By Chris Guy posted on 8 Mar 2015 in Urban
Hazy London skyline peeks above lush spring treetops, modern towers softened by distance and a pale, washed-out sky.

View of the London skyline from Woodford

I began this section of the walk by taking the Central Line to Snaresbrook, and my initial thought was to have a look at Snaresbrook Crown Court – which is really the first (and only?) thing that comes to mind at the mention of Snaresbrook.

Unfortunately, and perhaps obviously, you can’t really get that close to it, so instead I had a wander around that corner of Epping Forest and up to Eagle Pond, before heading up Woodford Road and the art deco delights of South Woodford.

Three-storey red-brick apartment block with white horizontal bands, green tiled roof, chimney, manicured lawn and shrubs under a clear blue sky.

Hermitage Court, South Woodford

White stucco Art Deco pier set into a red brick wall, sunlight casting shadows; a green hedge with yellow flowers behind and pavement in front.

Art deco detail of Hermitage Court

Victorian-style houses with a turret and chimneys behind hedges, spring blossom and mature trees, a green lawn and clear blue sky.

Gothic Towers on The Drive, South Woodford

Stratstone Jaguar dealership in an Art Deco-style brick building with large showroom windows; several luxury cars, including a red sports car, parked outside under a clear blue sky.

Stratstone Jaguar in South Woodford

Art-deco Odeon cinema façade with tall grid windows and blue signage against a clear sky.

South Woodford Odeon

At the top of Woodford Road is the North Circular Road, which at this point is a ten-lane dual carriageway running in a cutting beneath the High Road on the bridge above.

Brick building with 'PREZZO' sign behind a tall concrete wall, trees to the left and a clear blue sky above; a road runs across the foreground.

Side view Of Prezzo at South Woodford next to the North Circular Road

The bridge itself is the site of a public art scheme financed by Telford Homes as a planning condition for the nearby Queen Mary’s Gate development. The art piece consists of a sculpture by Lucien Simon and commemorative benches by Tim Ward that pay homage to Winton Churchill and local designer and poet William Morris.

Commemorative metal bench displaying black-and-white photographs and an informative plaque, set by a brick wall with shrubs in the background.
Black-and-white Victorian portrait of a bearded man holding a hat, printed on a panel and mounted in a metal frame outdoors amid spring foliage.

Art works on the bridge at South Woodford above the A406 North Circular Road

Red convertible sports car beside a white van on a city road, with modern apartment blocks and tall lampposts under a clear blue sky.
Circular stone plaque in paving explains Woodford's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book, its Old English meaning 'ford in or by the wood' and reference to a crossing of the River Roding.

South Woodford above the A406 North Circular Road

Metal display panel with photographs and a roundel reading 'South Woodford', showing a moving train, village scenes, 'The Cottages' sign and surrounding greenery.

Detail of commemorative Bench by Tim Ward, South Woodford

Multiple-lane urban highway with light traffic beside a high retaining wall, modern apartment blocks beyond and clear blue sky.
Tall stainless-steel column topped by two stylised leaf sculptures, its shaft pierced with bird silhouettes against a deep blue sky.

The North Circular and South Woodford Sculpture by Lucien Simon above

From here I continued west along the small roads that run parallel to the North Circular heading towards Waterworks Corner. The mix of architectural styles and uses is pretty varied in these few streets and ranges from neat suburbia to boarded-up industrial/residential hybrids and modernist churches.

Suburban two-storey semi with pebble-dash walls, bay windows and tiled roof, front hedge and wooden fence beneath a clear blue sky.

London suburbia – Grove Cresent, South Woodford

Modern brick Catholic church with a tall spire cross, geometric patterned façades and clerestory windows, set against a pale sky with bare trees.
Black-and-white photo of a curved brick facade with external steps, a handrail, overhanging roof and foliage in the foreground.

St Anne Line, Woodford Spiritualist Church

Two adjoining brick buildings with white boarded facades, a bay window, sparse trees on a grassy verge beside the pavement under a clear blue sky.

Grove Road, Woodford

Brick Victorian corner house with white boarded ground-floor extension, bay windows, ivy and a clear blue sky.

Canarvon Road, Woodford

Sunlit park path with a signpost and lamp-post casting a long cross-shaped shadow on the pavement, framed by dense leafy trees.

Subway at Waterworks Corner on the North Circular Road

From Waterworks Corner I walked down Forest Road and through the backstreets of Upper Walthamstow in the direction of Wood Street.

Concrete pedestrian bridge with metal railings; a graffiti-covered support pillar beneath, surrounded by shrubs and a sunlit path.

Footbridge across Forest Road, Woodford

Front of a textured concrete council block with a central white bay featuring narrow vertical slits, flanked by two double-glazed windows and brown pebble-dash walls.

Architectural Detail, Forest Road, Upper Walthamstow

Two-storey suburban houses with white cladding and brick base, large tree casting shadows over trimmed hedges and pavement, a car parked to the left.

Post-War Housing on Hempstead Road, Upper Walthamstow

There is a lot going on in Wood Street itself. A traditional high street with independent shops and an indoor market.

Facade of Wood‑Street Market: a cream sign with teal lettering below two windows on a red-clad building.
Wooden directory board titled 'DIRECTORY' with three columns of black nameplates listing shops, cafés and services in chalk-style text against a white wall.

Wood Street Market

Orange 'Corner Coffee Shop' on a street corner with pavement seating, upper flats above, a red bus and cranes beneath a cloudy sky.
Corner shop with colourful geometric panels (145) and an armchair displayed in the window, blue door marked 145A; pedestrians stand by a Brandon Road street sign.

Wood Street, Walthamstow E17

Turquoise two-storey timber-fronted house on Marlowe Road, sandwiched between taller buildings with a cobbled street in front.

Small Green House, on Marlow Road, Walthamstow E17

Colourful mural of a pointing hand with painted nails and a bracelet on a teal diamond, 'MARKET' stencilled on a white brick wall.

Wood Street Indoor Market

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