Starting from Leyton I headed out for a walk with no destination in mind in the spirit of a classic dérive or drift following my nose and being guided by my feet.
Filmed 22nd August 2024
“So make up your mind to be bound by no programme, to travel with complete irresponsibility, to start nowhere in particular, and the odds are that you will catch a glimpse of England that is vouchsafed only to the privileged few.”
SPB Mais, England’s Character (1936)
Spending the day walking from my front door as far up the Lea Valley as my legs will carry me has become a bit of an annual tradition. I was over-the-moon that on this occasion, the Jubilee holiday, I was joined by my wonderful wife at Waltham Abbey for the section of the Lea as far as Broxbourne. I eventually flopped into my favourite walk’s end pub in Ware, The Waterside Inn.
The route went through Leyton, Walthamstow, Chingford, Sewardstone, Enfield, Waltham Abbey, Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Rye House, Stanstead Abbots, and Ware. The video also features a clip of Iain Sinclair talking about his book London Orbital.