Barking Abbey – Wanstead Walk – 03.10.2010

Although we knew we wanted to pick up our walk from where we left off last time, we had not exactly planned any route.  Which,  is not unusual for us at the moment!  Leaving the Abbey behind, we decided to walk along the Creek – somewhere we had walked previously but did not get to complete so we decided to see how far we would get this time!

Our first surprise was coming across the sign for the “Roding Valley Way” – which we had no idea the route went this way.   We had come across this on our walk to Wanstead Park it was nice to know we could tackle so more of the route without even planning it!   The creek looked neglected in places – perhaps a hive of activity many years ago – perhaps a pointer to the fishing industry took place in this area, (I mentioned this in my previous blog)!

From 2010 – 03.10.2010 – Barking – Wanstead Walk

It was not long before the path ran out and the Roding Valley Walk took us across into the urban streets.  We walked past what looked like an old dairy?  Not sure – anyone know?  But it also had disused football fields and sports pavillion.    The route then took us on to Little Ilford Park – which seemed to be well looked after. I was particularly impressed with the Pagoda with the Wisteria that was very well established! The park boasts a very large play area and after little investigation, we found it had a lovely Wildflower meadow 🙂

Leaving the Park behind, the Roding Valley continued through a housing estate, where the signs ran out for a little while. Using our judgement, we found them again, only to discover we had linked up where we joined the Valley Way back in February !. We decided to part with the Valley route at this point so instead of walking to Wanstead Park – which will be investigating again at some point – we decided to walk along the boundary of the London City Cemetery – following a very unkempt path!

From 2010 – 03.10.2010 – Barking – Wanstead Walk

The path follows the train line as well as the cemetery which was rather daunting – particularly when a train came whizzing past – as the path was not particularly wide!    It was not long before we emerged the other end to walk the other half of the outside of the cemetery.    Before heading off to Wanstead Flats Park – I must admit I was rather impressed by the buildings architecture in the cemetery – the church / offices and such like.  I now know that the the cemetery has been open since 1856 hence the older structures.  Macabre but fascinating facts – 2 of Jack the Ripper victims, along with Bobby Moore and Sir Robert Hooke (a famous Architect/Scientist amongst other things) are all buried here!

On reaching Wanstead Flats park we first noticed a lovely lake – full of birdlife – Swans, ducks, coots – which was nice to see.   A lake which I have read was originally opened for Model Yachting in 1908, and where Children used to play!. Our biggest problem, however, was finding a bench around the lake to sit on!   We were unable to locate a bench,  so we wandered into the middle of the park and found a fallen branch to perch on – to eat our sandwiches and enjoy the view.

From 2010 – 03.10.2010 – Barking – Wanstead Walk

The Park was very different from Wanstead Park we had been to before – this was more of a community parkland – where as the previous parkland we had visited seemed to have more historic buildings – mainly as it had an affinity to  Wanstead House.    Very restful nevertheless.

On the way out of the park, we came across an unusual monument which seemed to be a little neglected.  To Joseph Fry – Born 1809 – Died 1896.  So what is so significant about this man?  Joseph Fry part of the famous Fry Family who produce Fry Chocolate!  Not only that his Parents Joseph and Elizabeth Fry both of which lived in East Ham between 1809 and 1829 – were Quakers – Elizabeth Fry is well known for her Prison Reform and her other works– particularly after her visits to Newgate Prison.

We decided to end our walk – this had been our first long(ish!) walk for a while… and not the last!  Hopefully we can plan the next few!

The photos are as follows –

2010 – 03.10.2010 – Barking – Wanstead Walk

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