The Unlost River in East London (4K)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ส.ค. 2024
- A walk following the Mayes Brook in East London from Chadwell Heath to Barking. Thanks to my supporters on Patreon / johnrogers
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Diamond Geezer's blog post that I used as my guide diamondgeezer....
This great London walk starts on the Eastern Avenue in Chadwell Heath in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham then continues through St. Chad's Park, down Roxy Avenue to Chadwell Heath High Road crossing into the London Borough of Redbridge. We then walk through Goodmayes Park and Orchard Playing Fields to Mayesbrook Park where the river was recently recovered and restored. Our route takes us past Upney Station on the District Line before taking a detour past the Elizabethan Eastbury Manor House. We pick up the final section of the Mayes Brook just after the A13 at the end of River Road in Barking near where it makes its confluence with the River Roding and where our river walk ends.
Links to videos mentioned
Tributaries of the River Roding • Tributaries of the Riv...
River Roding Walks • River Roding Walks
Mayesbrook Park • Mayesbrook Park Barkin...
Music
Dream Escape by The Tides
Little Drunk, Quiet Floats by Puddle of Infinity
Fresh Fallen Snow by Chris Haugen
Maps:
Open Street Map “© OpenStreetMap contributors” using data available under the Open Database Licence
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I live in Chadville Garden adjacent to St Chads park shown near the start of this video. The brook runs at the end of our garden in the park, and is contained in a buried pipe about 12"" in diameter. It often used to flood the park in the winter due to blockages from plant roots. It has now been cleaned out and no longer floods. Thanks for an excellent video of my local area.
Good morning John. I'm fairly sure that if my memory from the 1950s serves me correctly, the Deco building you mentioned at the start of your vlog was originally part of The Plessey of Ilford company. I remember well having been sent to work in that building during the course of my apprenticeship with Plessey.The Lake in Goodmayes Park was formed as the result of a bomb landing in the park during the war, which created a large crater and blew the roof of the house that I was sleeping in, being my home at that time in Airthrie Road next to the park. Your vlog stired so many childhood memories, I being educated in both Goodmayes and Mayfield schools. As far as I remember the Mayes Brook was above ground for most of it's course at that time. Thanks for the memories.
Yes. I remember the Plessey building. As a kid I lived in the Marks Gate estate and remember playing in the swampy area across the Eastern Avenue which we lovingly called "The Newty"
I agree with you Sir Roy, Plessey
As someone who has spent most of their life in the English North West I am constantly surprised by the variety and often beauty of the landscapes in South East London and Essex that you present. An undiscovered country.
my youngest memory was catching sticklebacks in the mayesbrook with a net and jar.and then going on to catch some tadpoles in the lillypond in mayesbrook park
Definition of optimism : Lost river hunting in the worst drought since 1976. Nice one JR.
Great film as ever, John. I've lived in Chadwell Heath for 55 years and have tracked the Mayesbrook myself. At the start, after it leaves the park, it crosses Blackbush Avenue - its route noticeable by the unbuild on gap between houses - and then along the border of the Millennium Green (former allotment site, saved from development) - all in culvert. I remember a local telling me that it was unculverted until the early 1960s
The ‘Brierly Hill’ mentioned as the source of the gates at 12:33 is an area of the Black Country in the West Midlands, heavily industrialised in the 1800s, including ironwork such as this gate. I’m from near there so it was nice to see some local iron in use. I usually see it only on manhole covers!
Anyway: pint of my comment was that it got me thinking of why it’s called Brierley Hill, I instantly thought, maybe it was Briar’s Lea by a hill, belonging to a landowner Briar. But I was thinking too deep. It’s named after the Briar Roses that grew there c.1700s. You’ve got me thinking too deep about place names, John!
It’s pronounced like the rose too.
I’d love to see John walking the Black Country, especially with his love of industrial buildings. So many of the ‘original’ buildings from the 1800s industry are still in place, if not in use. There’s so many stages of identity to the area, the Industrial Age being the latest and remaining identity in 2022.
