This video is especially wonderful on so many levels. For some reason I've noticed how you've layered the soundtracks, as well as the interesting "ghosting" of your own image in the landscape. The integration of historical, archeological information is simply perfect, bringing alive a sense of the past in the present. As always, many thanks again John, for your sharing your work, these walks are very special sojourns, exhibiting the value of psychogeography. And, I always learn so much and simply am washed with enjoyment of the visuals!
Breath taking scenery with the bronze bracken and the panoramic views. How fascinating it was to see the old ironage hillfort, the birch and beech forest, and the postion of Stukeley druid temple. Such an interesting walk to places where our ancestors roamed freely .Thank you.
Fantastic walk John, truly enjoyed it as always. I do hope I get to see your Country in person, so beautiful and historic. Thank you for sharing, take care.
absolutely beautiful. One can only imagine what this landscape must have been like before centuries of hunting and logging but still absolutely enchanting..
it's so magical out there Patrick, I found myself passing through this wood in December on a cold wet day and it was still enchanting thelostbyway.com/2019/12/walk-brentwood-grange-hill.html
I'm simply stunned by the beautiful deer herd! What a gift! Your videos really make me want to resume my old walking ways, actually. Thanks for the uploads x
Hi John. Really pleased you went on to South Weald to see the hill fort. Just imagine 2500 years ago when there were far fewer trees with these camps built on high ground, easier to protect and with commanding views. They really would have stood out and not be something that goes unnoticed to so many people.
Great walk John and thanks for doing all the homework to it, I would just go for a walk and it'd be boring but you make it enjoyable to watch with all your knowledge 😀
Excellent movie John - Autumn is a great season to film - something about it reminded me of the mood from Detectorists - but without the unnecessary drama. (and I genuinely mean that as a compliment!).
In the late 1950s my parents would take us from Dagenham to Weald Park some Sunday afternoons. During the war the area had been used to train tank drivers. The military left behind a damaged tank and a troop carrier. Hoards of kids played merrily on the rusting metal. Until some brat found unexplored ordnance, so the authorities did the proper thing and took it all away. Very quiet times in this area until that chap Palmer moved into the road you strolled along.
I met some older guy years ago over there who said he remembered the tank. You aren't allowed to metal detect over there nowadays but years ago I found a patch on a hillside about the size of a tank that had all sorts of metal things including old leather gloves with the metal studs etc. I don't know if that was where the tank once was, but at the time I thought it might be. I used to park along that track a lot and a few times I saw John Palmer driving along the track (I didn't know who he was back then, but just that he lived in the cottage in the park) and he would always smile and wave. The Palmer murder was a very strange thing.
Another fun and interesting walk. I had the call to come to the British Isles many years ago but could not act on it. That's why I love your videos. Almost like being there. My best friend is from England and was a small child during the war and moved to the states as a young woman. She will never get back to the UK again. Sad. But oh the lovely story's she tells me. Thanks
If you're interested in the Druids, Ronald Hutton wrote a fascinating account in 'Blood and Mistletoe'. Spoiler alert: what we know about the original Druids could be covered in about 10 pages, but they have been re-invented multiple times over the centuries, for various purposes. The cast of larger-than-life characters is quite amazing.
Ditchleys mansion is very similar in design to the manor house that used to be over the manor (Dagnam Park). There is the remnants of a medieval road going through the main field over the manor which a few years back was partially destroyed by two very rarely used football pitches that the council had ignorantly decided to create there. But the most obvious part of that road is clearly visible close to the cow pond. The friends of dagnam park should excavate it with a test pit just to see what sort of old pottery fragments might be at the sides of that old road.
Wonderful walk. Hadn't heard of the Iron Age settlement despite having lived in Brentwood for many years. Thorndon Country Park is very extensive and can be walked from Thorndon North to Thorndon South. Near Old Hall Pond in Thorndon South there are the ruins of the old Thorndon Hall which may or may not be visible now. The country park was the grounds of the Hall belonging to the Petre family and still has some interesting trees. The chapel is also interesting. Can highly recommend Thorndon for walking.
