#eppingforestwalks

[hackneyoutdoors]

Lovely bike ride yesterday at Wanstead Flats, the southernmost tip of Epping Forest near Forest Gate. Largely stripped of trees this flat grassland with its big skies was a perfect exercise and exploration spot for us all in this late stage of lockdown....where sometimes we like to wander away from each other for a bit of alone time while keeping each of us in eyesight! It gave me a moment to watch out for Egyptian, Greylag and Canada Geese in the local Alexandra Lake as well as spot my first Common Shelduck. Meanwhile my son enjoyed ‘getting lost’ from us (yep, he’s done with mummy & daddy) and then rolling down the various hillocks around the lake. We also all loved spotting the World War 2 remnants in the Flats including the metal barrage balloon tethers. So much of East London is dotted with reminders of how we defended London. #ww2history #londongreenspaces #hackneyoutdoors #eppingforest #eppingforestwalks #londoncycling #grassland #commonland #bigskies #springiscoming (at Wanstead Flats) https://www.instagram.com/p/CL1JuEzh776/?igshid=1jre3ilcu6opz

[hackneyoutdoors]

We headed to Ambresbury Banks in Epping Forest yesterday - the site rumoured to be where Boudicca made her last stand against the Romans in the year 61. There’s no actual evidence for that ..but this spot has been proven to be an Iron Age hill fort similar to Loughton Camp as shown by the topsy turvy earthbanks. So cue more running up and down the banks shrieking! ⠀ ⠀ We also found some new mushrooms amongst the golden leaf fall, from the mainly oak and hornbeam trees. Firstly we found what we think is a White False Death Cap - thankfully not the real thing which is deadly, but still part of the worrying amanita mushroom family. It reminded me why we never touch mushrooms! We also found some Crimped Gill bracket mushrooms and our first spot of beautiful little Turkey Tails which apparently you can eat. Finally, we saw common puffballs and delighted on stamping on some of them to see them explode (this helps them to spread their spores). ⠀ ⠀ This part of Epping is on the Oak Trail walk which is 5-6 miles long - we didn’t do the whole route as the weather was a little wet and the forest very muddy. But it was lovely to explore another part of this wonderful forest.⠀ ⠀ How to get there: You can reach the Oak Trail if you travel to Theydon Bois station on the Central Line - alternatively you can drive and park at any of the numerous if small car parks. Always expect the car parks to be busy during lockdown! It takes us about 35 minutes to drive here from Hackney. ⠀ ⠀ #eppingforest #eppingforestwalks #oaktrail #ambresburybanks #archeology #history #science #mycology #falsedeathcap #crimpedgillmushroom #turkeytailmushroom #boudica #wellness #hackneyoutdoors #londondaysout #outdooractivities (at Ambresbury Banks) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHpfZ9whhsl/?igshid=cd6oy0jlb5d7