LCC Nature Walks: RODING VALLEY WAY, Loughton to Ilford [EAST LONDON]

Hello again and welcome back to LCC's year-long nature walks series! This time we're finally turning our way back east with a roughly 13km trek down the Roding Valley Way, following the River Roding continuously from our starting point in the Loughton through to Ilford.

The Roding is one of London's great unsung rivers. With its source at Molehill Green in Essex, it winds leisurely on its way through group of villages in the county known collectively as the Rodings. Close to Loughton (our starting point), it forms the centrepiece of the the Roding Valley Meadows, which make up the largest surviving area of traditionally managed river-valley habitat in Essex. They have a rich variety of plant species, including the largest beds in Essex of the rare brown sedge. The flood meadows have a number of uncommon species, including carex panicea and marsh-marigold. Management of the meadows is done via old-fashioned hay cutting and grazing by traditional breeds of cattle.

This nature reserve consists of unimproved wet and dry hay meadows, rich with flora and fauna and bounded by thick hedgerows, scrubland, secondary woodland and tree plantation. The meadows stretch down as far as the M11 motorway, where the river itself enters Woodford and winds its way down through Ilford and on into the Thames.

Ilford takes its name from Ilefort, "ford on the River Hyle", which was the ancient name for the lower part of the Roding, based on an earlier Celtic word.

Ilford and the Redbridge area of which it forms the major economic and population centre should be on every politically conscious persons' mental map of London. Last year's snap general election saw a local Ilford MP, Wes Streeting - now the health minister and a go-to government spokesperson for all kinds of policies, and a possible PM-in-waiting among Labour elites - come within a few hundred votes of losing his seat to a young upstart, the socialist and anti-imperialist British Palestinian activist Leanne Mohammed. Electoral Calculus polling from this year suggests that if the election were re-done today, Labour would now lose the seat. On our walk, we'll be joined by locals who will share their insights into the changing economic, social, ecological and political landscapes of the area, situating us in the history of Ilford and providing a jumping-off point for discussions of its possible futures as politics and communities continue to change.

We'll meet at Loughton station on the Central Line at 12 noon for a 12:30 set-off time. This is a long walk, but if anyone wants or needs to leave us early, there are plenty of transport links all along the Way available for anyone to jump off and grab at their convenience. We'll hit up a pub at the end for a late lunch/early dinner and drinks, with transport links in Ilford (like the Elizabeth Line station) to take you anywhere you need to go.

• Distance/Time: About 13-14km for a roughly 4.5-5 hours' walk, depending on our speed
• Terrain: Mostly flat and clear, with possible muddy patches - bring good shoes or boots!
• Supplies: 2.5L water and some snacks or a portable lunch - we'll hit up an Ilford pub for a pint and late lunch after
• Weather: Mostly sunny if our luck holds; possibly cloudy and wet at times. Bring a windbreaker and/or rain layer and a packable jumper with a small rucksack if possible

Take care comrades and see you in the meadows!