Wonderful Roxanne thanks for sharing that info and train of thought
Ah Sunday evenings just become interesting , thanks John !!
Really enjoyed this John, spent my very early years paddling in the Mayesbrook close to Barking cemetery, (I’m now 78). Your final shot at River Road caught a glimpse of the completed film studios (Wharf Studios) just 50 yards further down. They used and modernised the large warehouse’s (6) which imported coiled steel for Ford. Wellbeck steel unloaded from ships on the Roding.
That building at the beginning was Plessey's. An aunt of mine worked there during the war.
Thanks Douglas - that’ll have some good stories and their factory in the Central Line tunnels around Redbridge
And it's officially Sunday!! Let's crack on. 👍🏾🤠
Hope you enjoy it Brandon!
@@JohnRogersWalks always do. You do great work John.
The grass here in Toronto is like shredded wheat biscuits. It crunches when you walk on it. Thanks John, always a pleasure.
3:55 Penda's Fen - a strange and haunting drama. I recommend it highly, if you can find it.
A long way from East London, but it's funny how random viewing can produce clusters. Without meaning to, I have seen in the last couple of days a lot of stuff about Mercia, Offa, Penda etc. from Neil Oliver, Bettany Hughes et al.
It's not a coincidence,it's synchronicity,also Gods Plan (to me at least). It is odd though when you learn a new word then said word occurs several times in things you're reading. I mean obscure words.
A new video each from you and Jago Hazard on same day, I'm seriously spoiled.
I am always amazed at the number of parks on London. And now I'm also amazed at how extremely dry they are in a country known for
its wet weather !
Someplace I think I read that London has the most parkland of any major city, and Vienna the most forests.
I lived Chadwell heath until I was 5, we used to frequent the Dagenham Roundhouse where we saw Status Quo, Arthur Briwn , Faust, pink fairies, Vinegar Joe.....and that's the ones I can remember...I now live in Cornwall with a fine set of Rivers we love watching your walks
I love your far-east walks best, in part because most Londoners wouldn't consider going to those places or have no idea they exist. But also because you seem to belong there.
Superb info on mayesbrook to cap it all eastbury manor house great
Oh! Stop it John. I'm dying of nostalgia here! You just walked step for step my route ( over the bridge, past Eastbury House ) over sixty years ago. I always had a downer on Mayesbrook Park as we were made to run round its perimeter for cross county's. Since moving back to the area I have fallen back in love with it ( thanks to lockdown). Another great Vid John, keep it up and I'm sure we will cross paths one day. So nearly this time!!
That’s wonderful Brian thanks
@@JohnRogersWalks John, please do not be angry with me or feel afraid, after this. But you realize that with the name of, and a spiritual connection to, a 'heretic' who got a rather negative fate, spiritually and physically, you've always been in a somewhat risky zone. Not even related to my findings, here.
I mean, just being in a London road, you're at risk of traffic accidents, and you, yourself, as a public figure, have never been afraid to stick your nose out and speak your mind, correct?
Any man, walking through unknown territory, could be seen as an offence to idiots, in any case. I, myself, was in fact slapped in the back of the head by some brat who came running up from behind, and past me, laughing maliciously, last time I visited London and walked down an alley that I wanted to explore; I thank the Gods I only received a hard slap, a humiliation, there (happened during the late '90s).
So don't look to me with indignation, please, my friend. Just stay alert, as you always do. Choose your routes intelligently, if you take my point.
I ask the ancient Gods to always protect you, and see to that you and your family are safe.
Here's a scary read from today's Jutland's-Post (JP, the Danish paper which published the Muhammad Cartoons). I've translated into English:
'33-year old man charged with attempted terrorism in Aarhus':
'It is the prosecution's suspicion that it was a terrorist attempt, when a 33-year-old man drove his Mercedes, at high speed, through a busy street in the center of Aarhus in mid-July.
It came to light at a hearing in the court in Aarhus on Tuesday morning.
