The weather didn’t look great but we took the plunge donned our masks and headed down to London on the empty Saturday morning train. Today the plan was to walk from the Bank of Eingland in the centre of the City to Roydon to check out the first couple of legs of our planned route.
We are glad we did, since the “centenary” way marked so clearly through Epping Forest on our 1:25000 map is not quite so clear on the ground, even in broad daylight, never mind at dawn after a sleepless night!
Our first adjustment was around the post Olympic developments at Old Ford and Stratford on the River Lea. We made it over the canal and the tidal river and through to Leyton, the town named after the Lea at this end, not to be confused with Luton the other “town on the Lea” up in the chalk downs at its source.
At the top of Lea town we passed the Leyton “Stone” an obelisk on top of the remains of a roman milestone and a benchmark for the height we had climbed thus far out of London.
This was our portal, taking us off the concrete pavements into the magical green finger of Epping forest reaching right down to Leytonstone house, the old home of Edward Buxton the philanthropist who helped protect it.
From there onwards we walked on the soft green earth up into the calm of the forest glades
Before bridging the roar of London’s ring roads, the first built in my father’s lifetime to accommodate the motor car
The North Circular early on a Saturday afternoon in May
then we a few miles further higher up through the forest
we broke out across the never ending M25 built in my lifetime to accommodate London’s expanding girth,
The M25 late on a Saturday afternoon in May
Escaping the noisy circus felt good, but we managed to get nicely lost in a bluebell wood in the less well trodden paths across the open country on the “out” side of London.
As we dropped down to the river at Roydon, darkness had fallen and, after detours, we counted around 31 miles walking which is around half our planned total distance. Our legs were still standing and our feet a little sore after nearly 11 hours and we hope we are better prepared!