Local F*ck You Lockdown Beer Walk 8th January 2021

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Well Lockdown3 is put into play, I have to stay local and all pubs are shut! Well F*ck you Lockdown, even though Boris seems to not want anyone to enjoy themselves, I am! So a walk from my front door, drinking my Homebrew enroute. F*ck you Boris! :D All within the rules and regulations of course!

So I walk up my road and into a local park and follow the River Rom, crossing over Bacon Link and continue to follow the river until I reach Cornell Way. A chilly one today zero Celsius this morning.

I walk into Cornell Way and down another road that leads out into Countryside.

I turnt right to follow a path to Havering Country Park, I walked a short way up a very muddy path before the path was covered in water. It was far too deep to walk through, so I turned back and I'd do the walk in reverse.

I walked up along a path at the end of Lodge Lane, before picking up the London Loop path that'll lead me to Hainault Golf Course and over into Hainault Forest.

After walking along paths, I reach Hainault Golf Course. At least I have no fear of being hit by a stray golf ball today as the course is shut because of the lockdown.

I leave the golf course and start uphill, this is warming me up!

I am now walking through Hainault Forest.

Though it initially comprised at least 17,000 acres, Hainault Forest was only a section of the huge ancient Forest of Essex, which had covered nearly all of that county for centuries. Hainault Forest was a royal forest which was therefore subject to "forest law" which dated back to the reign of King Canute (1017-1035). It was a royal hunting ground, the use of which was reserved for the sole pleasure of the king. The forest was kept stocked with game which were supervised and managed by officers of the king. Over the centuries, the name of the forest has been given as Hyneholt, Hineholt, Inholt, Henholt, and Heynault. By 1720, it was most usually known as Hainault. The Saxon term "Héan holt," meaning the high wood. 

However, despite its royal designation, certain considerations were granted to those who lived on the perimeter of the forest. Common people who were willing to pay a small fee were allowed to pasture their horses, cattle, and sheep in the forest.

In addition to those animals which could legally graze in the forest, there were also a number of different wild animals which inhabited the wood. Through the eighteenth century, a stag was released in Hainault Forest every Easter Monday for a stag hunt which was popular with hunting gentlemen in the vicinity of London, but that practice was discontinued in 1807. Fallow deer, the descendants of those hunted by earlier monarchs, still roamed the forest during the years of the Regency. The wolves and wild cats of old were gone by the early nineteenth century, but foxes, martin and badgers still thrived there. The Essex County Hunt periodically hunted foxes in Hainault Forest, with the permission of the Crown, through the first half of the nineteenth century. Rabbits, hares, squirrels and other small animals also made their home in the forest, along with a host of bird species. Another, more dangerous, form of wildlife had made its home in the deeper parts of the Hainault Forest through much of the eighteenth century; highwaymen, including the infamous Dick Turpin. However, by the early nineteenth century, persistent and successful hunting for that particular form of wildlife had driven them from the forest for good.

I now reach The Miller & Carter Pub formerly called The Camelot and before that (before I remember) it was called The Beehive. Obviously closed can't have people enjoying themselves.

Local farm workers were once the main customers at the Beehive Public House. Rabbits were skinned on the bar and traded. In recent times the pub has also been known as the 'Camelot', and 'Miller & Carter'. The lovely thick-sliced ploughman lunches with lavish portions of cheese and pickle now seem a thing of the past.

Well I just so happened to have bought my homebrew and glass with me, so I stopped for a pint  of MacBrews  'Fairy Ale Of New York'.

I walked on up Manor Road, drinking my beer as I walked.

I reach the junction of New Road in Lambourne End.

Walking up New Road I take a footpath on my right and out along another muddy path. Nothing but mud today!

After following the path for a way, I eventually reach Lambourne Church of St Marys and All Saints.