The accused and his defender Torben Dyring Kledal were present at the Court in Aarhus via a video link. Here it was established that the 33-year-old man is charged with attempted terrorism and thereby violating Section 114 of the Criminal Code.
'By having tried to expose several people to violence of a dangerous nature. At a speed of no less than 50 km/h. to drive along Frederiksgade St. and drive directly towards several people who had to jump aside to avoid being hit. The accused then turned the car around and drove towards another group that had to jump,' said prosecutor Maria Buus Sørensen.
In a press release Chief Police Inspector Klaus Arboe Rasmussen states on Tuesday:
'It is still too early to conclude whether the suspicion of attempted terrorism can be substantiated to such an extent that charges can be brought for attempted violation of Section 114 of the Criminal Code. Based on the specific driving and various other circumstances, we are still investigating the case as a terrorist case, and we have initiated a long series of investigative steps to clarify the circumstances and find out what the motive behind the 33-year-old's actions was.'
According to the police, no one was hit in connection with the drive, and the 33-year-old was arrested a few hours later. He has since been detained in surrogate custody in a closed psychiatric hospital ward.
During the hearing, the prosecutor requested closed doors instead of the previous double closed doors.
According to Prosecutor Maria Buus Sørensen, the investigation is still at an early stage, there is still a risk of influence from the accused, and information will continue to emerge in connection with the investigation, which the public should not be aware of.
'At the same time, I must refer to the nature of the case', said Maria Buus Sørensen
The defense objected to the closed doors and called the prosecutor's arguments diffuse.
'There is no evidence that my client can influence the investigation. My client has been in custody for a month. Witnesses have been interviewed, residences have been searched, and data is being collected. To me, we are not in an initial phase, you are there where you have to process data', said defence lawyer Torben Dyring Kledal.
Mystery and concrete blocks
The case has been surrounded by great mystery.
In the days after the risky driving in Frederiksgade, which i.a. is known for many bars and cafes, on 18 July, flower pots and four new concrete blocks were placed in the pedestrian street.
However the report from the police at the time was not, that it was a measure as a result of a terrorist attempt.
Instead, Chief Police Inspector Klaus Arboe Rasmussen stated to JP Aarhus that the police had only been in dialogue with the municipality after the episode to investigate the possibility of making some speed-reducing measures.
The 33-year-old man who sat behind the wheel was produced in a constitutional hearing on 19 July. That interrogation also caused a stir. It took place behind closed doors at the request of the prosecutor, which is highly unusual in a traffic case.
In the police's 24-hour report, witnesses to the reckless driving were sought after the episode. The police described, among other things, that several pedestrians had to jump aside, and witnesses at the scene had explained to the police that an older, silver-grey Mercedes B class had suddenly come driving very fast along Frederiksgade in the direction of several groups of people.
The 33-year-old man was arrested on the night of Tuesday at 01.53 on 19 July in Herskind. It happened after he had had to call roadside assistance himself.
The police made contact with the man at the scene and discovered two large knives in the side pocket by the driver's seat. The man also had a small knife in his jacket pocket.
East Jutland Police stated on Tuesday that the constitutional hearing was held behind closed doors at the request of the prosecution, because the police assessed that there were some significant investigative steps that needed to be taken before the charge could be made public.
And due to double-closed doors, the East Jutland Police have so far been prevented from commenting on the charges. However, the police are now so far in the investigation that the court, at the request of the prosecution, has today lifted the double-locked doors and thus gives the public an insight into the charge, which amounts to attempted terrorism under Section 114 of the Criminal Code.
There are still closed doors in the case (meaning no press allowed), which is why it is limited what East Jutland Police can say about the details of the case (no names are allowed to be mentioned).
'As the case continues behind closed doors in court, it is still extremely limited what we can and will tell in terms of details about our investigation and the arrested person. Our presumption is that he acted on his own, but that is of course one of the things we have to uncover further in our further investigation', says Klaus Arboe Rasmussen.
