Across the Marshes from Leyton to Walthamstow Wetlands (4K)

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Here's a full playlist of all five Waltham Forest psychogeographer in residence walks kzbin.info/aero/PLHD6uTQLDf_NVcNgQzVOCUK9QYmmcDMnA

[@L4LTVuk]

Over 35 years ago, when I lived in Walthamstow, I used to cycle down Coppermill Lane down through Hackney into the West End and back again to teach every day. On particularly cold winter mornings there was always a frost pocket near that low railway bridge and it would chill your bones to the core for the 30 seconds that you passed through it. On top of that I used to jog over the marshes nearly every day. I always remember the wild hops and horse radish growing on the marsh. Good memories.

[@MsLinz1975]

I am from Walthamstow village and about 10 years ago I had the most vivid dream of the area set in roughly 1600's . The wetlands, the grasses and old settlement. It was amazing

[@hari20001]

So beautiful to see the wildlife on the walks around the river Lea and copper mill lane and your warm commentary. Thank you. From a Lee Valley child I was running 20km around there for over 15 years every Sunday.

[@katcankan7129]

Wow so much to see, so much history and more open spaces in London then l realised....& l live here 😊

[@JohnRogersWalks]

it's a world of wonders out there Kat

[@lesliegprice6652]

Thanks so much John, for a wonderful video, the Lea Valley was a big part of my gestation as a kid in East London and has powerful links to my family, also thanks for replying to my email, I just wanted to express how much your films and your writing means to me an old exile living many miles away and what a connection it gives me to my history thank you again, look forward to the next one.....all the best Simon / Leslie ....

[@JohnRogersWalks]

that's wonderful to hear Leslie (Simon) - the Lea Valley is such a special region, I feel like I have a deep bond with it now after these years of walking here

[@susanmitchell4744]

We never learn about the history of where we actually come from….this man is a treasure. Informative and absolutely fascinating insight into our origins….thank you John….keep walking!

[@williamross2579]

Another beautiful film

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks William

[@mattydsmith]

I accidentally discovered this walk over the summer, when I found myself wandering around the Olympic park. Ended up eating breakfast up at IKEA. As ever, it’s a pleasure watching your videos. Thank you!

[@JohnRogersWalks]

that sounds like a great walk Matt - I had a habit at one of ending walks in the IKEA cafe

[@freestylersuk]

A great video of the walk, I've lived just at the end of Coppermill Lane for the past 50 years and appreciate it so much, when i was a youth it was more dirt track, people doing motor cross on bikes and burnt out cars, especially by the bridge at the end of what we always knew as Sandy alley, later years saw a trench put in to stop the dumped cars and i preferred it when you could walk across the railways lines instead of under that low bridge at Copperill lane, as dangerous as it was. I've been very lucky to have this oasis as my back garden.

[@kathleenfleming4222]

Lovely way to spend time waiting for flight from Oslo to Gatwick.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

so glad you enjoyed it Kathleen

[@jenniferlevine5406]

Just enjoyed this splendid walk once again - it cheered me up immeasurably!

[@anthonyhatfull5484]

Where you started at Lea bridge there used to be a coal fired power station like the one at Edmonton. From the Chingford to Liverpool St.line there used to be a spur line linking up with the North Essex line,and they used to run day excursions from Chingford to Clacton in the 1950`s.We lived near Wood St. Station,but used to go to Chingford in order to get a seat.

[@LordHeath1972]

I know this area well. It's nice to see you there and with your obvious passion and enthusiasm.

[@terryflynn1956]

I was born in Leyton and lived there for 25 years . I lived in I’ve Farm Close and sent my childhood playing on the marshes . I went to school at church mead which was at the top of marsh lane which was featured in another of your videos . Thanks for the memories. 😊👍

[@possumbuddy]

I love your videos watching them from Florida. I've been to England three times and can't get over its natural beauty. Thank you.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

That's wonderful to hear Debra - great to be able to reach across the ocean to Florida

[@user-zc6jc5tv6q]

Racing through your previous videos John 👍🏻

[@humble4533]

Thank you John for another stimulating walk to an area I have not been to but live close by to but now inspire me to do so. I look forward to your next walk and appreciate your efforts in producing a wonderful film

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Many thanks Humble - hope you enjoy your explorations of the marshes

[@vadimvetrin4136]

Love this place. Love Walthamstow, the place I've spent almost 9 years of my life from 2010 to 2019. Lovely memories. Greetings from LV

[@richardcurant454]

Thanks, another enjoyable video.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

thanks Richard

[@4thEyeVision]

Lovely walk thanks for taking us 👍

[@JohnRogersWalks]

thanks for watching 4thEye

[@4thEyeVision]

@@JohnRogersWalks 👍🚶‍♂️😊

[@oolongoolong789]

Thanks John for an enjoyable film. The early morning mists across Walthamstow Marshes are sublime.

