Hunting Lodge

PY started the day at the hygienist but we were soon on a train to Vauxhall and stood outside a relatively new bock of flats in Vauxhall.  On Tuesday night we had been trying to determine if downsizing our current house to a flat and, effectively, going mortgage free would be a good idea or not. So, PY arranged a viewing of a flat that - one paper - met our requirements and we decided to take a look.  The building was nicely maintained, and it’s in a nice location not too far from Vauxhall station.  But, as we discovered when looking for places on The Island, viewing flats with sitting tenants, as this one had, is really hard when they are present and are not invested in making the place look ready for sale.  I suspect some other landlord will buy this one because we concluded it was too small and did not represent a good value downsize.  We have a lot of thinking to do before we go and look at any more.

We then took the Victoria line to Walthemsow where we had a wander around, stopped off at Sainsbury’s for some wine and at Pret for some lunch, before taking an Overground train to Chigwell. It was a short walk from the station to P&W's flat where we were staying for the night.  After being shown to the bedroom, and felling a bit bad as they were giving us their bedroom and relegating themselves to futons on the living room floor, we chatted, drank tea and then went out to explore Epping Forest.

Epping Forest is considered an ancient woodland, covering an area of approximately 2,500 hectares. It is one of the largest public open spaces in the London area. The forest is managed by the City of London Corporation. 

From the hill where we started, there is a very impressive view of the London city skyline far in the distance (and too far to take a decent photograph) but impressive nonetheless. We crossed the Greenwich meridian and saw, but didn’t go inside, Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge, built in 1543 on the orders of King Henry VIII for people to stay in when in the forest hunting. We also crossed, officially, out of London into Essex and saw the only place (Sewardstone) where there’s a London postcode (E4) outside of London.  Diamond Geezer would be pleased.

It’s lovely walking in the forest. It reminded me of some of walks we did in lockdown around Wimbledon Common as it felt completely away from people and urbanisation, except for a few dog walkers and their excitable companions, but is really only a few steps back to shops and transport. Of course we only skirted the outer edges of the forest and there’s a much greater elevation (90m at one point) but the trees had leaves, the golf course on the outskirts was well maintained and the fairground near suitably noisy. 

After a walk it was back to their flat for nibbles, drinks and then a delicious curry and tiramisu. We talked late into the night and consumed more wine that we probably should have done, retiring before 1am.

During the day we learned that Barry Humphries had died. Such a shame. I loved Dame Edna.