The police further inform that the concrete blocks in Frederiksgade were set up after an initial dialogue between East Jutland Police and PET (Police Intelligence Service) and a subsequent dialogue between East Jutland Police and Aarhus Municipality.
The concrete blocks that have been set up in Frederiksgade are a temporary solution, and East Jutland Police are in dialogue with Aarhus Municipality about a more permanent arrangement'.
@@JohnRogersWalks Hi John, message from Odin at Oliver the Egoist on YT, the movie 'Penda's Fen', you need to see the comments, massive EVP! Thank you, a great movie.
The Völve
When you showed the park gates, the posts reminded me somewhat of some gates here in Melbourne. Funnily enough once you showed the name of Hill & Smith of Brierley Hill it made sense as they also made the gates I was thinking of. They’re currently entrance gate ‘D’ at our Royal Botanic Gardens but were originally installed at a (now demolished) 1870s Victorian mansion called ‘Nareeb’.
Hi John thanks for the nostalgic walk, I was born in upney hospital, and live in
Sheringham Drive just off mayesbrook Park and remembered going stickleback fishing in the park in one of lake and when to school which is just behind the park and doing a cross country around the park thanks again
Brilliant thanks for sharing that John
'The Edge' was born there too
Around 65 years ago, the Art Deco factory was owned by soup company but not sure who. On the tall part of the front was a statue of a smiling lady holding a soup bowl in her hands. I saw it from my grandfather’s Ford Popular as we were going from Gants Hill to Southend.
Oooh this video takes me back. I used to live in Goodmayes some forty years ago. A lovely area with farmland just a walk away up Barley Lane.
All in all a really fine walk my friend. I always expect to be educated and entertained buy your walks and you have not failed me yet. AAA+++
In the 80s that white building on the Eastern Avenue was occupied by Woodcraft a kitchen design and fit company. They did our kitchen when we lived in Loughton.
As a denizen of Barking, I really appreciate your walks in our neck of the woods!
Hill & Smith makers of iron products founded 1824 in Brierley hill West mid still trading .They made iron fencing comissioned
by Queen Victoria 1860 !As always loved the walk !
Pretty impressive drought conditions, especially so close to a river.
nice one john thank you. mayfield school was called gilbert miles when i went there in the seventies.
I'm so glad you did this walk, John. I live in Chadwell Heath and visited Mayesbrook Park in March and saw how well they'd "daylighted" the brook and thought how much you'd appreciate it. I love how they've given it a natural meander in the southern section of the park. I hope more of it can come to light in the coming years.
John Rogers - a force for good
You really seemed focused on following that river! We saw a lot, thank you.
I really enjoyed this walk
Top walk around my childhood home so thank you John
Just about to go to sleep, and this pops up. Can I wait til tomorrow to watch it now? Hmmm, not sure I have the willpower!
It’s a good one Steve - that’s all I’ll say
@@JohnRogersWalks You were indeed right there John! Loved this, a magical mixture of river, architecture, stories and a first for me - I followed your walk on the map as you did it. Thoroughly enjoyed this one thank you.
The line of the brook has always been obvious through Orchard playing fields (or the extension as I always knew it) and through Goodmayes park, particularly during dry spells when the conduit is clearly demarcated in the grass. beside the pitch where I played cricket for many years. The lake in the park was created in the 1950s.
Interesting that the park gates are from Brierley Hill which is in my neck of the woods in Birmingham.
Pinched this from their own web page.
Hill and Smith, Brierley Hill, was established by Edward Hill and Henry Smith in 1824 and was known as Hill's Ironworks.
Hill and Smith is famous for supplying many miles of fencing for Queen Victoria, Ornamental Gates and parapet railing for the Royal House of Siam; work on the Sydney Harbour Bridge; the Royal Dockyard at Simonstown; South Africa, and gates at Hong Kong market and the European Club, Shanghai.
I used to know someone from Brierley Hill, and she was adamant that it was not Birmingham.
