On 13 November 2011 Paul Connolly intended

to lead us on one of his walks into Essex, the

origional plan being to begin from Manor Park

and walk to Epping with lunch stop in Chingford. 

The lunch plan turned out OK but enginneering

works required a change of plan for both the

starting point and the finishing point - works on

the railway meant no trains to Manor Park and

works on the Underground meant no Central

Line from Epping.  So Paul's al;ternative plan

was to begin from Leytonstone Central Line s

tation and finish at Loughton.  Happily Sheila

Bravin was on hand with her i phone camera and

you can scroll down to see the results.

Paul strides out on what had proved a difficult route to plan

The November sun sillouettes the photographer's

shadow.

No sign of autumn colours here yet

Peaceful countryside so close to central London

Do you know if these are safe to pick and eat

Helpful map of Wlatham Forest

Jackets are dispensed with in the warm November sun

On top of the world we transverse to scenic bliss

Not all the walkers had made it though - I had

somehow got separated from the group and

did not meet them again until the lunch stop.

The question was "where is Tony"

A moment to dwell on the beauty of nature

Some ramblers like to hug a tree!!

An occasional stop to take count.

Paul kindly backtracked to try to find me

And there was a group photo opportunity

Note the comfortable casual warmth in November

A forest detail captured by Pauline

Pauline also snapped the group in the forest

The group approaches a lake in Epping Forest

A closer view of the lake which I believe was once a favourite venue for student

nurses at Whips Cross hospital to do their reading in the open air

And then back in the "open" forest

A touching monument to a gypsy preacher

The group awaits the leader and instructions

Looks like a group yoga exercise!!

An earlier view of a forest luxury home

A pair of binoculars being used to scan for me

while I was struggling through swampy ground

to get to the road.

And then the whole group went to search

Our photographer captures a forest lake

A professional camera shot

Capturing the autumn light

Time to pause and contemplate peace

A reminder that winter was also approaching

Stunning views

Epping Golf Course

The winter sunshine

The lost sheep was located and meeting point

near Queen's Bridge

Chingford Royal Inn

And the Royal taken from the other side with Pauline's 200 mm zoom camera

We had an excellent lunch at the Station Arms in Chingford. No photographs of the pub itself but Pauline recorded the lunch!!

Soaked and exhausted from my morning's experience I left the walk after the lunch stop. 

I later discovered that that the walk did not continue in the afternoon and it appears on

the programme again for 5 February 2012.