgess Hill. The whole is achieved on a zone 1-6 travelcard and a tap out at Purfleet, making it and exceedingly economical journey, off-peak.
The route describes itself fairly well on an OS map and sections 22-24 elsewhere and so the following, colours the shapes to be found on this section. Even before the train arrived, the Dartford Creek Barrier, swung into view. This was quite close to the finish of the previous walk on the opposite bank. Begin by leaving the station and turning right. With the river so close, the quaint, cottagy, plant-adorned frontages of Botany Terrace, come as a surprise in these estuarine outskirts. You'll get even closer to the river as you head past the Royal Hotel. A little further along is the Purfleet Heritage Centre, housed in what was once a royal gunpowder magazine. A monument to the Gurkhas and where they have seen action is listed, poignant in the time of the disaster in Nepal. Follow the riverside to the 'Million Years of Purfleet' archway. You could follow the path around the Mardyke but a sign allows you to skip over a bridge and continue. It is strange to think that this was once the site of a mill on land owned by the Knights Templar and then a tourist destination for whitebeat-eating Victorians. The chalk and lime industry flattened the cliffs and hills and now the Royal Hotel, once a residence for the brewing Whitbreads, houses only the ghosts of this past. For alternative atmos, consider that Bram Stoker based 'Carfax' on this place and where Dracula brought soil from Transylvania.
A short hop to RSPB Rainham Marshes and a visitor centre with a cafe. We were too early for a stop. Continue following the river path past Aveley Marshes. A brisk seaward breeze whipped past this shrubby path. Sloe, hawthorn and buckthorn lined the edge of watery birdland. You will bear left at a car park and round the distinct dome of the Rainham's landfill hill to Coldharbour Point. Oddly, there is a lighthouse here, established in 1885, 38ft high and visible for 3 miles and yet we both don't recall seeing it. Maybe it was because from here on in, we encountered some quite unpleasant smells and some crap jokes, courtesy of some anonymous signmaker.
Next we have the 'concrete barges', 16 rotting actual ferro-crete vessels, built to refuel boats at the D-Day landings. Being a bit unfit for purpose, they never saw this action. Instead, they served in the 1953 Great North Sea Flood, being rushed to their resting place to shore up Rainham's defences. Close by is John Kaufman's 'Diver', and all 15 foot and 3 tons is visible at low tide.
At Ferry Lane, a plaque marks the ancient ferry route which would have carried pilgrims to Lesnes Abbey across the water. The London Loop signs point you inland just before Frog Island and we encountered one stinky and slightly muddy path that differs a little from the OS map. This joins the roundabout on Ferry Lane South and goes under the A13. You can continue on the cycle path and into Rainham civilisation.
A mere 10 minutes and the Georgian house, Rainham Hall opened. We took a break. North on the main road, will have you at Ingrebourne Marshes and essentially, Ingrebourne Way, over Ingrebourne Hill and through Ingrebourne Nature Reserve. Hornchurch Country Park houses many a pillbox and a quantity of 'Tett Turrets', as it was once the home of RAF Hornchurch. Servicemen from here, famously shot down a couple of Zeppelins in WWI. Ice-creams were had at the Visitors Centre. Being in the Ingrebourne Valley, you are drawn to the Ingrebourne, the route following the river for most of the way.
Leaving the reserve at Hacton Bridge, the walk continues by the river into Gaynes Parkway and leaves the river to join Bridge Avenue. North to the main road at Upminster Bridge. The path avoids the smock windmill, built in 1803 but goes under the railway before heading north on Wingletye Lane. The origin of this name may refer to a gusty hill and that would fit.
Rather surprisingly, you emerge onto the edge of fields where a tractor was busy harrowing through the rather dry stubble. Back at the river, the path eventually recrosses it and heads north on Hall Lane. The hall referred to, would be the 15th Century Upminster Hall and now the golf clubhouse. There is also a 14th century tithe barn which houses the Museum of Nostalgia. We took the opportunity of removing some tatty and low-hanging union flags, seemingly announcing our unwelcome arrival to our final destination. The honking we received didn't seem friendly but then other people prefer a place to advertise itself as a shithole. Historically, the Ingrebourne formed the boundary of the Royal Manor of Havering. Now Essex is just west and on the other side of the M25.
Continuing over the Southend arterial road, you leave Hall Lane on the left and enter Pages Wood. We are now reaching what would have been part of Harold Godwinson's hunting grounds. Cross your final river bridge into the park and continue north to Godwinson's railway station.
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