David Matthewman

Note - this journal has a lot of friends-only content. In general, I'll only add you as a friend if I know you off-LJ, or someone I already know vouches for you. I don't expect many people outside those categories to be remotely interested in what I write here (and, to be honest, it's probably deadly dull for many people who do know me). I don't automatically add people who add me as a friend and, for that matter, I don't always notice when people add me.

'Friend' is a very inaccurate term for the list, but then they taught you that in LiveJournal 101, didn't they?

What else? Oh yes...

Hi! I'm David, and apparently I can come across as a bit spiky on-line.

sfred and I are walking the first section of the London Loop on Saturday - i.e. the section from Erith to Old Bexley 8.5 miles. We're meeting at Erith station at 10am, and will break for lunch at a pub somewhere en route - probably after about 5 miles, from memory of what there is on the route (I've done this one before, sfred hasn't).

It's a very mixed walk; it starts with a riverside stroll in Erith, then past some scrapyards to a a marshy embankment walk along a small river that soon turns into a very pretty ramble along a woodland stream. Later there's a park and some more woods, with a brief interlude where you walk alongside the A2 dual carriageway. As the first official section of the Loop, it would be an excellent starting point for someone wanting to walk the whole thing.

The current forecast for Saturday is for sun, but a relatively cool 25 C.

All welcome.

Tomorrow (Saturday 6 June), we're walking the final section of the London Loop, from Harold Wood to Purfleet. We'll be meeting at Harold Wood station at 10am, and stopping for lunch at a pub in Rainham.

The full walk is 13 miles - it's the longest section on the Loop - but there are possible leaving points at 4 and 8 miles in, if you don't fancy the full walk. (It sort-of finishes after 11 miles when it reaches the Thames, but unfortunately it does so around 2 miles from the nearest public transport.)

Last time I did the walk, in 2010, we had to divert in two places due to path repairs and police, so I'm looking forward to seeing the bits I missed then. We also saw a kingfisher, but I can't promise we'll be so lucky again this time.

Anyone is welcome to join us, but if you are coming, let me know so that I know whether to wait at Harold Wood for you.

Tomorrow, sfred, shadowdaddy and I will be walking the section of the London Loop from Chigwell to Harold Wood, starting at Chigwell tube station at 10am. The walk's 10.5 miles, and we'll be breaking it after 6 miles at Havering-Atte-Bower for a pub lunch.

The walk is section 14 of the London Loop, which is in two sections on the TfL site. If you've been on our recent Green London Way walks, then it's worth noting that the London Loop is a lot more rural - much of this section goes along the sides of fields and can be quite muddy, so it's not suitable for pushchairs in the way that the Green London Way (mostly) is.

Anyone's welcome to join us, but if you're coming, let us know in advance so that we'll know to wait for you at Chigwell.

We'll be walking the final section of the Green London Way on Easter Monday (6 April) as planned, but in the morning rather than the afternoon. It's from Victoria Park to Stratford (via Three Mills, becuase going direct would take about 20 minutes and be no fun at all), and we'll be meeting at Cambridge Heath station at 10am. We'll probably be having lunch in teh Olympic Park, before heading up to Brisbane Road to watch Leyton Orient play Gillingham (that last part is optional, but anyone's welcome).

Hope to see some of you there!

sfred and I will be doing more walking round London in 2015, and have settled on some provisional (but likely) dates. We've got a small bit of the Green London Way walk to finish off (in two afternoon sections), and then we're going to go back to the London Loop. I've done the whole thing, but sfred only joined us mid-way through and missed the last two sections in 2011, and I'm very happy to re-do it.

The two Green London Way sections will be 2pm - 5pm (ish) afternoon walks. The London Loop sections are further out of London and tend to require a full day to complete, so I'm scheduling them as 10am to 5pm (ish) sections on a Saturday. As always, timings will be dependent on how fast we actually walk. ;-)

So, the plan is as follows:

* Sun 22 March, 2pm - 5pm: Stoke Newington to Cambridge Heath via Victoria Park on the Green London Way (6 miles).
* Mon 6 April (Easter Monday), 2pm - 5pm: Cambridge Heath to Stratford, with optional stroll through the Olympic Park to our place for celebratory 'we finished the Green London Way!' drinks (6 miles).

* Sat 9 May, 10am - 5pm: Chigwell to Harold Wood on the London Loop (11 miles).
* Sat 6 June, 10am - 5pm: Harold Wood to Purfleet on the London Loop (13 miles).
* Sat 4 July, 10am - 5pm: Erith to Old Bexley on the London Loop (9 miles).
* Sat 22 August, 10am - 5pm: Old Bexley to Petts Wood on the London Loop (8 miles).
* Sat 5 September, 10am - 5pm: Petts Wood to Hayes on the London Loop (9 miles).
* Sat 3 October, 10am - 5pm: Hayes to Hamsey Green on the London Loop (9 miles).

Please feel free to join us!

Yes, I'm a week behind in write-ups; I'll try to get to Time Heist soon.
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