@@luxford60 I said in my neck of the woods. It is the Black Country. Not a million miles away from me in Brum. 😉
Fabulous, love the lost river walks...
Had to go in the pub Heidi, because I was looking for a river. Heard it all now John,🤣🤣. I'll make a note of it.
I have said before that the joy of your river walks is seeing places I would not ordinarily visit. I live in Chadwell Heath and there were still bits that I have never seen.
That's brilliant RobboJax - many thanks
My Nan lived in Lambourne Road, right next to Upney, and I was born in Barking Hospital on Upney Lane. Before I came to Australia in 1974 spent many weekends, Sundays and then a few months there when I first started work, living in 114 Lambourne.. Mayesbrook Park was a place to visit after Sunday lunch, and I caught the Underground from Upney across London to Shepherds Bush every workday or a few months in 1972. And saw Stray at the Roundhouse. A walk of memories.
I live in Henley Gardens and in very old maps it shows the stream ends in our garden which explains why our garden is constantly damp
Really enjoyed this film.
Thanks John, I work next to the mayesbrook in the Ford dealership
So it was off special interest to me.
What a treat thanks again.
I’ve never lived in or around London but I’m fascinated by your vlogs showing the hidden history, rivers and architecture. It must have been heartbreaking to see the land so parched.
A bit more information about the Dagenham Roundhouse as a music venue. It was known as the Village Blues Club and operated weekly from the hall at the back of the pub from 1969 to 1975. It was a major venue in the so-called progressive or underground music scene. You are correct in that Pink Floyd played there. Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton and Yes also performed there. There is a full list of the bands on Wikipedia. Some years ago the club was revived by a former member and a Facebook group formed which is still active . One or two gigs took place each year but not unfortunately since the lockdown.
Thanks John, love how you bring out the history of places often considered "bland" /"dull" by those who actually don't try hard enough. This edge of London, formerly Essex has a lot of ancient Manorial estates, many of the buildings now lost. Formerly productive Agricultural land has been swallowed up for development over last century or more, though there are pockets remaining. I do get fed up with people who think of Essex as all Shopping Malls and housing estates. Try seeking out the lanes with massive Pollard Oaks between Rainham and Upminster, Berwick Manor. Bretons Manor, Rainham. Rainham Hall and the Norman Church in the village. There are still former Farmhouses in Dagenham, eg near Eastbrook Nature Reserve and "Woodlands", now a Registry Office, past Central Park. My Great Grandad lived in a Thatched house in Oxlow Lane, many cottages occupied by Farm labourers back in the day. Sadly working farms that were profitable up till the 1970's/80's have become Vehicle Parks, Lorry workshops and whatever else. Thanks for appreciating the area near my neck of the woods!
My Aunt worked in that white building on the Eastern avenue, when it belonged to Plessey's. She said she made parts for submarines I recall.
Thanks for fulfilling my wish that you walk the Mayesbrook. It was warching this that I realised that Goodmayes is named for it, my father was born there and I probably passed through it weekly for some 18 years without the penny dropping
you are not alone - I'd never connected the name Goodmayes with Mayesbrook either or even linked those to Mayfield School!
The 1930s art-deco or 'Odeonesque' style building at the opening was an extension to the Plessey Avionics Company, whose main focus of attention was for development of avionics equipment and radar. The building in Eastern Avenue closed in latter years when Plessey amalgamated with British Aerospace Industries, and was taken over by the current occupants. I believe it is listed on the basis of it being of archetectural design interest. Their main factory in Ley Street and Vicarage Lane in Ilford closed in the early 2000s, and demolished in favour of the obligatory block of flats!
The whole area is host to a plethora of historical stuff, now hidden - but if you know where to explore.........its all still there! Splendid video. Great stuff!
Many thanks for the info Peter
Thanks John as my family as you know live here in Gants Hill
Thanks again John In Chicago
It looked like the Rootes building in Maidstone, Kent but with the tall bit in the middle rather than at the front of the building.
This is currently being turned into apartments.
