It's amazing how many green outdoor spaces there are in Hackney and surrounding north London. You just need to know they are there, and be prepared to jump on a bus, bike or similar to get to them. For us, Epping Forest became a favourite, fast, as although it was popular even during the worst of the #lockdown, it rarely felt busy. It is also multiple environments in one, as its huge, and to fully explore it you need days. One of our favourite spots is around Connaught Water near Chingford, where we regularly do the Willow Walk Trail. The Willow Walk trail is a three-mile circular walk with good pathways, perfect for walking or bikes, and well signposted with colour coded arrows. You start at Connaught Water car park, walk around the eastern edge of the water, then into the woods where you will pass by the enormous and beautiful Grimstone Oak (pictured). This tree is suspected to be over 300 years old and is a glorious sight to behold. It’s our #treeoftheyear! Then you walk further up the trail, up and around the Long Hills part of the Forest. We often pop into Long Hills as it holds some extremely interesting and odd-looking Hornbeams and Oaks, not to mention oyster mushrooms. It’s a favourite den building site. Then you move down towards Chingford Plain before skirting back towards the west side of Connaught Water. The plain is a wonderful grassy area, where you may sometime spot an English Longhorn cow lazily grazing away. How to get there: If you use the train or bus, you need to get to Chingford overground station. The water is about 20 minutes walk from there. If you are going by car, you can try Connaught Water carpark, but be mindful that is tiny, and often full of dogwalkers’ cars early on in the day.⠀ ⠀ #epping #eppingforest #walking #essex #londonoutdoors #trees #grimstonoak #familyactivities #forestschooleducation #outdoor #cycling #hackney #treeoftheyear #blog https://www.instagram.com/p/CFwWGBQgC24/?igshid=1d05jch68ju9u
