55. EPPING FOREST. WALTHAM ABBEY.
RAILWAYS. For the south section of Epping Forest the most convenient station is Chingford, 10+ miles in 35-40 minutes from Liverpool St. Station (circa 3 trains hourly; 1/8, 1/4, 1/); for the north section the best station is Loughton, on the east margin of the Forest, 11+ miles in 35 minutes from Liverpool St. Station or Fenchurch St. Station (2 or 3 trains hourly; 2/1, 1/8. 1/3). Return tickets (4/2, 3/4, 2/4) are available from either Chingford or Loughton. Chingford may be reached also from Gospel Oak Station on the North London Railway (few through trains). Waltham Abbey lies 1 mile to the east of Waltham Cross Station, 12+ miles in 40-45 minutes from Liverpool St. Station (trains almost hourly; 2/1, 1/8, 1/3).
OMNIBUSES (some on Sunday only) Nos. 10, 38E, 100, 138, 139. TRAMWAYS. No. 81 (from Bloomsbury) and on Sunday Nos. 51, 55, and 61 run to the south edge of the Forest.
MOTORISTS follow the main road out of London via Whitechapel, Bow, Stratford, and Leytonstone, crossing the railway before Snaresbrook Station. At Woodford Wells they turn to the left for Chingford, keep straight on for the main road through the Forest, or follow the road on the right for Loughton. An alternative route, via Islington, Dalston, Clapton, and Leyton, crosses the Lea bridge and joins the above at Woodford.
FROM LIVERPOOL STREET TO CHINGFORD. Liverpool St Station. The train crosses the squalid industrial quarters of north east London, with the stations of Bethnal Green, Cambridge Heath (for Victoria Park and Bethnal Green Museum), London Fields, and (3 miles) Hackney Downs.
A line diverging to the left runs via Edmonton to (11 miles from Liverpool St.) Enfield Town. Edmonton is the burial-place of Charles and Mary Lamb, who spent their last years together at Bay Cottage, No. 11 Church Street. John Keats served his apprenticeship (1810-16) in a cottage (demolished) adjoining a surgeon's house at No. 7 Church St. The fireplace and other relics are in Edmonton Library. The 'Bell at Edmonton,' associated with John Gilpin, has been rebuilt. Enfield was the residence of the Lambs in 1829-32, and here Captain Marryat (1792-1848) and John Keats were at school. A club now occupies Enfield Palace or Manor House, said to have been built circa 1550 for Elizabeth by Edward VI. The station of Enfield Chase is on the line from Wood Green to Hertford.
At (4 miles) Clapton the Waltham Cross line diverges on the left. 5+ miles. St. James's Street, 6+ miles. Hoe Street, 7 miles. Wood Street: three stations for Walthamstow. William Morris (1834-96) was born at Elm House (now gone), in Forest Road. To the right, beyond (8+ miles) Higham's Park, is the Sale, a strip of 30 acres with a lake, added to Epping Forest in 1891.
10+ miles. Chingford (Royal Forest Hotel, Room from 5/, Breakfast 2/6, tea 1/6) is a good starting-point for the exploration of the Forest. Near the hotel is 'Queen Elizabeth's Lodge,' a picturesque timbered building of the Tudor period, containing local collections of natural history and archï¾µology. Vehicles ply in summer from the hotel to favourite points in the Forest. To the left from the station lies Chingford Plain, with a public golf course. Farther to the west is an obelisk (300 feet above sea-level), due north of Greenwich Observatory. Yardley Hill, to the north of this, commands fine views of the Lea valley. The old church of Chingford, a picturesque ruin, situated on the Walthamstow road about 1 mile to the south of the station, was abandoned in 1844.