The church was built about the middle of the 12th century, but in the 13th century the chancel was almost entirely

rebuilt. Early in the 16th century the bell turret was added. In the middle of the 18th century both the chancel and the nave were largely remodelled, most of the windows being renewed and the north and south doorways of the nave reset. During the removal of defective plaster in 1951 on the north wall of the nave there was disclosed the stone jamb, part of the head, and deep splay of one of the original Norman Lights. This has been preserved. The walls are of flint rubble, covered with cement; the dressings are of limestone and brick; the roofs are tiled, the bell turret and west gable are weather boarded and the spire is covered with lead.

The Chancel (29ft. by 19ft.) has a small 13th century lancet window in the south wall, now blocked. The thicker walls at the west end probably represent part of a 12th century chancel.

More beer required!

In 1704-5 the west gallery was built at the expense of William Walker of Bishops Hall.

The renovation was so thorough that the interior gives the impression of a Georgian

church, an effect heightened by the large number of painted hatchments and of the 18th

and early 19th century monuments. A print dated 1824 gives a good general view of the

interior at this time, including the three decker pulpit with an enriched sounding board

and the box pews. It also shows a late 18th century monument above the altar, blocking

the east window. An upper tier was added to the gallery in 1820.

The glass in the south windows of the chancel was installed in 1817 and re-set in 1959. It was brought from Basle. The subjects are as follows:

the Choice between Good and Evil, dated 1630.

the Adoration of the Magi, dated 1637.

the Incredulity of St. Thomas (with the Annunciation in the spandrels), dated 1623.

Christ and St. Peter on the sea (with the Apocalyptic Vision in the spandrels), dated 1631.

the Adoration of the Shepherds, the Virgin and Child and St. Anne and the Virgin and Child (with St. Christopher and a female saint in the spandrels), dated 1631.

Each has a German inscription and a shield of arms.

12th century south doorway, apparently rebuilt but with original voussoirs in the arch over the tympanum, west of the doorway is an original window now covered with cement and blocked similar to that in the north wall. In the west wall is a doorway dated 1776 and a window of the same date.

The bell turret stands at the west end of the nave on chamfered oak posts with tie beams and curved brace, probably of early 16th century date.

I walk up Church Lane and take a footpath that takes me over more fields before reaching Mutton Corner (Lambourne Woods). Marked as Great Wood on the maps.

Walking through Lambourne Woods I come across a WWII Pillbox.

It would have formed part of the Outer London Defence Ring when the Stapleford Abbots airfield was taken over during the war becoming RAF Stapleford Tawney

I walk on and I can now see Stapleford Aerodrome, I have been hearing the whirr of a helicopter for some time now.

Stapleford opened as Essex Aerodrome in 1933 as a base for Hillman's Airways, which provided a service to Paris and other European cities using De Havilland DH.84 Dragon and DH.89 Dragon Rapide biplanes. Amy Johnson was one of the Hillman Airways pilots. After running into financial difficulties, Hillman was bought up by Whitehall Security Corporation Ltd and merged with three other airlines that they already owned to form British Airways Ltd. Operations began in 1936, but after 4 months all flights were moved to Heston Aerodrome, leaving just a small number of private aircraft.

The RAF took an interest in the airfield in 1937, and in 1938 No 21 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training school was established at Stapleford. Training was provided by Reid and Sigrist Ltd, under contract to the Air Ministry. One of the most famous students was J.E. "Johnnie" Johnson who became the RAF's top scoring pilot and reached the rank of Air Vice Marshal.

The airfield was requisitioned shortly after the start of the Second World War as RAF Stapleford Tawney. A long perimeter track and dispersal points were built and some accommodation buildings were erected. By the end of March 1940 the airfield was ready to become a satellite station for North Weald.

The first squadron to make regular use of Stapleford was No. 151 Squadron, making patrols from the base from August 1940. Six aircraft were lost and two pilots, including squadron leader Eric King, killed in action on 30 August. After a short stay, the squadron was moved to RAF Digby, Lincolnshire, but one aircraft struck a crane after take off and burst into flames. The pilot, Pilot Officer Richard Ambrose, was killed; he is buried in Epping cemetery.