I can definitely second that. The view south across the vista from up near the old hall is stunning and in the fields to the west of this you can catch a glimpse of canary wharf and the shard on a clear day. Also from (very little) research the old thorndon hall was a pretty impressive Elizabethan structure which we've got both a 1598 map and 1600s drawing off. It was partially excavated in the 1800s but is now completely overgrown. North of this up past Thorndon North is Hartswood which is a very old hunting park, hence the name which is also very beautiful.
According to the OS 1885 1 inch map there is a ring mound marked at TQ54906 95593 to the West of Coxtie Green Road opposite Gilstead Hall. This is also marked as Naverstock Common. This is also at the west end of The Mores Wood. A ring is visible on satellite photo. CM14 5RH
Hiya John. I’m a new subscriber and I’m very much enjoying your walks and commentary. I come from a lovely rural county in the E. Midlands and had no idea how beautiful the countryside is on the edges of Greater London. Thanks for taking me to see it.
I have not been to South Weald country park since the 90s when I was a teen and either cycled around it, my friends and I enjoyed the steep hills within the wooded area. My father also took me there to go fishing 🐟
Well there's Pilgrims Hatch to the North of the Ongar road. Pilgrims Lane leads to or used to lead to Pilgrims Hall. I know a guy who lives near there along Coxtie Green road and he said that the Pilgrims supposedly would bury their valuables in Pilgrims Hatch for safekeeping while they went off Northwards on their pilgrimages (and sometimes they wouldn't be able to find where they had buried them on the way back south).
Beautiful and interesting video. I don't know if you've heard of Waggoners Wells on the Surrey/Hampshire border, but for autumn colours it really cannot be beaten.
Interesting john it must be 15 years since I went to weald park so maybe it is time for another visit. I just wondered if you have ever made a video of thorndon country park in brentwood. There are some spectacular views from the high point there. Bob.
Thanks Bob - never been to Thorndon Country Park - passed it once on the way out to London Gateway and walked through Langdon Hills. Must go there and Tyler’s Common too
Thanks again for the reference to myself in the commentary John. Would have thanked you before but I've been busy looking for references to the Iron Age Camp you documented here in Weald Country Park in my highly comprehensive library. Unfortunately there was no sign of a reference to it in A.H.A. Hogg's 'Guide to the Hill Forts of Britain' or Dyer's 'Guide to Prehistoric England and Wales'. What I did find though were references to two interesting sounding hill forts in what is to all intents and purposes your favourite place for walking, Epping Forest. You mention both of these, Ambresbury Banks and Loughton Camp, in your commentary to this, which kind of confirms what you yourself said in your own observations. If you're looking for another interesting walk, just south east of Brentwood there is a place called Herongate just south of Ingrave. There are some interesting looking footpaths round there, some of which lead up to a moated manor house named Heron Hall. Sections of at least one of them appear to mark out a section of a ley line that runs from a cemetary at Great Burstead which across the River Rom to another moated manor house not far from Romford. As for Pilgrim's Lane, according to the website of nearby Pilgrim's Hall, it is part of the Essex branch of the world famous Pilgrim's Way, which runs all the way from East London, where it begins as the Old Kent Road, down to the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket at Canterbury. More here: www.pilgrimshall.co.uk/history
brilliant - thanks as ever Rupert - from this and other comments on the previous video looks as if there's a good walk on the other side of Brentwood taking in Tylers Common and Thorndon Park as well
@@JohnRogersWalks Glad I hit the right note! I'm going to start doing some textual responses to your UA-cam posts on Tumblr in the coming months but I am busy with the manuscript for my book, as you know!