[@mykolakanyuk]

Great video, as always 👍🤞🇺🇦

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Many thanks mykolakanyuk

[@levilm69lovecoldplsywillia9]

I'm catching up on your videos it's taking a while but like the walks there's no hurry pleased I never missed this one Thanks !

[@KimGen712]

Always look forward to your new walks. Watching from Georgia (US)

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Kimberly - I'd love to visit Georgia one day, I've only ever been to the coasts with the exception of a short trip to Iowa

[@KimGen712]

@@JohnRogersWalks lots of beauty here if you get outside of the busy cities!

[@rosswebster7877]

Thanks for another fantastic walk through time, space, urban and open space John! I always love a good ecological preserve or museum in an urban center(reminds me of a fantastic little museum I visited in Chicago recently dedicated to the city’s bridges and river). It’s pretty amazing to think in just a few minutes or hours time we’ve traveled from that Viking barge from a millennia ago to the old wooden airplanes of the early 20th century.

[@zieffbumagat5097]

another awsome video.. love it

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Zieff

[@zieffbumagat5097]

yup.. your welcome .. hope to see more entertaining videos in the future

[@Mouxbar]

My office in Staffa Road used to look out over this view. Amazing to see the land put back into good use. Ah, the mighty Coppermill Stream, nearest thing you can get to the Hampshire Avon in East London. Wonderful :-)

[@JohnRogersWalks]

It really is a terrific stream - I must walk the Coppermill one day

[@Mouxbar]

@@JohnRogersWalks You pretty much walked the length of it here. It "rises" (cough) just north of Ferry Lane. If you look off the south side of the Ferry Lane road bridge, you used to able to spot barbel sitting in mid-stream. A very rare sight in London. I guess they're still there :-)

[@g.t.36]

Another Great video. Thanks John

[@JohnRogersWalks]

thanks G.T

[@littleacornslandscapes2935]

totally enjoyed this. Thanks again John.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

My pleasure Little Acorns, thanks for watching

[@paulroossien5322]

Great history John very informative l look forward to many more well done

[@robertbarling5601]

Thank you John for the fantastic video, very informative. I must make the effort to visit someday soon. I am not getting any younger!!

[@JohnRogersWalks]

My pleasure Robert - hope you make it over to the marshes one day

[@CommunicationandConflict]

Wow, most of this was my daily walk across the River Lea from Clapton and along the river next to the Walthamstow marshes. So much more battered down from much greater use during lockdown by people wanting somewhere to escape to, but still a beautiful visit. Thanks for the video!

[@Anybloke]

Lovely film. My favourite songwriter Nick Saloman is from Walthamstow and his band The Bevis Frond made an LP called Inner Marshland. This must've been the inspiration.

[@katcankan7129]

🚶‍♂️Morning, lets see where you've been 😊☕

[@BoneStar]

Spent the early years of my life in Clementina Rd which backs onto Leyton Marshes and thoroughly enjoyed your video, a little sad that the pitch n putt is no longer there spent many summer days playing there with my shirt off , was actually used as a campsite for soldiers that worked in the new stadium for the Olympics, sadly they never restored it.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

really glad you enjoyed the video. hadn't realised the army used for a campsite, shame they couldn't have reverted back to a pitch and put. There is an unofficial 'beach' now just on the far side, gets quite busy in summer

[@chrismccartney8668]

When i was a school in 60s (went to work in 1970) we did the Lea Valley Park as a Project no one believed it would be finished... Proved Wrong. . Thankfully. Tumber Yards one wad Tosh and Co saw huge logs unloaded from barges.. My grandfather saw the flying on the marshes he was born near coppermill lane..

[@JohnRogersWalks]

That's funny Chris - be interesting to read your project now. Incredible that your grandfather remembered the flying - a witness to history. My Dad used to collect the veneer boards from James Latham's, which I think was in Leyton although I'm not 100% sure

[@chrismccartney8668]

@@JohnRogersWalks Grandad said they were *hedge hopping* as he called it on the marshes Odd to think Coppermill Lane and Heathrow as part of the same subject.

