From the Forest to the Lea - Loughton to Broxbourne (4K) 

Lovely John. Always such enjoyment to accompany you on your journeys. We all learn from you in one way or another. A mine of background information. Thank you.

That’s one thing to be said about the trees of England, they are majestic. Thanks for a pleasant walk.

Aww, thanks for having me. I feel like I always learn something on these rambles. Cheers!

Wonderful john, sheer escapism. Bob.

Beautiful journey. Sometimes the unplanned and unexpected brings adventure. Thank you!

Thanks John, I grew up in Newham around the early 70ts and have lived abroad and now live in wild North Wales but this brought back many fond memories.🤗

Thanks John. I enjoy the walk, talk, and music also.

Great walk and wonderful woodlands so near to London

Lovely walk John. Thankyou.

As usual another great day out and about your beautiful Country. Thank you for sharing John, take care.

Truly fantastic walk John. I now can see why you love the Lea so much, there’s a lot of character to that river. The breeze was an added bonus. It almost feels like the trees are waving goodbye to the Summer.

Brilliant video John 👌🏾

A pleasure to come a long with you John. It's very rare but I had butterflies inside as I kicked back and watched. I think it was the gentle pace and good company imparting good stories. I think we lose nothing in life. it's all stored within and to unlock memories through revisiting places invokes that powerful sense of place. I've been doing that a lot after the death of my dear twin brother Paul. It's definitely healing. I really resonate with this. I'm new to your channel but not anymore. All the very best. Mark

"memory land mines". What a fantastic piece of wordsmithery! Really inspiring. I'm going to start a walk from Loughton soon so I might well follow your route. (if I can find it). Cheers John

Beautiful area..I run/cycle every day through the valley. Love the place. Great vid again

That was a beautiful walk. Thanks.

Loving these Lee Valley walks John. At end June I cycled up the Lee valley one Fri after work in central London. Hunkered down at the Lee Valley Almost Wild campsite in Broxbourne. Bivi and tarp setup. Real fire. But with compost toilets and a proper seat. I'm not a savage! This area is special. Looking forward to experiencing it in Autumn and winter.

Been feeling down lately, thanks for your great walks John, epping forest is my childhood home and I miss it. You really help make me feel better and I really appreciate that. Fantastic videos and you are a good guy!

Thanks John ,Amazing as always.I would love fishing all along this stretch of the river as a kid.a really beautiful place.-I remember in the mid seventies when the river would turn to ice - and you could play football on it!

I am a child born of those gunpowder mills! My parents met when they worked there and my Dad worked there till it closed. I grew up in Waltham Abbey in the 80s/90s and you used to hear the odd explosion at home when they were testing something or other. My favourite part are the Cornmill streams. We always said it 'sue word stone'. On Sundays we used to go on bike rides along the canal tow paths to Broxbourne. Tantalisingly there was ice cream sold there but we were never allowed it due to it being a Sunday and not being allowed to buy things on a Sunday. Speaking of religion there is a baptist church on the road from Waltham Abbey to Waltham Cross where they speak in tongues. ..Holbrook due to be over the brook.

A wonderful video John .Thank you very much.I appreciate the relaxing feel your videos create with interesting facts thrown in.

Great walk, once again - thank you. And to misquote TS Eliot - ... the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we meant to start ....

And what a ride! As always, an inspiring and entertaining walk. keep it up, I love it!

Well John, it is my birthday and I am now going for a walk via my TV, bloody arthritis has curtailed my walkies with my dog down to a shorter version and more often. Age and infirmity is catching up with me, 66 years of constant use has taken its toll, I ain't complaining though, at least I am still here! I come from Northumberland, maybe you might like to take a walk on the Cheviots one day, in the summer of course, if you are out up there in bad weather it is so easy to lose your bearings and end up in trouble, many have. Have you read a book called 500 mile Walkies by Mark Wallington? If not I think you may enjoy it, he takes a street dog from London on a coastal walk around Devon and Cornwall to impress a girl, you can see how it may be amusing, it is. Watching your videos I have got to know about Andrew Kotting and Ian Sinclair and the Make your own damn art bloke, the Bermonsdey Joyriders and that other Sinclair the beat poet, I have seen him with Don Was doing his stuff before and was so surprised to see his connection with London music. If nothing else this comment will give you something to read, hahaha!

This channel is excellent john, thanks for the lovely uploads.

What a great walk thanks John

Liked your thoughts on walking the same paths multiple times and memory landmines.

