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Day Sixteen: section 4 The Final One!
So today we walked the final section of the LOOP, the London Outer Orbital Path. Steve, Michelle and I started the epic journey almost exactly 12 months ago on 16th January 2022. We started at Section 5 and walked the Loop in consecutive sections clockwise finishing today at the exact spot we started from! The…
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Day Fifteen: section 3
Yesterday, Saturday November 26th, we walked the penultimate section of our London Loop, Petts Wood to Coney Hall. I didn’t have the strength to write it up when I got home, as the journey back was arduous to say the least! We set off early to get back to the starting point at Petts Wood.…
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Day Fourteen: Section 2
Today the weather was considerably better than last time, for our walk from Old Bexley to Petts Wood (approximately 7.5 miles / 12 km). In fact it was very pleasant once we got started and warmed up a bit. The grey clouds even shifted a bit and blue sky and sun peeked out. I know…
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Day Thirteen: Section 1
Today we walked from Erith to Bexley, around 8 miles in total. This is the official first section, but because we started at section 5 we are catching up with the first few in order to compete the whole Loop. The walk was memorable for a few reasons. Number One reason: we took the very…
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Day Twelve: Section 24
Yesterday we walked the official ‘last’ section of the London Outer Orbital Path aka the London LOOP, from Rainham to Purfleet (5 miles/8 km). Of course as we did not start at section 1 we still have 4 sections to do! Travelling across London this weekend has been quite an experience, as so many people…
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Day Eleven: Sections 22 & 23
Today’s walk took in two sections. Due to logistics of Sunday public transport from west London to the far east of London (Essex) we drove to the finish and got a cab back to the starting point. The first section Harold Wood to Upminster Bridge (4.5 miles/ 7.2 km) followed the course of the Ingrebourne…
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Day Ten: Sections 20 & 21
On Sunday 3rd July we walked from Chigwell to Harold Wood, two sections totalling about 11.5 miles (18.5km). The first section from Chigwell to Havering-atte-Bower was definitely the most peaceful and pretty of the two sections. It was a very rural route going through farmland and woods for almost the whole way. First we went…
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Day Nine: Sections 18 & 19
Today we walked from Enfield Lock Station to Chigwell Station, a total of 8.5 – 9 miles. I took quite a few photos today so make no apology for perhaps more pictures than words! The first section from Enfield Lock to Chingford followed the River Lea for a stretch. The spelling varies according to context…
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Day Eight: section 17
On Saturday 21st May we walked from Cockfosters to Enfield Lock station (9.5 miles / 15km). The weather was a mix of cloud and sunshine, getting warmer and brighter through the day. The train journey was long but the quick crossword and quiz questions passed the time! Cockfosters tube station was opened in 1933, and…
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Day 7: Section 16
Today we walked from Elstree to Cockfosters (10 miles / 16km). Although there was a fair amount of road walking there was only one stretch where the noise of traffic really impinged, limiting conversation. We passed first through Scratch Wood, ancient woodland nestled between two very major roads – the M1 and the A1. The…
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Day 6: Sections 14 & 15
It was a dark and stormy night… well no, actually it was a hazy sun and cloud, with a slightly chilly breeze type of Saturday morning, when we started Section 14 Moor Park to Hatch End (3.8 miles / 6.1km). This section was notable for being almost all woodland. And what a beautiful time of…
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Day Five: sections 12 & 13
Two quite different sections today. The first section from Uxbridge to Harefield West (4.5 miles / 7 km) was typical Sunday morning busy-ness, with runners, walkers, dogs and boaters enjoying fresh air along the Grand Union Canal. Uxbridge is a very old town with its roots in Saxon times. It was an important market town…
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Day Three: Section 9
The weather forecast was not great today, so we set off for the next section of the Loop early in a bid to escape the rain. We arrived at Kingston by bus and walked to the start at Kingston Bridge for an 8 mile walk to Hatton Cross. We were glad to have our warm…
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Day Two: sections 7 & 8
On 29/1/22 Steve, Michelle and I walked the next two sections of the Loop, from Banstead to Kingston Bridge. Although finding the beginning of the the first section should have been easy, given that we had walked it one way last time, we didn’t manage to find our way across the golf course to the…
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Day One: sections 5 & 6
Today (16/1/22) we started the epic walk that is the London LOOP (London Outer Orbital Path). From now on I think I will just call it the Loop for simplicity! The Loop is a 242km walk around the perimeter of Greater London. The starting points are accessible by public transport, although sometimes that’s not very…