Where the heck are we? The far side of Redbridge, almost in Havering Be more precise: On the southern edge of Hainault Country Park Nearest tube station: Fairlop, but 1½ miles away so hardly near Nearest bus routes: both the 247 and 362 stop by the summit Heights of summits:Hog Hill (65m), Dog Kennel Hill (84m)
Thing 1 on Hog Hill: Redbridge Cycling Centre
Background: When the London 2012 Olympics swallowed the former Eastway cycle circuit, alternative facilities were created here on Hog Hill. The site included a road circuit, BMX bumps and off road tracks, all with rather more contours than Stratford could muster. Tentative plans were made to use Hog Hill for the actual 2012 mountain bike event but the IOC laughed and said it would be too tame so everything relocated to Essex. Redbridge took control of the Centre in 2014. A couple of hours of pedalling will set you back £4.70. Bike hire and kids' coaching are also available.
Experience: I was expecting a lot of happy middle class cyclists but instead I accidentally stumbled upon a British Biathlon Laser-Run & Laser-Rollerski event. They'd set up their laser shoot in the upper car park where helmeted folk with wheels on their feet were firing at targets in small white targets for the admiration of a very small crowd. To reach the pavilion you had to divert onto the road circuit dodging the occasional whoosh, and there didn't appear to be a cafe or spectator area only a reception desk, and it all looked very interesting but it was a bit uncomfortable and I swiftly left. Lesson learned: Check the list of Upcoming Track Bookings (Sunday 27 October – British Biathlon – Full road circuit booked 09.00-17.00) before you visit, and best do that with a bike.
Thing 2 on Hog Hill: Forest Park Cemetery
Background: The population of London is always growing but people keep dying so fresh burial space is always welcome. This hillside plot opened in 2005 and contains the first crematorium to be built in the capital for 40 years. The cemetery is large enough for 60 years use and is mainly, but not exclusively, for Redbridge residents.
Experience: The top of the cemetery has a great view, mainly because you can't see the crematorium at the far end. If you're mostly used to wandering around tumbledown gothic cemeteries this is very different, all upright stones and cosy epitaphs, plus the odd piece of reflective sculpture with glass petals awaiting memories of favourite grandparents. The most recent section is ablaze with floral tributes and quite affecting. Lesson learned: If a mourner arrives in a white van, best get out the way sharpish.
Thing 3 on Hog Hill: Hainault Lodge Local Nature Reserve
Background: In 1725 George I had a royal hunting lodge built at the summit of Hog Hill. It was later replaced by a little mansion, once occupied by the High Sheriff of Essex, and was later used as overspill for Oldchurch Hospital. The lodge was demolished in 1973 and the surrounding hornbeam woodland became a nature reserve, the only one in Redbridge borough.
Experience: I assumed it was all fenced off, the kind of nature reserve permanently reserved for flora and fauna, so even when I found a gap in the fence at the bottom of the hill I kept out. Lesson learned: It turns out there is an entrance, allegedly, somewhere near the cycle centre's lower car park, but I never it saw nor any sign pointing to it. This has annoyed me because I've subsequently found a nature trail leaflet online and it looks lovely and I bet it was entirely empty yesterday, so now I want to go back again to see the overgrown remains of the croquet lawn, the birch trees growing on the tennis courts and the City viewpoint beside the old oak tree.
Thing 1 on Dog Kennel Hill: Footpath to the summit
Background:Dog Kennel Hill is just a hill, I don't know why it's called that. The trig point at the summit is on the edge of a golf course so you can't quite get there without straying.
Experience: I followed Footpath 15 up from the bus stop, a weaving crunchy track through beech woodland which eventually leads to Lambourne End in Essex. Many squirrels were disturbed. It was a glorious autumnal yomp, just a stone's throw from the Country Park car park at the foot of the slope which was rammed, but not a single visitor had made their way up here. Lesson learned: As I stood in a golden brown clearing facing off against a cautious fox, I thought more fool them.
Thing 2 on Dog Kennel Hill: Hainault Golf Club
Background:The golf club opened in 1909 and has two 18 hole courses, one entirely in Redbridge, the other spreading into Havering and with two greens in Essex. If you've walked the London Loop you'll have cut across them both. There's also a Hainault Forest Golf Club nextdoor and I don't fully understand how that's different.
Experience: Not being clubbed up I only got as far as the car park. This has everything a Essexy golfing type might need including buggy hire, a hand car wash, a tandoori shack, a diner, a smokehouse and an Italian restaurant called Linguine. Weekend sorted. Lesson learned: The little green robots that collect the balls at the driving range are quite mesmeric.
Thing 3 on Dog Kennel Hill: Five Oaks Lane
Background: A single lane of backwoods housing used to bear off the main road at the foot of the hill. About ten years ago most of the properties were bought by a developer who created a dense estate called Oaklands Hamlets, half a mile long but only 150m wide so not much room to play with. 425 homes were squeezed in. Any marketing collateral suggesting a) it was in Chigwell b) had "proximity to excellent transport connections" was plainly bolx.
Experience: It's very odd seeing an isolated stripe of modern homes on a hillside in the Green Belt. The only way in is via a long driveway into a thin labyrinth of cul-de-sacs and meandering spine road. It's all nicely done with plenty of intermediate greenspace, although large gardens clearly weren't a priority. The demographic's young and mixed, so quite a few Hallowe'en wreaths on doors but also the kind of playas who buy a Ford Mustang with UR55 LUV plates. At the very far end is a park with a small playground and two new ponds but you can only stare at the surrounding countryside, there are no footpaths out into it because that's living on a private development for you. Lesson learned 1: The free shuttle to Hainault station ceased in 2019 when the company providing it went bust but nobody's removed the special bus stop yet, so move to the middle of nowhere at your peril. Lesson learned 2: As a means of cramming houses into the countryside it shows just how much can be done with a small space, and could perhaps be replicated elsewhere without everyone throwing their hands up in the air and screaming.
Thing 4 on Dog Kennel Hill: Gardens of Peace
Background: Muslims need cemeteries too, especially in East London, hence the conversion of 160 acres of brownfield on the near outskirts. Five Oaks opened in 2017 and is already nearly full. Separate men's and women's prayer spaces are provided. No eating, immodest dress, wailing or photography is permitted in the cemetery, so all you can see here is the entrance.
Experience: It makes quite an impact, the sight of rows and rows of identical rounded mounds in all directions, all overlaid with turf. Memorials are small stone tiles laid flat on top. Flowers are not encouraged but that rule isn't strictly applied. The latest burials are in the far corner and have yet to receive their grass covering. Families and individual visitors come to remember, just as in any cemetery, and also to pray both indoors and out. I wasn't the only obvious non-Muslim present. Lesson learned: I wasn't expecting to see any of this yesterday, I just walked in and had my horizons broadened. There's a lot to be said for exploring two hills.
