Ascent/Descent:
negligible
Net
Walking Time: ca. 2 ¼ hours
Arrive at Dagenham
East station for a 10.30 start. Dagenham East is in Zone 5, on the District
Line to Upminster. Journey time from Aldgate East is 32 minutes, from Victoria
49 minutes. You can shave off a few minutes by taking mainline trains from
Fenchurch Street (or from Limehouse or West Ham) to Barking for part of the
journey.
This
is an exploration of several linked green areas in an otherwise densely
populated East London suburb, leading through some Local Nature Reserves, two
Country Parks, an ex-landfill site and ex-quarry, a river floodplain and along
the recently restored beds of the Wantz Stream and the Beam and Rom Rivers.
This
walk has a large variety of landscapes, from acid grassland, fenland and
woodland to marshland and sandy shrubland via woods and a tranquil meandering
valley.
Beam Parklands provides functional
flood prevention and public open space for the community, while the Beam Valley Country Park was formerly
derelict land after having been partly worked for gravel, leaving a wide
diversity of habitats, with wet and dry grassland, tall herbs and scrub, and
one small area of willow woodland, a scarce habitat in London. The Chase Local Nature Reserve has large
areas of marshland and contains 6 of only 600 mature female Black Poplar trees
left in the UK as well as a fenced off Bird Sanctuary (The Slack). Eastbrookend Country Park, now an
interesting, undulating landscape, was formerly a gravel quarry then a dumping
ground for the rubble left over from the blitz.
A shortcut at the northerly end
of the walk reduces the length by 2.3 km.
7 comments:
Many thanks to Thomas G for devising and posting this Double Bill,
a great idea.
The time and effort taken to research and plan them is very much appreciated.
A double bill - what a good idea:it is a fairly under-explored and unappreciated part of London but accessible by tube. It also suits shorter and longer walk-lovers, so what's not to like. Also, coming belatedly to the table on the "paper instructions vs gpx" debate, I'd like to add my appreciation of the downloadable paper version. They contain so much interesting detail, I always use the paper version. I'm aware that a huge amount of effort and research by walk posters goes into devising new walks - numerous recce visits, internet and book research on local history, and on flora/fauna etc. This is obviously all done in the walk poster's own time and at their own personal expense. You are all appreciated. Thanks also to walk posters who keep the existing walks updated. SWC - what a gem.
Hi, we'll meet you at Dagenham east if that's ok?
That's the plan: 10.30 at Dagenham East. See you there.
After all that we won't make it annoyingly... weather too grim
Great day nice to meet everyone. Feet are a little sore but we'll worth it. Really enjoyed the upminster tap room bar.
Hope to join you on another walk.
All the best Jim.
n=16 walkers (incl. 2 local first-timers) in w=mostly-dry-with-some-drizzle-near-the-end weather.
The overnight deluge on already sodden ground meant that the notoriously muddy bit in The Chase LNR was now very muddy indeed and also waterlogged, and probably a bit more energy-draining than some had hoped for. The Beam/Rom River also was full to bursting and running with considerable pace, making the north easterly part of the route quite special (a muddy, brown, gurgling and gushing stream racing through the oxbows of this re-naturalised stretch of The Rom).
The Flora was still a bit bleak with little signs of spring, but the many ponds (mostly fishing, plus one or two bird sanctuaries) added some variety. At the end about half the group went to The Pipe Major for lunch: a brewery owned pub with an impressively slick operation.
All in, a pretty varied walk in the midst of a densely populated area. We'll be back one summer evening...
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