Walthamstow Short Walk

4.6 km (2.9 mi) with 43m ascent/descent and 1 ¼ hours net walking time.

This short walk through the lively suburban town of Walthamstow leads along quiet and not-so-quiet streets to the pretty Lloyd Park with its landscaped gardens, moated island and the famous William Morris Gallery. After a short circuit through the park, quiet streets are followed to the small but impressive Walthamstow Village Conservation Area with its charming cottages, the parish church with stunning memorials in its churchyard, the Vestry Museum and The Ancient House, London’s oldest dwelling. The route back to the station passes numerous pubs, cafés and restaurants along the renowned Orford Road, as well as brewery taprooms and the one-of-a-kind God’s Own Junkyard in a small industrial estate.

Note: Lloyd Park gets locked at night, check opening hours here: https://www.friendsoflloydpark.org/about-lloyd-park/opening-hours

· A loop past the impressive Town Hall adds 470m.
· A longer walk of 8.8 km (5.5 mi) and with 75m ascent/descent is described, this includes an easterly loop up to Walthamstow Common and around Hollow Pond.
· Bus stops are never far away.
· Wood Street Station (Weaver Line) is passed early on along the looped extension and not far off route near the end of it.

Numerous pubs, cafés and restaurants along the renowned Orford Road, as well as brewery taprooms and the one-of-a-kind God’s Own Junkyard with its café in a small industrial estate. See the walk directions for more detail.

Walthamstow Central (Zone 3) is the easterly terminus of the Victoria Line (journey time 19 minutes from Oxford Circus) and a stop on the Chingford branch of the Weaver Lines of the Overground from Liverpool Street (journey time 15 minutes). The station is linked to Walthamstow Queen's Road station on the Suffragette Line of the Overground (Gospel Oak to Barking) by a broad footpath, the Ray Dudley Way.

Walthamstow

Walthamstow is recorded c. 1075 as Wilcumestowe ("the Place of Welcome": on account of being a rest stop en route from London to Waltham Abbey and further north) and nowadays a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in East London, which was created in the Local Government Reform of 1965, when Walthamstow Municipal Borough was merged with Leyton and Chingford.
The town is located around 12 km north-east of Central London and borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. The 2011 census shows a population of 109,424.
Old Walthamstow lies east of the town centre, with St Mary's (the town's parish church), the ‘Ancient House’ (estimated to be from 1435 and most likely the oldest house in London) and the Vestry House (now the Vestry House Museum but originally used as the first town hall).
Walthamstow Market dates from 1885 and occupies all but 100m of the town's east-to-west High Street. It takes place Tuesday to Saturday and is the second longest outdoor market in Europe.
Walthamstow Stadium was one of the foremost greyhound racing courses in London, but was demolished to make way for housing.
The Grade II*-listed William Morris Gallery is located in the Georgian Water House that from 1848 to 1856 was the family home of the teenage William Morris, later an Arts and Crafts designer and early socialist. Constructed in the 1740s, Water House and its grounds were then sold on to newspaper proprietor Edward Lloyd, whose son donated the house and grounds in 1900 to Walthamstow when it became Lloyd Park. The park includes an area surrounded by a moat which pre-dates the Georgian house. The William Morris Gallery was opened in 1950 and holds the most comprehensive collection of objects relating to all aspects of Morris's life and work. It was awarded the title of ‘Museum of the Year’ in 2013.
Famous residents, past and present: Keith Albarn, manager of Soft Machine and father of Damon; Clement Attlee, local MP when PM; Lethal Bizzle (grime artist); Peter Blake (artist); Frederick Bremer (built the first British motor car); Anjem Choudary (Islamist extremist); Benjamin Disraeli; Ian Dury (musician); East 17 (band); Peter Greenaway (film director); Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspurs, Millwall, Bayern München); William Morris; Grayson Perry (artist); Ken Russell (film director); Baroness Scotland (former Attorney General).

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National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234

Jan-25 Thomas G