Walchi two

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Walchi here.

This route includes Walthamstow Village (attractive with some very old parts), Wood Road (independent shops, eating and a station), Epping Forest (lovely but muddy), a quiet straight run along residential streets, Roding Valley Park (path along riverbank), Claybury Park (mixture of woods, meadows and ponds, great view towards the City), and more quiet residential streets through Grange Hill and Chigwell, taking you about as close to Chigwell Station as possible until the final section along a busier road.

The first review of WalChi 1 route pointed out that you can't actually follow it through Epping Forest and that there is a lot of roadside walking, often by busy roads. This route is longer but is about half on, half off road, and it uses actual paths to traverse the green spaces, no battling through forest understory required.

The first quarter and last quarter overlap with WaltLou 2 and ChiRom 2. Because public transport links are so dense it'd be easy to review one route then come back and review the rest from the junction point to get more bang (review) for your buck (distance walked) and covering very little ground twice. Nearby IlfChi 1 is almost entirely along busy roads. If someone adds a new one which join this route in Claybury Park (near Fairlop tube) that would be another saving of reviewing time.

The route has a tiny diversion from the WaltLou 2 line near the allotment site and waterworks (neither of which you can see from the southern approach). Although that takes if off the London Loop it was neccessary when I walked because a steep short slope was so muddy and slippery, with no grassy patches left to grip onto and without a walking pole I knew I'd probably end up sliding or falling back down as I climbed it. In drier weather you can easily cut this part out and just follow the Loop signs.

The worst path conditions were in Epping Forest where the mud can be extensive and deep because it's so well used. But mostly you could skirtable/jump around the sides or find shallow patches to splash through. I saw one guy cross some very bad sections on an electric cargo bike. There are at least two kissing gates, a footbridge with long ramps over the Central Line, and probably non-dropped kerbs or other obstacles I didn't notice. Decent crossing points for the busier roads, mostly at lights or islands. The exceptions are Roding Lane North and Hainault Road (the northern crossing), there are bends to the north of both blocking view of oncoming traffic so cross near the southern turn offs if possible.

It's easy to find out more about the wonders of Epping Forest on the internet, but here's some info on Claybury Park and the Roding Valley Park from Redbridge council.
https://visionrcl.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/roding-valley-may-19.pdf
https://visionrcl.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/claybury-park-leaflet-updated-2022.pdf

This route includes Walthamstow Village (attractive with some very old parts), Wood Road (independent shops, eating and a station), Epping Forest (lovely but muddy), a quiet straight run along residential streets, Roding Valley Park (path along riverbank), Claybury Park (mixture of woods, meadows and ponds, great view towards the City), and more quiet residential streets through Grange Hill and Chigwell, taking you about as close to Chigwell Station as possible until the final section along a busier road.

The first review of WalChi 1 route pointed out that you can't actually follow it through Epping Forest and that there is a lot of roadside walking, often by busy roads. This route is longer but is about half on, half off road, and it uses actual paths to traverse the green spaces, no battling through forest understory required.

The first quarter and last quarter overlap with WaltLou 2 and ChiRom 2. Because public transport links are so dense it'd be easy to review one route then come back and review the rest from the junction point to get more bang (review) for your buck (distance walked) and covering very little ground twice. Nearby IlfChi 1 is almost entirely along busy roads. If someone adds a new one which join this route in Claybury Park (near Fairlop tube) that would be another saving of reviewing time.

The route has a tiny diversion from the WaltLou 2 line near the allotment site and waterworks (neither of which you can see from the southern approach). Although that takes if off the London Loop it was neccessary when I walked because a steep short slope was so muddy and slippery, with no grassy patches left to grip onto and without a walking pole I knew I'd probably end up sliding or falling back down as I climbed it. In drier weather you can easily cut this part out and just follow the Loop signs.

The worst path conditions were in Epping Forest where the mud can be extensive and deep because it's so well used. But mostly you could skirtable/jump around the sides or find shallow patches to splash through. I saw one guy cross some very bad sections on an electric cargo bike. There are at least two kissing gates, a footbridge with long ramps over the Central Line, and probably non-dropped kerbs or other obstacles I didn't notice. Decent crossing points for the busier roads, mostly at lights or islands. The exceptions are Roding Lane North and Hainault Road (the northern crossing), there are bends to the north of both blocking view of oncoming traffic so cross near the southern turn offs if possible.

It's easy to find out more about the wonders of Epping Forest on the internet, but here's some info on Claybury Park and the Roding Valley Park from Redbridge council.
https://visionrcl.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/roding-valley-may-19.pdf
https://visionrcl.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/claybury-park-leaflet-updated-2022.pdf