The one in this video has seen better days. In parts the concrete is crumbling and it looks run-down. It looks like a lost modernist building that deserves saving and being listed. I don't know the date of the building or if its 1930s or more recent 1970s.
Great film, John. My old stomping ground. You mentioned a kayak club in Mayesbrook Park. When I taught in B&D we used to take year 6 kids to learn sailing there.
Also Eastbury Manor had links to the gunpowder plot - either one of the backers lived there or the conspirators met there. However, there's a real possibility this was made up in order to convince primary school kids that their school trip wasn't a waste of time.
brilliant - thanks for those notes Don
That manor house is a gem! According to their info on the National Trust website, they provide learning spaces for a range of teachers (Heidi would approve) and have a friends group helping with upkeep. Given that spotless facade, those Friends of Eastbury Manor do a great job.
Amazing that there was so much of the river you could see. I had a lovely stroll around Hampstead cemetery yesterday afternoon. Lovely walk as usual John 👍🏻
John - good to see another great walk in areas where I grew up - I lived above a cafe in the parade of shops in Goodmayes & in 1971 worked for a year as a kitchen porter at Barking Hospital (having failed my A levels) & walked to work in Upney Lane via your route thru the parks in Goodmayes. Earlier in my life I lived close to Eastbrook House & even then was amazed that this house was surrounded by post WW1 homes for heroes. Another film that encourages me to visit my roots - thanks again!!
Love these times when we experience LOndon.
Thanks for these gifts.
I haven’t watched your videos for months. No idea why. Going to catch up on all of them today.
Great video lived in Goodmayes all my live until a year ago 54 years the brook court building at 21.42 was the labour exchange (dole office ) up until the 1990 ‘s
Nice one John, enjoyable walk - Cheers mate..
Thank you for this lovely walk. Always informative & enjoyable. 🌿🌾🌳
Plesseys on the Eastern Ave . A monument to British industrial might . Missed a gem of a Tudor moat what was the ancient Marks Hall Manor that played a role in the Clochester Siege in 1648 , just to the North East of the Eastern Ave ,Whalebone Lane North crossroads . This was built on the highest point on a spring and its my guess that this was the actual source of the Mayes and may be St. Chad's Holy Well and therefore Chadwell Heath . Played chip and putt in St. Chads .The Old White Horse public house ( no such thing as a Harvester that's a gastro pub chain ) , the Roman Road to Colchester ( once still visible under the cobbles in Back Lane ) on which the White Horse provided ale to travellers to the Markets of Romford , Chelmsford and Colchester. Another clue of the course is Freshwater Road that runs from Chadwell Heath Station Eastwards . The building of the Becontree Estate was an amazing undertaking with temporary railways laid from the yards at Chadwell Heath South towards Parsloes to move the bricks required . The Underground Line had not been extended yet and Barking was the end of the line .The Brooks Parade of shops did not consist of chippys and kebab houses once upon a time , but proper shops and industry including the last of the areas sailmakers . Goodmayes Park across to Mayesbrook Park . The Maye's does run into Goodmayes Park and it may have been moved when the new campus was built West of the now University , but previous Polytechnic and Dagenham County High School . The Roundhouse was a Mecca for bands . Deep Purple , Grounhogs all played at the " Village Blues Club " . I lived just around the corner .You can walk past Eastbury Manor House , whose early Italianate sunken garden and stew ponds which ( from old maps) once backed onto the Mayesbrook itself and overflowed into the river on early maps , unless that gate is now locked . Claimed to be where the Gunpowder Plotters watched from the gallery at the top of one of the stair turrets awaiting the big explosion . Its sister Manor of Westbury long gone , sat on the corner opposite what was the Westbury Arms of course . Walking past the Upney chippy to Upney Lane just to the right of the rise to Upney Station was some old trees and to the right of that the only bit of the original course of Upney Lane left .
I grew up a little further East in Broad St Dagenham , once a blissful village like place 60 years ago , and apart from spending my summers in Leys Swimming Pool , used to wander IN the Gorsebrook with its gravel river bed , along the Beam and Rom rivers the latter having a short canal from the Thames into Romford .
