After a six-month lockdown break, we finally resumed the London Loop. These three legs (from Harold Wood to Purfleet) are the end stages although we have more to do since we’ve not walked the Loop sequentially.
This walk was straightforward, flat and passed without incident. The last time we were in this neck of the woods, it was a bit more eventful.
The walk starts in Pages Wood, a new community woodland with some cute wooden sculptures.
The highlight of this walk was supposed to be the Upminster Windmill, which we missed completely because we were so busy catching up.
Hornchurch Country Park looks like a mature woodland but was created in 1980 from a landfill site. Tons of factory and household rubbish is underneath the park. Scattered around the park are reminders of the war — pillboxes and turrets used by the RAF.
The final leg revealed a Tilda rice factory and, in the distance, wind turbines. According to the TfL guide, they are part of Europe’s first urban wind park. They generate electricity for Ford’s Dagenham Diesel Centre – enough to power 2,000 homes for a year.
This walk showed us another lovely part of London. There are some beautiful sections with woodland and lakes; it was a good way to spend what could have been the first day of Summer.