[@chrismccartney8668]

Lathams seems to ring a bell and (Harry) Lebus Furniture springs to mind near Tottenham Lock there was so much industry along the Lee (Lea) Navigation as you had the canal and Railway next to each other.. i do remember the big yellow diesel tugs pulling barges downstream from tottenham lock and the was manned and electric/hydraulic with traffic lights and lockeeper in a proper 360 view cabin on central pontoon and it was very busy with barges (not narrowboats) full size dumb lighters to/from London Docks and Pool of London. Water was passably above Tottenham Lock and we caught Bleak Dace Roach Eels Bream but below lock thick oily and stinking ... no fishing !!

[@rupertferguson9673]

Great little video John. Not seen one of yours for a while due to the fact that I've been tied up with Extinction Rebellion and one to two other things. I am a bit sceptical about the so-called 'Viking Longboat'. Has it been Radio Carbon dated? Viking Longboats are much larger than that, as they are essentially ocean going vessels. Leif Erikson crossed the Atlantic in one! I couldn't imagine anyone crossing the North Sea from Normway or Denmark in that vessel as it is far too small. You would have needed to sleep along the way don't forget, and where would you have put your supplies and weapons for the crossing, or spoils for the journey home? It actually looks like one of the boats that the Saxons would have used for navigating inland waterways during Alfred the Greats marshland operations against the Danes. From the ornately carved face that appears to be cut into the bow of the boat though it could well be Pagan Saxon in origin as it was actually used as a burial boat prior to its excavation at the turn of the twentieth century: snr.org.uk/walthamstow-boat/ As regards the 'Lammas Lands' reference later on in the video, you seem to have overlooked the fact that Lammas actually corresponds to the Celtic festival of Lughnasadh, which was an indigenous Pagan celebration of the sacred rites of Lugh- of Luton Leagrave fame; which adds further substance to your theory on the origins of the River Lee. More here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lughnasadh

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks Rupert, to be honest I don't think it's meant to be a scale replica, however I like the idea of teh Saxon boat and would be consistent with the archaeology of the settlements found along the Lea. Thanks also for the note on Lughnasadh

[@rupertferguson9673]

@@JohnRogersWalks The basic problem with all the theories relating to this boat, and indeed the replica, is that it was broken up at the time of its excavation and pieces scattered far and wide. Very common in late Victorian and Edwardian times when the 'treasure hunting' aspect of archaeology was less regulated than it is now.

[@johnsaunders2109]

Excellent! I come from the other side of London,( Fulham,). We have plenty of open space such as Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park, but the wetlands of East London seem much more authentically rural than our open spaces!

[@paulosborne6517]

I have long wanted to visit the old filter beds and make my own wild imaginings about their industrial architecture, and I often stay in Walthamstow when I return to London. With your helpful landmarks and directions I may even succeed in following this walk one day - though I suspect I will choose to end it at the Wild Card Brewery after Coppermill Tower. In any case, I'm strangely glad to have difficulty sleeping tonight, so I can watch in absolute peace at 3am and almost transfer myself by video osmosis into the landscape with you.

[@pjgathergood6987]

Really enjoyed this one, John - Prior to watching, I'd walked an extension of this basic sort of route - in reverse - a few days ago. I started at Walthamstow Village (inspired after watching another of your videos), on through Walthamstow Wetlands, up the River Lea with a few deviations - some planned, some accidental, some just following my nose - including a section of Hackney Marshes (I felt an odd glow when you passed the bench I finally stopped on for lunch in this video!!!) and eventually finishing at Waltham Abbey (which I got to so late that it'll have to itself be another exploration for another day!) For an area that's maybe easy to overlook having much of "interest", there's so many wonderful things to see... including some which I was just a few paths away from that you feature here and now are already on the route for next time I'm trekking in the area. As a fellow long-walker/social history lover/general explorer who's lost the 'spark' to do it over the last 12ish months for various reasons, hope it'll mean something to you that it's this and your other videos that finally gave me the push to start going exploring again. :)

[@JohnRogersWalks]

That’s great to hear Pj

[@Richardsrailway]

Fantastic

[@georginacox3909]

Yes A nice walk. Greenwich is bidding for the next borough of culture.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

It'll be interesting to see what other boroughs do - 2020 is Brent

[@georginacox3909]

@@JohnRogersWalks ok. Big haul near Stonehenge. First city of Britain. On thisor Inga Google. 70,000 items.

[@georginacox3909]

On this morning's Google.

[@blutey]

Nice choice of music in your videos.

