The Epping Forest Centenary Walk runs the length of Epping Forest and it is the
100th anniversary of the Epping Forest Act that the Centenary Walk
was devised to celebrate. An annual organised walk along the route - in
September - keeps attracting well over 100 people, though many of those only
join for parts of the route from alternative start points along. The Centenary
Walk has never been waymarked but its (approximate) line has been shown on OS
maps.
The Centenary Walk (now: the Big Walk) in the southern parts crosses some
commons and public parks and travels along a few residential roads as well as
going through woodland, but north of Chingford goes mostly through ancient
woodland. The woods in the southern half of the route are well frequented and
the paths here will be very muddy after prolonged wet weather, but the northern
part of the walk is mainly on well-made gravel forest trails which despite some
heavy usage by cyclists do not tend to get exceptionally muddy.
Due to the annual Centenary Walk/Big Walk attracting a very large group, it often choses wide gravel or tarmac tracks over more interesting lesser paths nearby and for the same reason choses to pass cafés and pubs with facilities even if that requires some road walking. These considerations are not that relevant for the SWC, so our route differs in places from both the Centenary Walk and the Big Walk. The route of the Big Walk is shown on our route map though and also available as a gpx (note: it finishes at a bus stop on the very busy High Street and away from any tea options).
Shorter walk: Walks of about half the length can be obtained by finishing or starting at either Chingford Overground (500m off route along a road) or Buckhurst Hill Underground (2.5 km off route, map-led). See the webpage and the route map for details.
Lunch & Tea: Lots of choice for elevenses, lunch, late lunch and tea, on or just off the route in cafés, bistros, a seafood bar and even a gastro pub, and a normal pub and more on a diversion into Epping. Check the webpage for details and the route map for their locations.
For walk directions, a map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.259
1 comment:
6 walkers met outside Manor Park station in w=blazing-sunshine, 4 of whom were first-timers or rare-timers. The walk poster 'led', seeing that he had just re-written the walk and route, and initially we encountered very little mud, not surprisingly seeing that we were crossing the commons and 'flats' of Manor Park, Wanstead and Leyton. Things got a bit more iffy (ie muddy) up Walthamstow way and on to Highams Park though. Still better though than a few weeks back when I did the recce...
After that, a thoroughly deserved elenvenses break at Humphry's Cafe was spent outside in the sun at one of their benches.
On then along some more mud-soaked paths through enchanting woods and along the meandering Ching River to Chingford, where we met walkers 7 and 8. One of them (a local) had started at Hollow Ponds but was always way ahead of us, and he had met the other (his partner) at the Butler's Retreat out in Chingford.
The pm part of the route is virtually mud-free, in comparison, on account of recent investments in wide gravel forest tracks and rides. But it's more undulating, which kept the 5 of us honest (3 of the first- and rare-timers had bailed out at Chingford).
We got to The Forest Gate Inn precisely 2 minutes before cutoff time for last food orders, which was just as well, as one SWC stalwart would have otherwise started a riot, I think.
On to Epping Station, just beating darkness to the much reduced Central Line service (about a third of trains are out of service due to engine problems in the ageing fleet). On the train we got chatting to a chef who had just finished his shift at some rich person's house and was tubing it home, and also saw a group of hooded suburban youth (all-white, before you ask), acting very suspiciously.
Walker n=9 had overslept, started half an hour behind, never caught up, and bailed out at Chingford.
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