Dagenham East to Elm Park Walk

It was the Saturday before Christmas (Saturday 20th December) and with the days being short, but hopefully sunny, we were going to have a fairly local walk around some of the lesser well-known parts of Essex / East London.

We met up at Dagenham East station at 11 a.m. There were 10 of us, which I thought was a good turnout for this time of year. After some of us grabbed a drink from the kiosk at the station, we set off, turning right out of the station before entering the footpath adjacent to the District Line, which leads to Beam Country Park.

At the entrance there was a wooden marker post which was made from timber recycled from the old Woolwich Ferry piers, which were demolished as part of the Woolwich Ferry Improvement scheme, which I worked on a few years ago, and there are quite a number of these recycled posts across the park.

We walked along the footpath, between the train and underground lines on one side and a fishing lake on the other, before crossing over the train lines via a footbridge. We continued ahead before turning left and then right between a car park and sports ground, and then right again to reach Tom Thumb Lake on our left. We stopped there shortly to look at the wildlife on the lake, ducks, gulls, Canada geese and a heron at the far end of the lake, before continuing to a surfaced path and turning right.

We passed a couple of sculptures on an art trail, these being an artistic tortoise and a barn owl, diverging from the path to eventually turn left and head slightly uphill to a convenient bench for a short break with some mince pies and other goodies from “Santa Trev”. We continued to a car park where we turned right and headed along a dirt road past a cemetery and riding school, crossing over the River Rom (as in Romford) to Upper Rainham Road, where we crossed over to enter Harrow Lodge Park.

We then headed up the left side of the park through trees and along footpaths with the lake over to our right, before reaching a car park where we turned right, heading downhill to the river Ravensbourne. We then turned right to follow the river along to the lake, which is home to a variety of birds, including a large number of swans. At the lake we stopped at the café for well-deserved refreshments, which we enjoyed sitting outside (what in December!) overlooking the lake.

Suitably refreshed, we then made our way to Elm Park station, an easy 10-minute walk, and everyone made their way home. The weather had been good beyond my expectation, sunny and warm, and the walk had been 5 miles, which is what I said it would be (blimey that’s a rarity!). A very nice pre-Christmas walk. Thanks to all those who came.

Trev Eley