August is ending. Summer is ending. New jobs are starting. Sounds like a perfect reason to walk from Rainham to Purfleet.
If I offered walking tours in all possible genres, I’d be crafting itineraries for London’s most industrial walks this week. Rainham to Purfleet is one of those little magical ways which perfectly combines the exploratory feel of your childhood with the quiet epicness of your 20s. But even more importantly, it really opens up an alternative route for flâneuring in London, giving you a chance to walk past pallet factories, odd black cats, concrete barges, soft mud rivershores and even Europe’s first wind turbine park. Not to mention the apocalyptic Rainham Marshes with the grazing cows and Eurostar trains speeding away in the background, through the pylon forests.
Planned: The Boudicca Walk in Epping Forest, London/Essex
Walkers: E,E,N,L
Date & Distance: Saturday, 22.07.2017; 17.3K
The thing is that sometimes you get a completely another walk than you were planning for. You might read about a route with interesting historical connections (such as Queen Boudicca fighting the Romans), you might download a new and an interesting app, but when you can’t find the beginning of the trail for three times in a row, and then lose the first half of the trail another three times, it is time to accept the fact that it is not going to be one of those walks. Even when your friend has the patience to help you out with your lousy city map reading skills.
Yet!
This is how we ended up following random arrows and feeling – at least on my part – completely back in childhood again. This is one of the things I don’t like about these last decades – it feels like too many things have deadlines, or are recordable and trackable, dulling our sense for innate wanderlust.
Towards the mirabelle tree.
Happy to lose the trail
Thanks to the moody weather and the trail that had no descriptions online, we actually ended up having a lovely walk through the part of the Epping Forest I had not fully explored yet. For example, a part that looked like a scene from The Predator.
We found a swing that swung you above the forest river and an effingly rich mirabelle tree which we properly foraged thanks to L’s backpack throwing skills. We saw a forest grove that looked like it belonged to a time without humans. And we found a pub with nice food and a coffee place with even nicer coffee. Who we did not find was Harris, the hawk, who had gone missing somewhere in the area (there were posters).
England or Predator?
Next evening
I remember the next evening as well. There was a smell of freedom in the air. I went to a park close to my home just to smell it. The smell of “I have no responsibilities”. Sometimes, but only sometimes, it smells so so sweet. Even when you’ve just ran out, thinking how really, trully summers really are the most melancholy seasons.
But my home park was kind to me. I discovered/created a new game you can play totally alone. It helps when there are no kissing teenagers around, thinking god knows what of you.
So.
If you near anywhere swampy, you can start mapping out the zones of differently cool air that lingers around the area. I have experienced this twice, when growing up and now (still growing up) – the walls of cold air guiding you into invisible labyrinths. Now, how to build new type of walking experiences around invisible air walls… That’s a task for some other season.
Route: Harold Wood to Upminster Bridge (section 22), Upminster Bridge to Rainham (section 23), Rainham to Purfleet (section 24)
Date & Distance: Tuesday, 05.07.2017; 28.3 K
Fellow walkers: K.
What to expect from this part of LOOP/Essex?
So, woop-woop – 19 sections done out of 24! 🙂 Less than 200 km to go!
I must say that I did not have any expectations when entering this part of the LOOP, but oh, did it never stop to surprise us. What to expect of the sections 22-24 of the LOOP, then?
All sorts of very specific or motivating signs.
The first item in the list to follow mentioned “appropriate clothing”Sometimes all you need for that motivation is a hole in the right fence.
If someone ever tells you to walk the walk… it is in Essex.
Signs of fairy life
Who lives here?
Pets less common.
Yup, that’s a goat all right.
That unmistakable feel of childhood (cross-overs from marshes to industrial zones)
Hornchurch country park
Rainham marshes
Rainham marshes
Art that looks like something out of Dr Who
So far, my definite favourite part of the LOOP. Let’s see what the rest of the 19 sections bring!
I did get out of town during the first month of this year, I swear! And I did leave the city in February as well. But two months without a real wander is as long as I can humanly stretch it. If not for any other reason, then to stop myself from staying up until morning to search for all the possible tracks and paths on this island. (And off it.) You know, those if onlys, if onlys…
I do prefer to keep my books and magazines more or less intact and *not* to crumple their pages up every time I see a photo of place that looks just too… mmmmmppffff. Origamis of desperation, those.
But I have such good news! March marks the change! And updates on this blog start appearing more regularly again, which is only a good thing!
Until then, here’s proof of the only bit of snow I managed to see in January. Spotted in the Epping Forest District, Essex.
Institute of Wander 