Rambling Club - The London Loop – THE END!!

It was nearly 5½ years ago that we started and now – 5 years, 19 weeks and 1 day later – it’s time to finally walk the last section with all the previous sections completed. We’ll be starting from Upminster Bridge station (District Line), and before lunch will be walking the penultimate section of the Loop, through Ingrebourne valley, and mostly by the side of the river. The whole of today’s walk will be about 9½ miles, but it is possible to join for lunch at Rainham (fast trains via C2C) to do the very final section of the Loop (just over 4 miles). After lunch, most of the walk is by Rainham Marshes and the Nature Reserve, and again alongside the banks of the River Thames – on the north bank rather than the south! On reaching the Thames, there are a number of part-sunken barges, made of concrete and which originally formed part of the Mulberry Harbour in France after D-Day. At Coldharbour Point we should be able to look across to see where the photo above was taken all those years ago, together with seeing a large sculpture in the River called The Diver – who even submerges and resurfaces, depending on the tide! Another couple of miles brings us to the formal end of the walk – and time for a celebration! It’s then a fairly short walk to Purfleet station for trains back to London.