See if you can find a (very) old map of with the local watercourses, I'm fairly certain many of these "druid" sites (actually neolithic) were built alongside waterways which were used for trade and travel.
Great content, right up my street, iron age history, theres some iron age Trinovante earthworks outside Colchester I've had a walk around, might be something you might like to do a post on 👍
John, another brilliant walk. I love seeing ancient Britain. I spent several hours researching the Druid Temple and vainly scouring google maps for any trace of it after last weeks video. I myself would like to think you may have found it by the seasonal stream with the little bridge, just hoping.
When I read the account of one of the individuals who went searching for the temple it seemed that as close as I could reconnoiter it would have been close to Navestock Side. He said he might be able to see St. Pauls Church.
john i wish i knew you was coming to brentwood, i would have joined you, you walked right past my road, if you ever come again let me know, i finish work by 12 lunch time most days
l was told that Pilgrims Lane was part of the Pilgrimage route to Canterbury. The ruined Church in Brentwood High Street was also on the route. l watched some BBC documentary and it said people were not permitted to leave their villages and if found would be returned to where they came from & charged with vagrancy. The only exception was if you were on a Pilgrimage. At some point they started to get robbed a lot so the king made some law to protect them. The Pilgrims sang songs as they traveled so potential robbers would know not to attack them. l find it hard to believe that you were not allowed out of your village. How was that enforced, probably by fear l guess.
Weald means Forrest apparently. I was a bit intrigued because I do a lot of walking in the Weald of Kent / Sussex / Surrey . Sadly the Weald of Kent is pretty devoid of Forrest .
Thanks for this video . Have you heard of Sam Williams, his youtube is swilliamism . He go's walking around London and one of his videos is called The Druidic order made in 2013 . He has made some good videos which you may find interesting but his sound tracks are not as good as yours .
This video is especially wonderful on so many levels. For some reason I've noticed how you've layered the soundtracks, as well as the interesting "ghosting" of your own image in the landscape. The integration of historical, archeological information is simply perfect, bringing alive a sense of the past in the present. As always, many thanks again John, for your sharing your work, these walks are very special sojourns, exhibiting the value of psychogeography. And, I always learn so much and simply am washed with enjoyment of the visuals!
thanks so much for that wonderful comment Carole - I'd like to do more with the sound but one step at a time, appreciate you noticing this
Breath taking scenery with the bronze bracken and the panoramic views. How fascinating it was to see the old ironage hillfort, the birch and beech forest, and the postion of Stukeley druid temple. Such an interesting walk to places where our ancestors roamed freely .Thank you.
Fantastic walk John, truly enjoyed it as always. I do hope I get to see your Country in person, so beautiful and historic. Thank you for sharing, take care.
thanks Darrell hope you make it over some day
absolutely beautiful. One can only imagine what this landscape must have been like before centuries of hunting and logging but still absolutely enchanting..
it's so magical out there Patrick, I found myself passing through this wood in December on a cold wet day and it was still enchanting thelostbyway.com/2019/12/walk-brentwood-grange-hill.html
I'm simply stunned by the beautiful deer herd! What a gift! Your videos really make me want to resume my old walking ways, actually. Thanks for the uploads x
I know, really stunning, makes you feel blessed. Hope you dig out the old walking boots and get out there
Much enjoyed this latest video....John, rediscovering lost Britain from around the environs of London.
thanks Theo - the environs of London is such rich terrain - makes you wonder how much is buried beneath the city streets
Dear John,
Thanks for this Video, we both enjoy the footage and talk.
Kind regards
Dave and Lyn ….. from Australia.
Thanks Dave and Lynn
Hi John. Really pleased you went on to South Weald to see the hill fort. Just imagine 2500 years ago when there were far fewer trees with these camps built on high ground, easier to protect and with commanding views. They really would have stood out and not be something that goes unnoticed to so many people.
Yes incredible to imagine - and with the palisade on the top as well would have been a very impressive structure
Totally delightful walk! Thank you for showing us the Iron Age hill fort and the very beautiful area outside of London.