[@chrismccartney8668]

Do you belong to Friends of Epping Forest lots of great photos of deer in the forest..

[@JohnRogersWalks]

I'll have to take a look Chris - thanks for the tip

[@Geffo555]

I have an interesting story for you. Just before Christmas 1976 I was over the marshes with two friends and came across some odd remains. Bear with me. It was a cold misty night that resembled a scene from a Hammer horror film. What I saw was a collection of fleshy lumps, all about the size of a sofa or coffee table I'd say. This was at the end of Coppermill Lane just beyond the railway. A report in the Walthamstow Guardian revealed that a number of carcasses had been found. Big cats. Lions, tigers etc. Bizarre but true.

[@jamesconnolly9591]

GreaT STorY... ThereS EVen ReporTs And SiGhTinGs Of DoGMen/ WereWolVeS AlonG WiTh WildMen/ BiGFooT AlonG The Lee ValleY And EppinG ForeST...

[@jamesconnolly9591]

EyeBall Deb HaTsWell GreaT KZbin Channel For STorieS On The SubJecT PluS OTher GreaT STorieS From Around The UK...

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Incredible story, thanks for sharing and adding to the lore of the Marshes

[@Geffo555]

@@JohnRogersWalks. I actually have the press cuttings. If you're on twitter I'll post it to you. Easy to delve too deeply into weirdness but it was a true event I assure you. Perhaps Billy Smart's Circus was on the marshes in 76. Who knows? I was still a teenager at the time and we got out of there very quickly. I loved the marshes as a kid, it seemed like another world to me. And especially so back on that misty night in 76.

[@BoneStar]

Geffo Me Once found the remains of two bears there once too, they had their fur removed and dumped there, also as a kid in the area I remember a live crocodile in the River Lea dumped there by its owner, I suppose on the account of growing too big.

[@mikethedigitaldoctorjarvis]

I love Walthamstow,mind you i was born there (Thorpe Coombe)...lived there a lot of years.

[@anthonyhatfull5484]

I was born at Thorpe Coombe as well.It was a private maternity hospital in those pre N.H.S.days. The irony is that in later years it became a geriatric hospital where one of my uncles ended his days in the late 1980`s.

[@mikethedigitaldoctorjarvis]

@@anthonyhatfull5484 I've seen many changes in Walthamstow,some not for the better,none the the less i still love the area.

[@kcuhc84]

My Nan lived in Walthamstow. When they got a phone in the 1960's her number was COP5248. When they answered the phone they would say "Hello, Copper Mill 5248" A true story.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

that's brilliant - thanks for sharing

[@BoneStar]

Kcuhc Haha LEY 6722 was mine, how I remember that is beyond me, it changed when I was about 3 years old.

[@JagBetty]

John, don’t know if you’ve watched The Last Kingdom on Netflix about Vikings raiding England and how Alfred tried to stop them. Great series, so was interested to hear your wee bit at the start about Danelaw etc...another excellent stroll John.👍

[@JohnRogersWalks]

thanks Jag - I certainly need to watch that series. Hope all is well with you, need to catch up on your videos

[@jamesnightingale9782]

Another great walk. Thanks John very informative..I’ve had a day sick so spent all day watching your videos..how many pairs of boots do you get through..lol.

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks so much James - glad I could take you outside with the videos. My last pair of boots endured for two years. These ones are not so good it seems so not sure when they’ll give way but we’re 6 months in

[@skev303uk]

Hi John, I used to work at Shadbolts Veneer in Chingford when I first left school, I wonder if your Dada worked there?

[@patnyabangkok7751]

veneer of the week is ?, loved seeing that displayed while passing on the nth circ.

[@skev303uk]

@@patnyabangkok7751 I actually used to polish those!

[@JohnRogersWalks]

He worked at a place in High Wycombe, can't remember the name, might have been Ercol

[@jamesconnolly9591]

Once AGain GreaT WalK And Video John. WeaTherS Well WellY WeT And WindY The PaST MonTh... You MuST HaVe ChoSen One Of The FeW DaYs The WeaThers Been OK... LoVeS London MaGicKal Manor... GoddeSS God BleSS...

[@JohnRogersWalks]

Thanks James

[@stevec00ps]

Never knew that about Avro there!

[@chrismccartney8668]

Very low bridge got freinds car stuck once only got it out by 6 of us getting car and boot to compress suspension..

[@stupot94]

Are those bullet holes in the sign ?

[@JohnRogersWalks]

that's a thought - I doubt it but could be air rifle pellets

[@chrismccartney8668]

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