Saturday, 30 May 2015
The London Loop
Harold Wood → Purfleet
Distance: 14.32 miles
Ascent: 111 metres
Duration: 4 hours 34 minutes
Havering
« Not walked | Not walked »
And so to our final walk on the LOOP. I've been suffering with a leg problem for a few weeks, but managed to keep going.
Early in we passed Harold Wood Park "Teenage Area". We have no idea what such a place is, but were warned to use the area at our own risk while wearing appropriate clothing and footwear.
After following the River Ingrebourne to Rainham we picked up a path I knew from my coast walk: a final trudge through post-industrial wasteland to the Thames followed by a last few miles towards the sea.
Looking back at it, I'm not sure I'd recommend the LOOP. Of course it's been good to explore parts of London previously unknown to us, and I'm pleased to have completed this the outermost of three circuits of the city. It's a somehow unsatisfactory affair: disjointed, inconsistent and in places frankly unwelcoming. But maybe you could level the same accusation against London itself.