Great walk John and thanks for doing all the homework to it, I would just go for a walk and it'd be boring but you make it enjoyable to watch with all your knowledge 😀
thanks Jason - I find it really rewarding, sometimes the research afterwards is the best bit
Excellent movie John - Autumn is a great season to film - something about it reminded me of the mood from Detectorists - but without the unnecessary drama. (and I genuinely mean that as a compliment!).
thanks so much Jezzy - and massively flattered by the Detectorists reference
In the late 1950s my parents would take us from Dagenham to Weald Park some Sunday afternoons. During the war the area had been used to train tank drivers. The military left behind a damaged tank and a troop carrier. Hoards of kids played merrily on the rusting metal. Until some brat found unexplored ordnance, so the authorities did the proper thing and took it all away. Very quiet times in this area until that chap Palmer moved into the road you strolled along.
great story Jeff - thanks for sharing
I met some older guy years ago over there who said he remembered the tank. You aren't allowed to metal detect over there nowadays but years ago I found a patch on a hillside about the size of a tank that had all sorts of metal things including old leather gloves with the metal studs etc. I don't know if that was where the tank once was, but at the time I thought it might be. I used to park along that track a lot and a few times I saw John Palmer driving along the track (I didn't know who he was back then, but just that he lived in the cottage in the park) and he would always smile and wave. The Palmer murder was a very strange thing.
Another fun and interesting walk. I had the call to come to the British Isles many years ago but could not act on it. That's why I love your videos. Almost like being there. My best friend is from England and was a small child during the war and moved to the states as a young woman. She will never get back to the UK again. Sad. But oh the lovely story's she tells me. Thanks
so glad to bring a bit of Britain to you Joen - thanks for watching
Thanks John, another fascinating film.
thanks hanian
Just dicovered your wonderful walks! Wish I had found them earlier in lockdown.
Thanks for finding the channel Carol - hope you discover plenty more of the walks here and I upload a new one every Sunday evening
What incredible places. Thanks for sharing this.
thanks Debra - such a wonderful terrain
Fantastic video as always John. Summer maybe come and gone but we’ve got a splendid Autumn already. So many great primordial forests on this walk.
It is indeed Ross - another glorious weekend just gone, got some lovely walks in
A merry Xmas and a very happy new year in advance! You are a great human being.
Love your VLOGs.
A Lovely walk great editing thanks John
Thanks 4thEye
Stumbled across your video and walks. Great. Thanks. Informative and very enjoyable
If you're interested in the Druids, Ronald Hutton wrote a fascinating account in 'Blood and Mistletoe'. Spoiler alert: what we know about the original Druids could be covered in about 10 pages, but they have been re-invented multiple times over the centuries, for various purposes. The cast of larger-than-life characters is quite amazing.
Ronald is very knowledgeable and is a friend of mine.
Ditchleys mansion is very similar in design to the manor house that used to be over the manor (Dagnam Park). There is the remnants of a medieval road going through the main field over the manor which a few years back was partially destroyed by two very rarely used football pitches that the council had ignorantly decided to create there. But the most obvious part of that road is clearly visible close to the cow pond. The friends of dagnam park should excavate it with a test pit just to see what sort of old pottery fragments might be at the sides of that old road.
Wonderful walk. Hadn't heard of the Iron Age settlement despite having lived in Brentwood for many years. Thorndon Country Park is very extensive and can be walked from Thorndon North to Thorndon South. Near Old Hall Pond in Thorndon South there are the ruins of the old Thorndon Hall which may or may not be visible now. The country park was the grounds of the Hall belonging to the Petre family and still has some interesting trees. The chapel is also interesting. Can highly recommend Thorndon for walking.
