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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Saturday, 20 August 2022

Saturday Walk - East London Double Bill (I): Open water, grassland, woodland, marshland, fenland, green spaces - The Ingrebourne Valley

Open water, grassland, woodland, marshland, fenland via a series of linked green spaces along the Ingrebourne River: Hornchurch to Upminster

Length: 11.7 km/7.3 mi; 
Height Gain: 90m
Net Walking Time: 2 ½ hours
 
Meet 10.15 hours prompt outside Hornchurch Station (District Line to Upminster, in Zone 6), travel time from Tower Hill 43 minutes, from West Ham (Jubilee Line, DLR and Mainline trains) 25 minutes, from Barking 14 minutes, from Upminster 3 minutes. 
Your fastest option will be to take the 09.35 Shoeburyness train from Fenchurch Street (West Ham 09.52, Barking 09.56), arrives Upminster 10.00 and travel back on the District Line to Hornchurch. [Fenchurch Street Mainline Station is a 2-minutes walk from Tower Hill tube and 10 from Bank)] 
Return trains from Upminster: xx.16, xx.46. 
Return District Line: every few minutes 
 
The part of the Ingrebourne Valley walked through on this walk comprises a varied and unique mixture of interlinked and partly overlapping local green spaces - Ingrebourne Valley Greenway, Berwick Glades, Berwick Woods, Hornchurch Country Park, Ingrebourne Hill and the Sutton, Hacton and Gaynes Parkways. These include habitats ranging from river, open water, grassland, secondary and ancient woodland, marshland, fenland (with the largest continuous area of freshwater reed beds in Greater London), and – not to forget – some arable farmland.

Partly former airfield, ex-quarries, farmland or landfill site, it is now a continuous green space and contains – pound for pound – one of the best viewpoints of London’s Skyline, from all of 11 metres above sea!

Walk Options: 
Several shortcuts are possible, as the southerly parts of the outbound and return routes are running close to each other, these are obvious on the route map. 
Bus Stops for services to District Line stations are located close to the route after 8.0 km and 9.2 km. 
Follow the outbound route back to Hornchurch station instead of going to Upminster: cut 1.8 km. 
An Extension through Berwick Woods to the reed-fringed Berwick Pond adds 1.4 km. 
An Alternative Ending at Rainham station links up with the start of SWC 172 - Rainham to Purfleet (via RSPB Rainham Marshes); Hornchurch to Rainham is a 7.2 km/4.5 mi walk.
 
Refreshments: 
Ingrebourne Valley Visitor Centre in Hornchurch Country Park. The visitor centre is located 3.9 km from the end of the walk.
Several Restaurants, Pubs and a Tap Room in Upminster, see the pdf or webpage for details. 
 
For a detailed route map, gpx/kml file, photos and pdf directions click here. T=short.34

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Anyone keen on this walk Saturday 20/08/22?
Regards
Mishlin

Thomas G said...

7 at the agreed time, incl. 2 first timers, plus 1 late starter, only encountered at the end of the walk at the lunch place: n=8 in weather that was w=warm-with-a-breeze.
The valley was mainly still in lush green colours, although water levels were low in the Ingrebourne, and all small ponds were dry. Some burnt areas of grass and brambles were spotted on Ingrebourne Hill though.
We reached Upminster at 13.00 hours, which left 45 minutes for a quick lunch at the Osteria Due Amici for those that wanted to do the afternoon walk as well.