Your commentary is never less than fascinating but you always allow the landscapes and the architecture to have the final word.
Utterly brilliant
Super walk with lots of information. Many thanks to you John. ……..
A great walk as always however you got the starting place wrong. I grew up with the Mayes Brook at the end of my garden in Jarrow Road in Chadwell heath. When we moved in in 1972 the couple in the house next door had lived in the houses since they had been built in the 1930. The talked about it flooding in the garden each year. The Mayes brook rises on the other side of the A12 road from art deco building you start the building at. It then feeds three small lakes in the housing estate there it goes under the A12 and then runs to the place where you said it rises. I'm overseas at the mo, but when I'm back I'll send you route and the early C20th map that shows the land before the houses. Keep up the good work
It's always a good day when I can start it with one of your videos John. Excellent!!
Absolutely fantastic...👍.
Cheers Barney
@@JohnRogersWalks Thank you.
I used to go to Eastbury manor where Barking camera club met (and maybe still does), a regular visitor was Terrance Donavan who gave talks and judged our efforts, he was a local boy.
Fantastic and entertainning.Londoner living in Thailand 😊😊😊
Interesting Gary. As a lad I was always in Mayesbrook Park. Dagenham County High (later NELP) at one end and Matchstick Island at the southern section. Remember the Italian Gardens?
Anyway, I am also living in Thailand. North East near the Laos border.
Great walk. Very interesting history. 👍
There's some nice architecture on the elbow of Longbridge Road, just round the corner from where the Mayesbrook crosses at the southern end of Goodmayes Park Recreation Ground. This used to be the NE London Poly / University of East London's Barking campus - now mostly redeveloped as new housing, but they've retained and converted the old main building, which I think was built in the 1930s. I was a student there in the mid-90s and so I have a few (somewhat hazy!) memories of this area from that time. One mad drunken night I set off from the student bar here and walked all the way into central London via Ilford, East Ham, Manor Park, Bow and Stratford. I nearly got arrested for vagrancy by a copper near St Paul's until I managed to find some ID in my pocket which proved I had an actual address!
Great story thanks Tim
What a lovely walk John, thank you. The architecture of the houses and buildings was so nice, a change from high rises in some areas. Love all the history too. 💕🇦🇺
just love chilling to ur vids ..i am there wiv u
As a South African totally enraptured with London & the UK countryside you carry me along so many interesting stunning areas I shall never be able to see nor know. With the added huge plus of lovely interesting bits of info. Thank you.
Hi John, I’m a massive fan of your channel but I do love these particular videos you’ve made in Mayesbrook Park and Parsloes Park I used to live in Rugby Road which is the road in-between both parks, so nice to see them on video I don’t get chance to go back there much these days but it will always be home no matter where I’m living, incidentally the Roundhouse pub used to be my local, they also had the snooker club back in the day and that was where the bands used to play like Queen, the Stones had some very big bands play there back in their early days…. Anyway I’m rambling on a bit now, keep em coming buddy. 👍🏻
Thank you. I saw one of Nicola White's recent videos where she shows us a tunnel on the Thames foreshore that admits one of London's lost rivers and she mentions that all of London's rivers have now been buried, but not this one. Trouble is, when you daylight a river, you introduce hordes of mosquitos and you have to worry about little kids drowning.
Just watched another of your latest video walk always very entertaining they should be on tv really? S.
I was always told that long before rock bands, Max Bygraves made his early entrance into showbiness at 'The Roundhouse', singing regularly on Sunday lunchtimes but perhaps someone out there could confirm that. Another brilliant video taking me back to my childhood in East London!
That’s a great fact James - thanks
Can't confirm the Roundhouse but he used to appear at the Merry Fiddlers at Becontree Heath. Why not the roundhouse as well.
@@robbojax2025 and why not, you can never get 'too much' exposure and he certainly did well for himself!