I can definitely second that. The view south across the vista from up near the old hall is stunning and in the fields to the west of this you can catch a glimpse of canary wharf and the shard on a clear day. Also from (very little) research the old thorndon hall was a pretty impressive Elizabethan structure which we've got both a 1598 map and 1600s drawing off. It was partially excavated in the 1800s but is now completely overgrown. North of this up past Thorndon North is Hartswood which is a very old hunting park, hence the name which is also very beautiful.
According to the OS 1885 1 inch map there is a ring mound marked at TQ54906 95593 to the West of Coxtie Green Road opposite Gilstead Hall. This is also marked as Naverstock Common. This is also at the west end of The Mores Wood. A ring is visible on satellite photo. CM14 5RH
Hiya John. I’m a new subscriber and I’m very much enjoying your walks and commentary. I come from a lovely rural county in the E. Midlands and had no idea how beautiful the countryside is on the edges of Greater London. Thanks for taking me to see it.
My pleasure John
I have not been to South Weald country park since the 90s when I was a teen and either cycled around it, my friends and I enjoyed the steep hills within the wooded area. My father also took me there to go fishing 🐟
You’re such a nice bloke John. I love your walks as I can’t now due to early arthritis but I’m really enjoying your channel thanks.
Thanks so much D K - glad you’re enjoying the videos
This is fascinating, I lived off of Weald road a few years ago and walked this way many a time and never realised there was an iron age fort here.
Well there's Pilgrims Hatch to the North of the Ongar road. Pilgrims Lane leads to or used to lead to Pilgrims Hall. I know a guy who lives near there along Coxtie Green road and he said that the Pilgrims supposedly would bury their valuables in Pilgrims Hatch for safekeeping while they went off Northwards on their pilgrimages (and sometimes they wouldn't be able to find where they had buried them on the way back south).
Beautiful and interesting video. I don't know if you've heard of Waggoners Wells on the Surrey/Hampshire border, but for autumn colours it really cannot be beaten.
thanks for the tip voxley - I'll add it to the list
Thank you, John. Really enjoyed that.
thanks for watching Wild Essex
Druids or not, a lovely time of year for a ramble.
Exactly Borderlands - a landscape formed by springs and streams is every bit as beguiling and wonderful
Interesting john it must be 15 years since I went to weald park so maybe it is time for another visit. I just wondered if you have ever made a video of thorndon country park in brentwood. There are some spectacular views from the high point there. Bob.
Thanks Bob - never been to Thorndon Country Park - passed it once on the way out to London Gateway and walked through Langdon Hills. Must go there and Tyler’s Common too
Thanks again for the reference to myself in the commentary John. Would have thanked you before but I've been busy looking for references to the Iron Age Camp you documented here in Weald Country Park in my highly comprehensive library. Unfortunately there was no sign of a reference to it in A.H.A. Hogg's 'Guide to the Hill Forts of Britain' or Dyer's 'Guide to Prehistoric England and Wales'. What I did find though were references to two interesting sounding hill forts in what is to all intents and purposes your favourite place for walking, Epping Forest. You mention both of these, Ambresbury Banks and Loughton Camp, in your commentary to this, which kind of confirms what you yourself said in your own observations. If you're looking for another interesting walk, just south east of Brentwood there is a place called Herongate just south of Ingrave. There are some interesting looking footpaths round there, some of which lead up to a moated manor house named Heron Hall. Sections of at least one of them appear to mark out a section of a ley line that runs from a cemetary at Great Burstead which across the River Rom to another moated manor house not far from Romford. As for Pilgrim's Lane, according to the website of nearby Pilgrim's Hall, it is part of the Essex branch of the world famous Pilgrim's Way, which runs all the way from East London, where it begins as the Old Kent Road, down to the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket at Canterbury. More here: www.pilgrimshall.co.uk/history
brilliant - thanks as ever Rupert - from this and other comments on the previous video looks as if there's a good walk on the other side of Brentwood taking in Tylers Common and Thorndon Park as well
@@JohnRogersWalks Glad I hit the right note! I'm going to start doing some textual responses to your UA-cam posts on Tumblr in the coming months but I am busy with the manuscript for my book, as you know!