No. 46 Squadron arrived in September, having lost all their Hurricane fighters when the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious was sunk while evacuating the squadron from Norway.

Other units to use Stapleford included the secret No. 419 Flight, formed in August 1940 as the operational air-arm of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). They were intended to use Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys to drop agents and supplies behind enemy lines. Westland Lysanders would be used to pick up agents as well as other important people. Because of heavy Luftwaffe attacks on North Weald, the flight moved to Stapleford on 4 September. The Whitley was a rather large aircraft to use Stapleford's grass runways. Only two operations were carried out from Stapleford; one to Brest and the other to Fontainebleau. The flight then moved to RAF Stradishall, Suffolk, on 9 October.

Other squadrons at Stapleford were No. 242 Squadron and the RAF's oldest, No. 3 Squadron and, in 1941, a new Air Sea Rescue squadron was formed at Stapleford - No. 277 Squadron.

In March 1943, Stapleford was taken out of Fighter Command and placed under the command of No. 34 Wing of the Army Co-operation Command.

Stapleford played an important part in the preparations for D-Day and many units arrived. On 20 November 1944 a V-2 rocket landed in the middle of the airfield leaving a crater 60 feet in diameter. On 23 January 1945 another rocket landed on the airfield camp site killing 17 personnel and injuring 50. A number of the personnel are buried in the church cemetery at North Weald.

Stapleford's wartime role ended in 1945, with the last personnel leaving before VE Day.

A memorial at the airfield recalls those who lost their lives.

After drudging through thick oozing and sinking mud I make it back onto a path that leads me away from the airfield.

I walk out onto Stapleford Road and walk up a short way before taking a footpath through Old Rectory Farm to reach the church of St Mary The Virgin at Stapleford Abbots.

Historically there is evidence of a church on the site prior to 1300 AD. The Abbey Chapel built in 1638 AD is behind the choir stalls and is the oldest existing part of the church. Memorials in the Chapel link the Abdy family with Albyns, the nearest house. The Church Tower was built in 1815; however most of the church was built in 1861. The bells were cast at the famous Whitechapel Foundry. The oldest relic in the church is the stained glass window dating from the 14th century. It depicts Edward the Confessor holding a ring and sceptre. Tradition says that the big sapphire in the Cross of the Imperial Crown is the original stone from the ring.

The Parish of St Mary Stapleford Abbotts will long be remembered as one of several resting places where the body of St. Edmund the Martyr King of East Anglia was rested on return from London to Bury in the year 1013 AD. It is recorded in Bury St. Edmund’s register that one night in 1013 the Lord of the Manor of Stapleford was miraculously cured of a lingering illness by the presence of the body of St. Edmund, which had been rested overnight at Stapleford Hall. In return for his recovery the Lord of the Manor granted the Manor and its lands to the Abbey forever. Thereafter the village was known as Stapleford Abbotts. The dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1513 AD decreed that all the land be effectively passed to the Crown. To this day 2,758 acres remains Crown Land, though much is farmed.

I walk back up the path to Stapleford Road and head on down the road before I take the next path on my right.

I take the path next to Willow Hall and walk across.

The path comes out onto Bournebridge Lane, I turn left and immediately onto another path.

I am now on the path that leads me into Havering Country Park, nearly back.

I stop to say hello to the many friendly horses.

I reach Clockhouse Lane, where I jump on a 365 bus to take me home. Really didn't fancy the road walking back!

A great 10 mile walk! Cold not so picturesque as elsewhere in the UK, but lockdown has stopped all that for now!

Havering-Atte-Bower,Essex Circular walk 26th April 2020

So on Sunday the 26th April 2020 its another walk on my doorstep, its just a 2 mile drive to Havering-Atte-Bower and I park up by the Horse Riding centre next to the church.

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I pull on my boots and walk over to St Johns Church.

