Length: 12 km (7.5 miles). Toughness 1/10
(The longer 10.9 mile walk to Broxbourne is not recommended today as that would involve a bus on the return journey)
10:15 London Overground Cheshunt service from Liverpool Street, arriving Cheshunt 10.54 or 10.28 Greater Anglia Cheshunt service from Liverpool Street, arriving Cheshunt 11.00
Buy a return to Cheshunt (TFL zone 8) or use Oyster PAYG or contactless. Note that Freedom Pass/Oyster 60+ are only valid on the London Overground services.
There are several trains an hour back from Cheshunt.
Much of this walk is along surfaced paths, but be prepared for a few muddy stretches along the way. The route combines the extensive wetland landscape of River Lee Country Park, billed as good for bird and wildlife watchers, with a short excursion into the town of Waltham Abbey for a possible pub lunch, a peek into its fine Norman church and a circuit of the Abbey Gardens.
If you're intending to have lunch at one of the pubs, please check if they are open and if you need to book: The Crown (01992-701481), Welsh Harp (01992-711113) The Angel (01992-718671) The Sun (01992-914249). The Gatehouse Café near the church entrance looks the most appealing of the cafés.
On the return circular route it's worth popping into the Terrace Bar & Café in the Lee Valley White Water Centre for mid-afternoon refreshment or to watch the spectacle.
For full details and to download your copy of the directions see the L=swc.311.a page.
2 comments:
A group of 2 and a group of 3 arrived early and set off before the 6 on the appointed train. Altogether that makes N=11 The groups coalesced later. The weather? A bit of a rain sandwich - w=wet-start-drier-later (apart from a carwash moment beside the lake in the afternoon). The morning was spent passing lake after lake after lake after lake, duck after duck, heron after heron.
I’ll say this for the wetlands, they WERE wet. At one point, the gang of six had to divert because the path was under water. (Strangely, neither of the other groups encountered this, so they must have been off course).
Get this though, we saw a bittern. It had to be pointed out to us by the Bittern hide’s resident spotters. It was hiding in the reeds.
Beats seeing ducks.
Some of the groups visited the Crown for lunch. Not the group I was in., though. Oh no. We made do with a picnic at Waltham Abbey. The formal group coalescence occurred at the White Water Raft cafe . Then it was back to Cheshunt for the train home.
In the interests of strict factual accuracy I should explain that the two of us actually started later than everyone else, having been on the train behind the posted one. But we took a big short cut and therefore avoided the flood, and also sadly missed the bittern site so did not linger there. Hence we managed to get to Waltham Abbey first . . . anyway, thanks for choosing a suitable walk fora an iffy day; and I must go back and study the wildlife properly sometime
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