23/09/17 - Epping and the Forest Gate Inn

Distance - 15.6 Miles
Geocaches - 26
Walk Inspiration - Jarrold Essex, Walk 27


A full day walk, where all of my hobbies combine for maximum effect.

Epping is easy to get to from London.  Just get on the Central Line, head East and ask for someone to give you a nudge when you get to the end of the line.

Epping - End of the Central Line

Of course, it's Epping Forest that provides the best walking area.  Great to do, not so good to look at on the photos.  Broad tracks through the forest shared with the grumpiest look Duke of Edinburgh kids that you've even seen.

Epping Forest looks like this

I'm reading about English history at the moment and a Geocache at Ambresbury Fort tells the story of Queen Boadicea's last stand against the Romans in AD61.  Legend has it that this was the location where she poisoned herself and her daughters, rather than being taken prisoner.

High proportion of Ammo Can Caches in the Woods.

Best views of the day are at Woodridden Hill.  I share the spot with the DOE'ers, who, at the prospect of food, are in better spirits.

Essex and Hertfordshire below...

A classic walk that ends at a Pub.  The 2018 Good Beer Guide dropped through my letterbox this week and the Forest Gate Inn, Epping, wins the prize for this volume's first tick.

Forest Gate Inn, Epping, Adnams Southwold

Good Beer Guide 2018 Entry

So, the walk linked in nicely with the History book I am reading and the pub links in nicely with Geocaching.

The pub is a Multi Cache.  For the uninitiated, it means that I have to collect clues from the building to find the co-ordinates of the Geocache.  After counting Lamposts, collecting dates from the benches, counting the bars on the gate on the pub sign and getting confused by what the Cache Owner meant by the round window, I have all the information required to plot the co-ordinates at the bar, whilst taking a pint of Adnams Southwold.

Good job I had something to do, as it took my mind of a disappointing pint, where the head disappeared before I had programmed the GPS.

Poor Start to the 2018 Good Beer Guide Ticking

There's a couple of hours to kill before heading back to the Smoke for my pre-booked train.  I could right this beer wrong by seeing what's available in town.  The George and Dragon looked too much like a Gastro Pub with Stone Baked Pizza and Prosecco.  The more down at heel Black Lion looked too much like Quavers and Carling.

I decided to extend the walking and attack the cache trail along the start of the Essex Way.

Sometimes, it's all about the caching numbers.