Ride the Epping Ongar Railway

Though it is technically outside the M25, your author felt his trip on the Epping Ongar Railway last weekend was worthy of a mention, especially as it was accessed by the tube. For the railway now revived by steam enthusiasts uses a once-abandoned section of the Central Line which runs in part through Epping Forest.


Currently, transfer to the train from Epping Station is via special heritage bus, as the connection at Epping requires much more work, but then the service takes you nearly all the way back through the woods to Epping in one direction, and also to the picturesque little town of Chipping Ongar in the other, where your author picked up the St Peter's Way towards the coast.

For more on the railway, which is holding a special event weekend this weekend, see http://eorailway.co.uk/

Take a walk by Connaught Water

Connaught Water, in Epping Forest, is an ornamental lake which was constructed in 1883, and enlarged in 1893.


Originally the site of a marshy pool, the lake is now eight acres and contains some small islands. It was decided to place a lake on the formerly marshy spot in order to drain areas of forest to improve it for Commoners' cattle.

The lake is named after the first Ranger of the Forest, the Duke of Connaught, and it is a popular spot for walking and licensed fishing, but also attracts a wide variety of wild fowl, making it popular with bird watchers.

For more, see http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/8101 or to see the location on a map click here.

_{^Picture by Stephen McKay through Geograph, under Creative Commons^}