Length: 12.5km (7.8 miles) - but I am sure we can find a way to extend it a bit...
Meet at Epping station (far eastern end of the Central Line) in time for an 11.30 start.
Possible trains:
10.27 Tottenham Court Road - 10.36 Liverpool Street - Epping 11.12.
10.37 Tottenham Court Road - 10.46 Liverpool Street - Epping 11.22
10.42 Tottenham Court Road - 10.51 Liverpool Street - Epping 11.26
For those who have access to the Underground during this miserable rail strike, I propose this outing to the very rural and picturesque eastern end of the Central Line. The route starts in Epping and shadows the route of the former Ongar branch of the Central Line, now a heritage railway (it is running today and its steam trains may possibly be heard or seen hooting away).
It is not a long walk, and I scratched my head as to ways to extend it, for example starting at Theydon Bois station (the only Underground station to serve a village?). But in the end I thought it might be nicer to improvise an extension, if required, at the Ongar end of the walk, where there is plenty of pretty countryside. The walk itself includes an extra 1km loop to a church and castle, and maybe we could expand on that, perhaps by doing a loop out to High Ongar. Alternatively, on the way back you could stop off at Epping and walk to Theydon Bois through Epping Forest.
There is a pub en route - the Green Man in the gloriously-named Toot Hill. I can't divine from its website whether it is one of those book-in-advance restaurant places or a place happy to have walk-up business. But if not, it is not that much further to Ongar, which has various food options: see below.
Incidentally, I am not sure if it is on the walk, but if conditions are clear there is a fabulous distant view of the City of London from Toot Hill - or there used to be in the 1980s when this was my favourite cycling territory.
Ongar seems to have a range of cafes. Several shut very early, but one or two seem to stay open to 5pm or later - according to Google anyway. There are also several pubs, the walk author recommending the Kings Head - which serves food all afternoon. T=swc.276
You get back to Epping on the 420 bus, which leaves on the hour (ie at 00 minutes past) until 7pm from outside the Kings Head (according to the walk author) or the Two Brewers (according to the bus timetable), calling at Ongar station 5 minutes later.
5 comments:
As Walker states the best bet to extend the walk is to improvise a loop around High Ongar but if you are feeling particularly adventurous -and rail strike permitting- you could add 8 miles by walking on to Ingatestone which I have done in the past (as has Thomas on a long walk from Loughton to Ingatestone) but although 2 trains an hour are still showing as running from Ingatestone to Liverpool Street on Saturday this is probably a bit too risky.
If you want to walk longer you could start at Loughton and follow a map-led direct wide track through the forest to Epping which is about 5 miles and have lunch at a pub you pass on the outskirts of Epping (Stargazer has done this as a mid week evening walk I think). You pass Epping tube station where you can end the walk if you wish.
The Green Man pub has a nice outside seating area so you should not need to book. Imho this is the best of the three "Central Line" walks - dont forget to visit the 1,000 year old church near the end. Enjoy your day.
PeteB- walk author
the route to Ingatestone is shown on the route map/has a gpx...
I came across this:
https://www.eorailway.co.uk/visit/date/25-06-2022/
I haven't checked the details as I'm thinking of doing Amersham.
I am up for the extension to Ingastone, if doable.
I will compromise on the late start.
Austen
N=15 on this walk, including one West Londoner who gets a special citation for travelling the entire length of the Central Line from Ealing Broadway (taking 1hr 20 mins). There were also two walkers on their first SWC outing since the start of the pandemic. Very nice to see them again.
This was the first time I had done this walk and I found it very pleasing. A nice mix of fields and fine woods. Considering its proximity to the M11 in its early stages I was surprised to hear no motorway noise. (Perhaps we were lucky with the wind direction, it being w=windy-and-mostly-cloudy.)
The Green Man in Toot Hill proved a very acceptable lunch stop for eight (or nine?) of us. They had a two courses for £13.99 deal and service was very quick and friendly. So nice to find a pub without fussy rules or menus. We lingered somewhat there and some also stopped mid afternoon to see the amazing Saxon church - the oldest wooden building in Europe apparently.
Some front-runners, I hear, got an unexpected 3.20pm bus from Ongar. This group included one who had thought of walking to Ingatestone but decided the trains would finish too early due to the strike. The rest of us got to Ongar at 3.45pm. Many went straight for the 4pm bus, but four of us had a look at the charmingly-restored Ongar station and watched a DMU pull out (a diesel multiple unit, for the uninitiated). We then did the suggested extra loop backwards, though failed to notice the Norman castle remains, and had a quick drink at the King’s Head. At the bus stop we met with a fifth walker who had explored the village a bit, and we all then caught the 5pm bus.
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