Eleven of us met up for this easy, flat walk along the River Lea from Ponders End to Bow or Stratford and it was great to see so many friends and catch up.
The walk was divided into 3 sections and the agreement was to take the fist section at a leisurely pace to accommodate some of the walkers. We strolled along the tow path in bright sunshine with the cloud formation following the route of the river.
We passed Picketts Lock passing canal boats moored at the edges and seeing some water fowl including cormorants stretching their wings and continued to Stonebridge Lock where we stopped for a coffee at the cafe.
All of us then continued to Markfield Park and the Markfield Beam Engine Museum Markfield who had an open day, https://www.mbeam.org/visit where we saw the earliest example of machinery to regulate the sewage which had previously been dumped into the River Lea causing outbreaks of cholera and typhoid.
Jonathan, Liz and Sara decided to retrace their steps to Totten Hale while the rest of us continued alongside the Lee Navigation where we saw many narrow boats and passed part of Hackney Marshes where cows were grazing. We then continued along the now trendy Hackney section towards Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Mike had forewarned me that West Ham were playing at home but as we were approaching Stratford the majority of us decided to take our chances and return home from there, although the numerous stewards directing the flow of people didn’t make this straightforward and probably added half a mile to our walk!
Humphrey continued on to Bow which was probably the more straightforward option.
