Woolwich Loop via Lesnes Abbey – Green Chain Walk

Woolwich South London Loop walk

This was a return of sorts, rooted in a pang to partly retrace the steps of my 2012 walk for This Other London from Woolwich to the Dartford Salt Marshes. Back in early June of this year I headed out of Woolwich Town Centre up across Plumstead Common, picking up the Green Chain Walk to Lesnes Abbey, a gem on the edge of woodland overlooking the Thames. Instead of continuing east to Erith I followed the Green Chain down through Thamesmead to the Thames Path, closing the loop back at Woolwich. A glorious South London Loop.

 

Sunday Walk – Wanstead Flats, North Circular and Hollow Ponds

Wanstead Flats

Wanstead Flats

The desire was stay local – within the gravitational field of home but still get in a decent walk. My instinct was to head to the far side of Wanstead Flats and take it from there.

The area of Wanstead Flats burnt so badly last summer gives off a glorious smell of resurgent wildflowers.

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The ragwort was alive with caterpillars of the cinnabar moth munching on its leaves, ingesting toxins to make themselves unpalatable to birds. Ragwort and the cinnabar caterpillar appear to have an interesting relationship that makes for a diverting spectacle on a summer stroll.

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I always have to pay homage to the barrage balloon posts and marvel at their continued survival.

Wanstead Park

Wanstead Park

After a stop at Aldersbrook Petrol Station for a Starbucks and Greggs donut – which has become one of my favourite Alan Partridge style treats – I head down Park Road and through Wanstead Park which looked as glorious as ever.

St Mary's Wanstead

The bells of St. Mary’s Wanstead tolled as I stood admiring the Borough of Redbridge’s only Grade 1 listed building. I’ve been told St. Mary’s has an interesting crypt that I’ve yet to visit but the interior of the church is a real gem of the East. The graveyard has burials dating back to the establishment of the original medieval church.

Wanstead War Memorial

Wanstead High Street

There’s clearly a Sunday Scene on Wanstead’s wonderful High Street and I bumped into my eldest son carrying a toy keyboard he’d just bought in a charity shop as he headed to a park bench with his mates. A gentleman approached who watches my YouTube videos to ask if I’d made one on the Wanstead Slip and told me of a relic of Wantead House that now resides in a back garden somewhere along Grove Road. It was great to hear his stories of old Leyton and Stratford.

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Snaresbrook – South Woodford

I decided against heading into the forest at Snaresbrook and carried on along the tree-lined road towards South Woodford stopping to take in the modernist glory of Hermitage Court.

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North Circular – South Woodford

Heading up Grove Hill at South Woodford I came to the Willow Path that crosses the North Circular. This seemed like an ideal location to take a selfie which I posted to Instagram as ‘North Circular Selfie’. I’ve been meaning to make a film of a walk round the North Circular (perhaps over two days rather than one long schlep) for some time but now wonder if documenting the walk with a series of selfies charting my gradual decline as the pollution takes its toll might work better.

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Carnarvon Road, South Woodford

Carnarvon Road, South Woodford has some incredible buildings. Firstly you’re greeted with what appears to be the back of some kind of industrial building – although I couldn’t locate the front. Then across the street is this beautiful modernist block that looks as though it may have an interesting former life.

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Epping Forest

I must have walked past this fine oak tree just off Epping New Road at South Woodford a hundred times without noticing this plaque commemorating the planting of the tree by the Lord Mayor of London in 1932 in celebration of the Jubilee of the opening of the forest.

North Circular

Waterworks Corner

At the Rodney Smith stone I decided to turn for home rather than push on through the forest. This of course brought me to one of my favourite London views, from the bridge back across the North Circular at Waterworks Corner. I took another ‘North Circular Selfie’, naturally.

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Walthamstow to the Whipps Cross Lido

I passed through the narrow strip of the forest that takes you behind the Waterworks and St. Peter’s Church emerging at the very tip of Lea Bridge Road. It’s interesting to note that the gate off Snaresbrook Road is labelled ‘Snaresbrook Lido’ and not ‘Whipps Cross Lido’ or ‘Leytonstone Lido’ as I’ve seen the swimming pool named elsewhere.

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The Hollow Ponds

The Hollow Ponds was the perfect place for the walk to end. I rested under an oak tree and nearly nodded off serenaded by the rustling of leaves in the early afternoon breeze.

 

 

Video Strolls at Leytonstone Pop-Up Cinema

Video Strolls Leytonstone

Andy Howlett of Video Strolls – photo by Liberty Rowley

On the 3rd July we hosted the fantastic Video Strolls at Leytonstone Pop-Up Cinema with a programme of artists films related to ‘Quiet Spaces’. Andy Howlett and Liberty Rowley of Video Strolls suggested we start the event with a short wander around some of the quiet spaces of Leytonstone to set the tone.

Leytonstone bus station

‘Time Terminus’ – photo by Liberty Rowley

They were fascinated by the peculiar bus sculpture outside the Tube station (Time Terminus by Lodewyk Pretor), which prompted an interesting discussion about the legacy of the building of the M11 Link Road that was running beneath our feet. Luckily film-maker Ian Bourn was in attendance and was able to recount first-hand stories of the building of the road and the artist community that was destroyed in the process. Apparently the sculpture was made from left over bricks from the construction of the road. Paul Greenleaf was also on hand to add to talk about his beguiling film about the Link Road, I Will Become More Powerful Than You Can Possibly Imagine, that screened on the Leytonstone Arts Trail the following weekend.

Leytonstone Churchyard

Leytonstone churchyard

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We then moved on to St. John’s churchyard where we looked at the Buxton family grave and talked about the ‘flying bombs’ that fell on Leytonstone during World War 2.

Matalan Leytonstone

From the churchyard we explored a different type of ‘quiet space’ in the carpark behind and beneath Matalan – once a rolling skating rink of some renown and a rather grand cinema, the Rink Picture Palace, which opened in 1911 on the same site.

Video Strolls Leytonstone

Leytonstone Pop-Up Cinema

The film programme at Leytonstone Library was very well received and we had a fascinating post-screening discussion with Liberty and Andy prompting some great contributions from the audience on the subject of place based film-making.

Thanks to Video Strolls for ambling to Leytonstone.

 

 

Leytonstone Pop-Up Cinema is the first Wednesday of the month at Leytonstone Library (except August and January) – sign up to our mailing list for news of future screenings.

Along the Thames Path from Putney to Richmond

Beautiful walk along the Thames Path from Putney to Richmond, taking in Barnes, Mortlake, and Kew, filmed on the 14th May.

 

Here are Turner’s drawings of Syon Park

Zion House, Isleworth 1802-10
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-zion-house-isleworth-d08269

Castle Seen from River, with Punt and Row of Trees in Foreground. ?Zion House, Isleworth
c.1815–17

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-castle-seen-from-river-with-punt-and-row-of-trees-in-foreground-zion-house-d10770