Walking the London LOOP - part 18 and 19
========================================

.. articleMetaData::
   :Where: London, UK
   :Date: 2014-09-23 09:14 Europe/London
   :Tags: blog, theloop, walking
   :Short: loop1819

After a month long hiatus, we started with another few walks to finish the
LOOP within our one year goal. I made an extra few checks to make sure I was
recording a trace with my GPS (successfully).

Section 18
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.. image:: images/loop18-d36_9396.jpg
   :align: right

Starting at Enfield Lock station, our first highlight was, as you might guess,
`Enfield Lock`_ itself. After the lock, we continued first past the river Lee,
and then the `King George V reservoir`_, and finally the `Rammey March Flood
Relief Channel`_. In a field we found some very tiny horses as well.

.. image:: images/loop18-d36_9406.jpg
   :align: left

Crossing a road, our route was disrupted by a car boot sale.
Instead of traversing a field diagonally, we had to zig zag around it avoiding
cars and vans. At the end of the field we started climbing up Daws Hill which
gave some nice views over the King George IV reservoir. At the top of the
hill, we got minimally lost, as our path continued through a hole in a hedge
that was quite overgrown. Once we found the path through, we ended up in a
meadow.

After a while we got to the `Gilwell Scout Centre`_, which was rather empty
looking. Some fields later, we made our way to Chingford. Instead of following
the LOOP through a car park and past a road, we continued along a field
directly to `The Royal Forest`_ for a refreshing pint.

.. _`Enfield Lock`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enfield_Lock_%28lock%29
.. _`King George V reservoir`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_George_V_Reservoir
.. _`Rammey March Flood Relief Channel`: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3621589
.. _`Gilwell Scout Centre`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilwell_Park
.. _`The Royal Forest`: http://www.brewersfayre.co.uk/pub-restaurant/Greater-London/Royal-Forest-Enfield.html

Section 19
----------

.. image:: images/loop19-d36_9420.jpg
   :align: left

After the beverage, we continued, now on section 19 of the LOOP. Near the pub
we passed the `Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge`_ and a café. We then had to
push through some undergrowth to continue our way towards `Buckhurst Hill`_.
Not long thereafter we had a quick snack at `Simply Seafood`_ on Epping New
Road. A rather "local" establishment, serving a multitude of various seafood
dishes. We stayed on the safe side and had a fish finger sandwich.

After filling up, we walked to Buckhurst Hill, where we crossed the `Central
Line`_ section to Epping. The walk through Buckhurst Hill was nicer than I
thought it would be. Instead of walking through a town, the LOOP guided us in
between residential areas through a patch of green ending at a pond (or
reservoir).

.. image:: images/loop19-d36_9431.jpg

After going around a David Lloyd sports centre the last part of the walk
crossed the M11_ and got us past a road into Chigwell, were we celebrated yet
another successful walk at `The King William IV`_ for a few snacks and another
pint. On the way to Chigwell station, I did a spot of mapping to get some more
shops, and a postbox, onto OpenStreetMap_.

The weather was rather cloudy and it wasn't very warm, at about 20°C.
We took 3¼ hours for the 15km that both sections took.

The photos that I took on this section, as well as the photos of the
other sections of the LOOP_, are available as a `Flickr set`_.

.. _`Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epping_Forest#Queen_Elizabeth.27s_Hunting_Lodge
.. _`Buckhurst Hill`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckhurst_Hill
.. _`Simply Seafood`: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g1984109-d4740343-Reviews-Simply_seafood_at_the_warren_wood-Buckhurst_Hill_Essex_England.html
.. _`Central Line`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_line
.. _M11: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M11_motorway
.. _`The King William IV`: http://www.thekingwilliamiv.co.uk/home/
.. _OpenStreetMap: http://openstreetmap.org
.. _LOOP: http://www.walklondon.org.uk/route.asp?R=5
.. _`Flickr set`: http://www.flickr.com/photos/derickrethans/sets/72157636982853053/with/15269393882