A Roding Valley Walk - Saturday 8th September 2012
Saturday's walk was arranged and led by Jill V. and Sue S. – relatively newer members of our group who took on what can be quite a daunting undertaking. They were road (or maybe footpath?) testing the new 'Tips for Walk leaders', recently produced by Committee member Pam, to see if they were helpful.
Fifteen of the Group met at Roding Valley Station, a venue and station that was new to me, and left promptly at 10am to walk up the road to Knighton Wood. This wood is part of Epping Forest, though separated from the bulk of it. It is a remnant of ancient woodland – which in Britain is woodland which has been used continuously since 1600 or before. I hadn't done my revision homework before the walk, so questions put to me about the history and ecology were embarrassing! I remembered the fact that the wood contains a substantial number of Wild Service trees - an ancient-woodland indicator species - and remembered that the rocks by the lake were man-made. I hadn't remembered the details, though: that they were made by Pulham & Son, a family of Victorian and Edwardian landscape artists who specialised in the construction of picturesque rock gardens and the like. Knighton Wood was enclosed in the 18th Century and remained in private ownership until 1930, when it was returned to the Forest and became a public open space. So, as well as the ancient trees, the wood – especially around the pond - still has some exotic plant species such as Royal Fern.
We crossed the ancient trackway of Monkhams Lane – which was the Anglo-Saxon boundary between the Manors of Chigwell and Woodford - into Lord's Bushes and took some toe-tripping animal tracks through the wood to emerge near Buckhurst Hill Station. It is a short walk through streets to reach the River Roding at Roding Lane, and from there a variety of footpaths and wide open spaces is available for walking or other recreation.
Some of the walkers enjoying a snack-breakThe day was particularly warm, with the sun beating down, and thankfully Jill and Sue had chosen to cross to the east bank of the Roding and walk alongside it in the shelter of trees. This area is part of the Roding Valley Nature Reserve, but is adjacent to the Roding Valley Recreation Ground and contiguous with the Roding Valley Park, which serves as a green corridor running from Redbridge Roundabout to Debden. After a short snack break by the side of a tree-sheltered pond, we continued our walk along the river. Nearing Debden, we crossed to the west bank by means of Charlie Moule's Bridge. During the 1950s Councillor Charles Moules lead a campaign to have this bridge built into the meadows that had recently been given to the council.
The walk back towards Buckhurst Hill was more exposed to the sun and some members may have been flagging; the group – by now joined by another two members - was extremely well spread out by the time we got back to Roding Lane! Again we had to pass through streets – albeit nice enough ones - to regain the Roding, and some of the group elected to leave us at this point. The remainder walked south along the river until we reached Ray Park at Woodford Bridge. This is a London Borough of Redbridge open space, with a convenient cafe in which – not surprisingly – those that had remained to complete the walk partook of refreshments.
After something of an energy intake and cool-down we made our various ways back home, some by way of Roding Valley Way Station, others by way of Woodford Station and maybe one or two by car.
The walk – in my case completed at Woodford Station – was just over 7 miles, somewhat over the estimated 4.5, but then we had elected to do an extension towards Debden earlier on. The weather had been lovely, albeit hot sunshine, but I'm not complaining about that. It had also been well planned and pre-walked by Jill and Sue, and competently led too, keeping the timing (if not quite the distance!) well in order.
Paul Ferris, 10 September 2012