See if you can find a (very) old map of with the local watercourses, I'm fairly certain many of these "druid" sites (actually neolithic) were built alongside waterways which were used for trade and travel.
that's a sound theory Harold, I'll have to check out those old maps
Have you heard of the winged disk Earthwork that Alfred Watkins said overlooks north London? l tried finding it on old maps and had no luck.
Great content, right up my street, iron age history, theres some iron age Trinovante earthworks outside Colchester I've had a walk around, might be something you might like to do a post on 👍
Another great video, another place for me to visit.
John, another brilliant walk. I love seeing ancient Britain. I spent several hours researching the Druid Temple and vainly scouring google maps for any trace of it after last weeks video. I myself would like to think you may have found it by the seasonal stream with the little bridge, just hoping.
When I read the account of one of the individuals who went searching for the temple it seemed that as close as I could reconnoiter it would have been close to Navestock Side. He said he might be able to see St. Pauls Church.
I love the idea that may have been the site and of course Springs were important in pagan belief. I’ll check out the other location you mention
@@JohnRogersWalks Thanks for your reply. CHEERS.
Brilliant video.Beautiful video.
thanks so much Little Acorns
Have you done one on Church street and Abney Park cemetary there's loads of famous people buried in there and trees from Loddiges nursery ?
I'd love to go back there, I shot this video a few years back, mainly focused on the stone carving workshop ua-cam.com/video/SHWW7H0cRl0/v-deo.html
Nice one John thanks as always
thanks for watching Leo
john i wish i knew you was coming to brentwood, i would have joined you, you walked right past my road, if you ever come again let me know, i finish work by 12 lunch time most days
thanks for the offer matt - never been before but I'll certainly be back
Really enjoyed this walk John it’s my local area. May I suggest Curtis mill green as a good walk an interesting place and not far from London.
Nice little walk thank you
10:37 I half-expected you to come across Andy and Lance from Detectorists at that spot
ha, I love that show so much
Another beautiful walk John. Thank you for doing all this camera work and editing. Do you do walks where you do not take the
camera with you?
thanks Simon - I love making these videos. Yes, I probably only film about 1/4 of my walks
Nice to hear someone else use the word ‘palisade’.😁 good effort John.
Thanks Jag - hope you’re doing well
l was told that Pilgrims Lane was part of the Pilgrimage route to Canterbury. The ruined Church in Brentwood High Street was also on the route.
l watched some BBC documentary and it said people were not permitted to leave their villages and if found would be returned to where they came from & charged with vagrancy.
The only exception was if you were on a Pilgrimage.
At some point they started to get robbed a lot so the king made some law to protect them.
The Pilgrims sang songs as they traveled so potential robbers would know not to attack them.
l find it hard to believe that you were not allowed out of your village. How was that enforced, probably by fear l guess.
Weald means Forrest apparently. I was a bit intrigued because I do a lot of walking in the Weald of Kent / Sussex / Surrey . Sadly the Weald of Kent is pretty devoid of Forrest .
Wonderful and interesting video John.
Now going to check out Druid.org.
Thanks Neil
Very interesting
Weald is an Anglo-Saxon (Englisc) word for woodland/forest.
Where is Stewart Ainsworth when you need him..?
Thanks for this video .
Have you heard of Sam Williams, his youtube is swilliamism . He go's walking around London and one of his videos is called The Druidic order made in 2013 .
He has made some good videos which you may find interesting but his sound tracks are not as good as yours .
thanks for the tip John I'll check out his channel
Made me laugh about the continuity issue 😂
the Gog Magog Hills a few miles southeast of Cambridge, could be your next walk, so I don't have to_
Ha, that sounds like a great suggestion
c/o: Lewis Spence_