Some great nights in the Roundhouse. Hawkwind, Uriah Heep, Rory Gallagher et Al. Venue was closed before the likes of the Smiths were around.
Yup, saw Jethro Tull and Pentangle there. Remember it being loud, crowded, smelly and full of nutters. ( they called themselves head angers ).
Thanks for this video John. I live very close to the Mayes Brook so I was intrigued to see where it comes from. Interestingly Valence House Archives in Dagenham has a picture from September 1926 when they where culverting this river!!
I've got to say it - another lovely film. I love how you walk through a suburban area,like the places most of us live,and instead of going....." there's not much to see round here,it's just ordinary 1930s suburban houses lived in by dull people" (NOT my opinion but something you come across a lot),no,you invoke the past,you tell us,you spellbind us with a story,like a wizard,and the past rises before our eyes. It's magic. You'd enjoy tracing hidden rivers in Bristol,we've got half a dozen. The idea of doing that has always appealed to me - but not enough to actually DO IT. I recently stayed at Twickenham for a few days and I loved it. What a great place. There was loads more there than I even thought of. A lovely riverside walk. 3 big old houses with parkland of which I'd only heard of one. And of course I visited the Eel Pie Island museum which is fab and would be great value at twice the price. Also I discovered the River Crane. I expect you've done a video on it.
Thank you so much Jane. Somebody did send me an article on lost rivers in Bristol and it’s on my list. The River Crane does pop up in a couple of videos but not as the sole focus
The white building on the Eastern Avenue, Chadwell Heath I seem to remember in the 1960's was a Radio/TV manufacturer like EKCO or one of the long forgotten old names? There have been comments saying Plessey but I worked for them in Ley street/ Vicarage Lane Ilford and wasn't aware that this building was owned by them? I remember that the name used to be a large sign above the entrance.
Another winner. I love the scale of the neighborhood architecture.
Absolutely right about these culverts.. They may look a bit gaunt, but they do mark the points at which these lost rivers get found again! Another fascinating video, thanks so much John!
the manor house is national trust and open on sundays.
Another east London walks with all with great history.
Very relaxing video just before going to sleep. Thank you very much !!
Thanks very much for watching Tom
Stopping for a pint is always a good thing! Love the walk.
Thanks Timothy
Nice One John, Keep Safe
Great video John! Have a great week!
Another great walk John. Many thanks 🙂
cheers Paul
Loved the walk as always John, but disappointed not to have got a glimpse of West Ham's former training ground at Chadwell Heath. Nevertheless, your video brought back a raft of happy memories. Atb. 👍
Still there, used by the academy sides.
Enjoyed that John, cheers.
Cheers David
Great watch, i use to live off of Grove rd , Mill haven close in the 80's when working in London brings the memories flooding back, the Harvester you stopped off at , was the Greyhound pub at one time, and up the road from the pub was Magris garage owned by the boxer Charlie Magri from memory
Hello Brian, the Mayfield school I went to was in goodmayes lane. Bob.
I felt for you John having to double back but what a fantastic walk, these hidden river walks are so magical
Thank you
Redbridge is fascinating not just another suburb of thousands of houses. Daylighting is a brilliant idea-how about the Fleet being daylighted [daylit?] through central London?
Admire that you can walk in this heat! Thank you, so interesting ☺️
Thank you so much John. It's too hot to wibble about outside - well it is for me - but seeing the lovely water you bring us to cools us down. Another beautiful piece of work
Right near the last view of the brook on river road it runs behind a small group of three turnings plonked in the middle of that industrial area right where the brook meets the Roding. One of those houses on Waverley Gdns has a blue plaque as it’s where Bobby Moore grew up. Fantastic walk as ever over the borough I grew up in and the wider area I know so well. Cheers!
And it was a cracking walk! Thanks so much for your wonderful video.
Agreed - what a beautiful building at the beginning!
One of my favourites in similar style was the Adhesive Specialities factory in Ladywell... now demolished, but plenty of photos online.
Enjoyed this walk lots!