Wow .. small world John . Me and my son went blackberry & wild apple picking up here few days back .. The stretch at Wormley . I love it there too. And agree on the connection down to lower lea

Just what I needed after a 9hr Nightshift.Thank you, John another fine Video

Nice one John :)

Cheers John.👍🏿

I lived near the neck of the woods as a kid, we used to Pronounce it Soo-wed-ston.

thats 2 walks I've been with you today and thoughroly enjoyed them both.. nice to end with a train.

Another good one John. Just finished reading "From Wasteland to Playground" "Lee Valley Regional Park at 50". The park was created in 1967. I roamed that area as a kid in the sixties but I am sure it never looked as rural as it does now. The area between the Sewardstone road and the Lea canal was mainly an industrial wasteland. Most of the old industry has gone and so it seems have the fishermen lining the banks of the canal. Its a pity they cant make the pylons disappear too. Overall a great improvement. Thanks Nostalgic of Lymington

People used to jump off the bridge opposite the pub (now closed) 'The Old English Gentleman' into the canal and then there was a bit hoo ha about Weils disease and no one swam there anymore.

only just seen this brilliant walk john could you put up how many miles you walk on each one? keep up the brilliant work thanks steve

Thank you sir for making this any chance netting for coffee I would love to find out about these places

i do enjoy your videos and would love to follow your routes sometimes but i get lost in your description of the journey quite often. would it be possible at the end of the video to display route taken on googleMaps or streetMap? thanks again for the lovely videos!

Hi John, just wondering could you enter the date that your walks are taken for future videos? Although, I noticed it was Saturday 28th July on your watch. I love popping onto a train/tube and going for countryside walks but if time, or trains, are restricted then I end up wandering around London. I realised even though I appreciate trees, I have great difficulty identifying trees until I joined the Woodland Trust in order to get their pocket size leaf guide. Although, I have just found out they have a free Tree ID app for Android and iPhone to identify UK's native and non-native trees. Thanks for your interesting and relaxing videos.

Memory landmines

John it’s a wonder for a person who’s out and about so much in forests and fields you don’t carry a small book on trees with you.?

Ps there's a Preditor moment @ 4:45 top left...

I was seized with the urge to make a fort under the tree on that island or peninsula in the river at 17:08

Where can I get a copy of the book From wasteground to playground , or rather have read of it ? Any idea?

Hello John, I wonder if - like Will Ashon - you have ever considered trying to sleep out in Epping Forest one night? I read about Robert MacFarlane bedding down in the wilderness, with just a sleeping bag; and, of course, your friend Nick Papadimitriou is known to kip out over-night in the western edgelands. I like the idea, myself, but - like Will Ashon - I'm sure I'd also be scared shitless if I ever attempted it - irrational, I know, but …. :-)

"Where ever it maybe"?

Hi John, As you know I promised to give you some feedback on this video not long after it went up but have been too busy with things at my end to get it together. Does anyone know the true origins of the name Sewardstone? The reason I ask is because I have not so far been able to find an accurate account of the history and topography of the location that fully satisfies the question I have just asked. My own opinion is that there may be a link with the Northumbrian Earl Siward, who appears to have had extensive links to the Saxon Royal House of Godwinson, who, as you know had extensive connections with nearby Waltham Abbey: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siward,_Earl_of_Northumbria A search of the Essex Historic Environment Record back at the beginning of the Millennium as part of an Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment of Netherhouse Farm, Sewardstone, Epping Forest, Essex for the local Friendly Society revealed that 'Sewardstone may include the site of a deserted medieval hamlet', but the fact that 'Sewardstone was not recorded separately in the Domesday Survey, but may have been included in the manor of Waltham at this time' poses the question as to whether or not it was originally a part of, or indeed identifiable with, the ‘homestead in a forest’ that gave Waltham, and the nearby Abbey, its name. Waltham was recorded in the Little Domesday of AD1086, so this infers that Sewardstone may have been absorbed into what was later to become Waltham as far back as the reign of Harold Godwinson, if not before. Circumstantial evidence for this revolves around the fact that on Siward's death his son, Waltheof, was too young to inherit his Earldom and so Edward the Confessor had Harold Godwinson's brother Tostig elevated to the Earldom of Northumbria in his stead. More here on that: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltheof,_Earl_of_Northumbria The church at Waltham was a major centre for pilgrimage during the late Anglo-Saxon period and the foundation there was extensively endowed by both Edward the Confessor and Harold Godwinson during Siward's own lifetime; so it is by no means impossible that the latter would have had an estate down there where he could reside during visits both to the Church at Waltham itself, as well as King Edward and the Godwinsons. This is only a theory but it seems to satisfy the only real evidence that we have relating the locality as it had been absorbed into Waltham proper by 1086 and does not feature as a separate manor, village or hamlet in Domesday.