12.8km (8.0m) Difficulty 1/10 Longer
and shorter options available.
Trains may still be suffering the after effects of Saturday’s strike so I’ve played safe and chosen a local walk, reached on the Central line. It’s another exploring the ancient
woodlands of Epping Forest, (most of which is a site of special scientific interest). Mid-walk, you pass Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge, a unique timber-framed survivor from Tudor times (free entry, open 11-1 and 2-4)
Travel Meet outside Leytonstone Central Line station at 11.00.(It takes about 30 mins to travel from central London). Plan your journey here. .You would need a ticket covering Zone 6 to finish at Loughton (4 to finish early at Chingford).
Walk directions here . GPS recommended. The white posts, mentioned as landmarks may not all still be visible. Mr Tiger got lost in those woods once, in pre-GPS days, and still has nightmares.
Shorter option: 5.8
miles. this involves ducking out at
Chingford rail station just 10 mins walk from
the hunting lodge, where trains should be back to normal. About 4 an hour.
Longer option:: for a 14.4
mile walk, combine these directions with walk 197 (Loughton to Epping). Link the two using the details at
the end of this walk. Epping is also on the Central Line.
Lunch there are two places near the hunting lodge.
The Royal Forest (a
Brewers Fayre pub) 4 Rangers Road, Tel 020 8523 7246. Open throughout the day
at weekends.......
...and (recommended) the
Larder at Butlers Retreat 12 Rangers Road, Tel 020 7998 7858. Originally a 19th
century barn, it is now an up-market café.
Tea: there will be
places in Loughton High Road, though the list in the directions may be out of date.
Costa is definitely still there, as is the Wagon Boulangerie.174 High Road,
both open till 6. There are toilets at Loughton station before the ticket barrier..t=swc.241
1 comment:
14 and a small dog at the station plus one catcher upperer makes n=15 and a small dog. A day w=sunny-with-cloudy-intervals
Slightly muddy in places but not too bad. White topped posts still white topped. We set off at breakneck speed, not always following the exact route, but we got to the lunch place for 1.20. The walk checker arrived later. The L word was mentioned.
Most opted for the Butlers Retreat, one or two for the pub. After lunch, one or two headed for Chingford, at least one intending to visit the Hunting Lodge first. The rest zoomed off, reaching Loughton by 15:30.
Some went to the tearoom, the Wagon (?) Unfortunately, yours truly fell into bad company and was lured into the Last Post ( a Wetherspoons) where he was made to drink not only a pint of Old Rosy (7.3%) but also a pint of Wobbly Bob(6%).
A good walk with plenty of majestic trees and a few butterflies.
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