There has been a church on this particular site, since the time of Edward the Confessor. One of the pieces of evidence for this, is the 800 year old Purbeck marble font, at the back of the church. Over the years, the church has served as a chapel for the many noble and royal people, who passed by as a result of Havering Palace being in existence.

The church as we know it today, was built between 1876 and 1878, after the previous building (also known as St Thomas) was demolished. The last service was held on Easter Day, April 16th 1876, after which all services and church meetings were temporarily transferred to a barn at the back of the Orange Tree public house, which is still in existence. The new church was consecrated on Saturday 13th April, 1878. During this time, there were two major benefactors, Mrs Macintosh and Anne Pemberton Barnes. Both were key to the church, and both contributed financially. For this reason, St Johns has the unusual feature of a dual entrance porch, designed, purposefully, to give equal welcome to both women, each of whom, had a house in the opposite direction to the other.

There are five stained glass windows, four on the south wall, and one large one behind the altar on the east wall, which was replaced in 1946 after a stray German landmine destroyed the original during World War II. There are two war memorials located on the site. One, inside, along the south wall, is dedicated to the memory of the eleven men killed in the Great War. The other, is by the gate to the Green, and is dedicated to the five men killed in World War II. There are two war graves, situated between the church and the riding stables.

The church has six bells, a treble, second, third, fourth, fifth and tenor. They were dedicated in 1897, replacing the single bell that was there before.

The Parish Room (the church hall) was built in 1902, with money provided by Ann Pemberton Barnes and her son. A second, smaller Parish room was built behind the original in 1933. This building was known as the Pemberton Room (and still is!).

In 1997, the Church Hall, and the Pemberton Room both were connected, with a second floor added in from the high ceiling of the hall, and facilities vastly improved upon what they had been before.

Two particular myths arose from this time. One was that Edward was in Havering Park (backing onto the site that the church currently sits on) and the noise from the Nightingales stopped his prayers. He then prayed that there would no longer be Nightingales in the park. Apparently, since then, there indeed have not been! 

The other myth is that on some occasion, Edward was in a procession, a beggar asked for money, and as Edward's almsman was nowhere near, Edward took a ring off his finger, and gave it to the man. So the legend goes, years later, two pilgrims were in the Holy Land and spoke with the same old man; who revealed he was St John the Evangelist. He gave them the ring, and asked them to return it back to Edward. Hence the name Have-a-ring Atte (at the) Bower. Who knows?

Havering Palace

The village is steeped in royal history. Edward the Confessor was the first royal to take interest in the area. He established a hunting lodge here, which over the years would become a palace or 'bower.' It is believed, though disputed, that he may have died in the house that he had loved so much before being buried at Westminster Abbey.

The surrounding areas, including the parishes of Hornchurch and Romford, formed the Royal Liberty of Havering from 1465 to 1892. Until the 17th century, royalty used the house of Havering Palace for various reasons, adding the architectural style of the day to the expanding palace.

Another palace, east of the village, called Pyrgo, was purchased by Henry VIII to relieve the now ageing Havering Palace. By the 17th century, the Royal Palace of Havering was in decline, and it was eventually pulled down. Pyrgo was also demolished later, in the 18th century. Only one set of plans exists from the original Havering Palace, courtesy of a survey by Lord Burghley in 1578.

The village green still has on display its original village stocks, while on the opposite side of the road is a pond known as "Ducking Pond", rumoured to have been used for trials of witches. Though the name of the pond suggests such a history, hard evidence is yet to be uncovered.

The history of the area dates back to Saxon times and archaeological finds in and around Havering Country Park suggest a Roman villa or similar structure in the area.

The village sits on one of the highest points in London, in the far north of the borough and near the M25 motorway. It is situated 344 feet (105 m) above sea level with striking views of east London, Essex and Kent. To the north is open countryside and to the south are the large suburban developments of Harold Hill and Collier Row.

View across to Romford and onto Kent beyond.

I walk down North Road and past The Oak Pub.

