Upminster to Cranham Walk

Having been thwarted by TfL from doing my originally planned walk, a super sub. of a walk was needed. Hence eleven of us met up at Upminster Station at 11-ish o’clock (some more “ish” than others!), on Saturday 12th February.

The first mile was along main roads, until we reached a narrow road leading to All Saints Church (possibly named after the well known girl group?). From here we headed along a track, past horses and fields, until we reached Cranham Marsh Nature Reserve, which is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust. Entering the reserve we followed a path through a wood, eventually reaching an information board with carved wooden posts

We then crossed over a river (well, a small stream, actually) to grassland, and continued with the old flood-marshes to our left. Eventually we left the reserve and stopped for a rather late elevenses break. We resumed our walk along more field edges before climbing a small slope to cross over the railway line and then enteed the Thames Chase woodlands, heading through the trees to the Visitor Centre, accompanied by the gentle roar of M25 traffic (I love that road!)

We reached the Centre and enjoyed a lunch stop before starting on the last quarter of our walk, heading westwards around and across more fields and passing back under the railway line, and heading back to the church. Following another path to houses, we returned via quiet residential streets, before hitting the main road five minutes walk from the station to complete the walk.

It had been a good walk with warm sunny weather, the paths were not very muddy and no-one got lost or left behind. Finally at the station, heading through the car park, some of us spotted a fox, quite happy among all the many vehicles.

Trev ('Pathfinder') Eley 17th February 2022   Photos by Eileen. 12th February 2022