Meet: 10:40 Brookmill Park map and Cutty Sark Gardens 11:00 map

Distance: 25 miles

Phone: Ian - 07986 872 205

A short easy going ride to explore the southern end of Epping Forest. As yet I don't have a definite route in mind but we'll probably head up through the Isle of Dogs and through Stratford. Returning through North Woolwich and taking the ferry and then coming back to Greenwich along the Thames Path.

Sorry to be vague; this will be an explore. We'll find a pub for lunch.

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Roy met me at Brookmill Park and Carole, David and Cem (Jim) met me at Cutty Sark Gardens. A total of 5 riders.

I opted for the Thames Path, Woolwich Ferry, Beckton, East Ham route up to Wanstead Flats. It was nice to see the improvements that have been made to the Thames Path since I was last here, a new smooth section at New Charlton, just before the Anchor and Hope PH and of course the re opened and improved path through Mast Pond Wharf just before the ferry.

David told me that the buildings here had to be redesigned to take into account the increased risk of flooding as a result of global warming. Consequently the buildings are on stilts with no apartments on the ground floor. Naturally, the space below the apartments at ground level is being used for car parking.

The 11:00 start to the ride meant that there was no wait for the Woolwich Ferry, the operators like to lie in on Sunday and the service doesn’t commence until 11:30. There was only one ferry operating and fortunately it was just finishing loading on our side of the river when we arrived so it was straight on and straight over. It was the first time Carol had been on the ferry and was surprised that it was free to motorists as well as pedestrians and cyclists. The free ferry began service in 1889 with the cost being offset against the contributions the residents in this part of the world had made towards the construction of bridges in the west end. It will be interesting to see if this is still the case if the Thames Gateway Bridge is built at Thamesmead.

From North Woolwich, we head past the City Airport and head directly north on the A117 through Beckton and East Ham. East Ham as usual is really bustling, colourful and appears to be thriving if the amount of shops that are open and the amount of people going in them is anything to go by.

12 miles into the ride and we reach Wanstead Flats. Wanstead Flats is as the name suggests a flat area of grassland, made up of playing fields, areas with longer grass, shrubs and bushes. As well as all the greenery there are several ponds and a couple of lakes. The area is actually the southern end of Epping Forest and although there are areas with trees the heavily wooded sections of the forest do not begin until you get further north, to Walthamstow. Before BSE it wasn’t uncommon to see cows grazing in this area and the City of London Corporation, who are responsible for the upkeep of the forest, have plans to introduce a herd of longhorn cattle to the southern area.

We ambled around, crisscrossing the many horse riding tracks baked hard in the summer sunshine and as a result easy to ride (slowly) on any kind of bike. Wanstead Park had no cycling signs at its gate so we gave that a miss and headed for the tea huts at Whips Cross.
From Whips Cross we went to The British Queen up New Wanstead Road for lunch. This PH was air conditioned, we sat outside – do we really need air conditioning in this country? I think it should be reserved for hospitals and old people’s homes.

After a pizza and a pint - £6.50 for the pizza – we headed back to Greenwich with Roy taking the lead we went down Leytonstone High Rd, skirted Stratford and went through West Ham, went down Manor Road, past Canning Town, around the Isle of Dogs before lugging our bikes up and down the stairs at the Greenwich foot tunnel – both lifts are out of action until the end of June.

Thanks everyone for coming. Thanks Roy for showing me the way back.

Ian Pendleton