Just Pass the Oak PH, I take a footpath on my right beside some houses and out into fields beyond.

On my right is the Water Tower. Built by the South East Essex Water Company in 1934 to help maintain water pressure to the town of Romford, some two miles distant. It is still owned by the water authority but believed to be not now required for its original purpose.With the sun shining on it, it can be seen from the top of the London Eye, seventeen miles away.

My earliest memory of this tower is my Dad trying to scare me saying its a Witches tower and I of course told my kids the same story.

I walk a short way past where our walk turns right so walking back I cross a small ditch and follow the path.

The views are fantastic its been a while since I've walked here, I take the path through some iron gates.

Pyrgo House, Playground for Princess’s Mary and Elizabeth, daughters of Henry VIII

At the woodland's edge stands a pair of iron gateposts which once marked the entrance to the grand residence of Pyrgo. Nothing now remains of the house save this one rusting sentinel. In the 16th century, Pyrgo played an important role in determining the royal succession. Henry VIII had seen little of his second daughter, Elizabeth, since her mother's execution in 1536. In 1542, Henry VIII met her when he summoned both of his daughters to dine with him at the ancient house. Henry was impressed by Elizabeth and her sister, Mary, and decided to reinstate their place in the line of royal succession. This was confirmed by Parliament in 1544, restoring the sisters to their place after Edward thus giving England one of her finest monarchs when Elizabeth became queen.

I walk on passing Home Farm a Equestrian centre.

View back to The Water Tower.

Some Bluebells beside a wood.

Again I walk a little way past where my path turns right and walk back crossing a rickety bridge.

A Peacock Butterfly

I walk out onto Pasternoster Row and walk along down to Church Road.

Now the route I had plotted out showed a footpath almost opposite, the signs where there but it was fenced off. So I thought nope I'm going over so I climbed over and walked along, after stopping to report the blocked path on The ramblers app. Eventually I reach a muddy field and I can see the path going nowhere. I am in the middle of a permanent traveller site so I look and see a path going the way I need further up Church Road so I walk off and rejoin Church Road.

I follow the road until Benskins Lane and I walk up through yet another Traveller site. I take a path on my left a way up the road and I'm back on track, crossing Priors Golf course.

I cross the Golf Course and walk beside the M25 Motorway.

After some walking across the Golf Course, I exit onto Horseman Side Road and turn left and walk along the road for a while.

I pass a Trig point by Wattons Farm.

Just a short way past the Trig Point, I take a road on my right that leads to Watton Green.

I follow the road/Path a couple of flytips and past some woodland.

Here next to the wood is a Green Lane, I believe its the same lane where I went off roading years ago in a friends Range Rover. I remember stopping frequently for them to get out and dig out the Diff that's got stuck in the ruts before eventually 3 Landrover/ Range Rovers having to be towed out by another Landrover. Not my idea of fun!

I eventually walk out onto Murthering Lane and into Stapleford Abbots past yet another Flytip!

A short way down the lane I take a road that Leads to Olive Farm.

At the end of the road I take a footpath that leads through someone garden on Olive Farm and out into the fields beyond.

Looking back to the House and Garden Of Olive Farm I had walked through.

Now I walk diagonally across a ploughed field where the footpath should be, I wasn't taking the longer way around the field edge!

I walk out onto Nupers Farm at Nupers Hatch. There is a fishery here, tried fishing here many years ago.

Took the path below almost missed it, hidden away.

Seems the path isn't used often, it was very overgrown.

 The path brings me out by The Top Oak pub. Apparently there was once 3 Oak Pubs with the first Oak pub I passed being the Bottom Oak. I have no Idea where the middle Oak PH was!

After walking up Oak Hill Road I take a path beside some houses, the amount of time I've been up and down this road, I have never noticed this path before.

I pass a field of Horses,Donkey and ponies. They all wanted to say hello.

After some walking I eventually walk back out onto North Road, pass the Bottom Oak Pub and back to the car.

A great 7.5 mile walk in glorious sunshine.