London Outer Orbital Path: Rainham to Purfleet via RSPB Rainham Marshes walk

An easy birdwatching walk in Outer East London along an atmospheric section of the London LOOP via the RSPB reserve at Rainham marshes.

History

This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.

Date Option Post # Weather
Sun, 04-Feb-24 Sunday Walk: Rainham to Purfleet or back. 6 cloudy breezy
Sun, 20-Nov-22 Sunday Walk – Rainham to Purfleet via RSPB reserve 13 sunny and dry
Sun, 11-Dec-16 Sunday Walk 2 – A Nature Reserve on the Thames Path 1
Sun, 13-Dec-15 Sunday Walk 2 – The Thames Path and a Nature Reserve 3
Sat, 22-Feb-14 Rainham to Purfleet, including RSPB Rainham Marshes 16
Sun, 03-Mar-13 Rainham to Purfleet, including RSPB Rainham Marshes 7
Mr M Tiger
Mr M Tiger

Rainham to Purfleet: 8.3 km (5.1 mi).
Rainham to Purfleet including circuit of RSPB reserve: 12.6 km (7.9 m) .
There is also a return route to Rainham. This adds 3km. (1.9 mi) to the above.
Toughness 0 out of 10, (it says here)
An easy walk, completely flat, well signposted and on tarmac or other hard surfaces..The route is evocative and atmospheric with fine views across the River Thames and the marshes. Along the riverside path, there are some concrete barges, abandoned landing craft made for the 1944 “D” Day landings. Artworks include 'The Diver', and various reminders of local characters, pirates etc.
The RSPB Reserve at Rainham Marshes has an excellent visitor centre, with a café, shop and toilet facilities. There’s no longer an entry charge and a circuit of the reserve is now included in the main directions. (The reserve’s tarmac and gravel paths can get waterlogged after wet weather, so appropriate footwear recommended).
Travel:
Get the 10:35 Grays train from Fenchurch Street Station (nearest tube, Tower Hill). This stops at Limehouse 10:39, West Ham 10:44, Barking 10:50, arriving Rainham at 10:58.
Trains return from Purfleet at xx:58 and 28, and from Rainham at xx:03 and 33.
Rainham station is in London Travel Zone 6. Purfleet is one stop beyond.
You have to be skilled in the dark arts to get discounts out of the ticket machines at Fenchurch St but the ticket office (at platform level) should be open.
Directions: here t=swc.172
Lunch: Rainham Marshes RSPB Visitor Centre Café, New Tank Hill Rd, Purfleet (01708 899 840).
Tea: Purfleet ending: Royal Hotel, Purfleet., London Road (01708 860 852). 450m from the end of the walk. Although it looks boarded up, recent reviews suggest it is open.
Rainham ending: The Phoenix, A community-run pub, near the station.

  • Sun, 04-Feb-24

    6 on a cloudy breezy day The morning stretch was indeed interesting as was the walk round the reserve. We sat in the hides. There were some ducks and stuff, none obligingly close, and a flappy swoopy thing I took to be a lapwing. But what do I know.

    The visitor centre was crowded. Some may have got coffee but I think it was mainly a picnic oriented lunch.

    We all took the route back to Rainham which 2 of us found a bit grim. A lot of it along the service road for the landfill site. The distance back to Rainham from the reserve could have been clearer. It was misinterpreted as being 3km when what was meant was “3k more than the distance to Purfleet”. So more like 3 miles, then.

    C2c had halved the number of trains. Four raced ahead to get the 3:33 . Two lumbered along and just missed it. A visit to the Phoenix ensued . Noisy, crowded with wall to wall sports tv. We sat outside. I’ll stick to the Purfleet end in future. Even if it does cost £1.95 more.

Extra Walk 172 – Rainham to Purfleet via RSPB reserve

Length: 8.4 km (5.2 miles), plus around 4 km (2.5 miles) if you do a circuit of the reserve. Toughness: 1/10

11:05 Shoeburyness train from Fenchurch Street (Limehouse 11:09, West Ham 11:14, Barking 11:20), arriving Rainham (in TfL Zone 6) at 11:28. There are several ways to connect with this train en route, eg. Jubilee or District line at West Ham.

Trains back from Purfleet to Fenchurch Street are at xx:28 & xx:58. You could buy a Zones 1-6 Travelcard plus a single from Purfleet to Rainham on the way back, or simply use Oyster PAYG/contactless for both journeys as Purfleet (the next station down the line) is in the extended Oyster fare zone.

Rainham Marshes This walk along the “evocative and atmospheric” Thames Path is pitched by its author as a ‘preamble’ before visiting the RSPB's Rainham Marshes nature reserve, but non-birdwatchers should also find enough to hold their interest. After ninety minutes of mud-free walking you'll be able to admire a panoramic view over the reserve from the café inside its visitor centre, which is open to non-visitors. If you choose to enter the site, it's free to RSPB members and residents of Havering or Thurrock, otherwise £6.

From the visitor centre Purfleet station is about 1 km away, with the Royal Hotel en route if you want further refreshment. The newly-revised walk document also includes a dotted line on the map showing a slightly different route back to Rainham station, if you want to try that instead; it's 5 km from the south-western exit gate on the reserve. The trains call there five minutes after Purfleet.

You'll need to bring the directions from the L=swc.172

  • Thu, 17-Nov-22

    Walk fully updated after a walk check yesterday. Please don't use directions printed off before now, as some things have changed.

    Bird sightings last week: 11 types of waders, 4 of raptors, 8 of wildfowl, 2 of heron, 9 of small birds.

  • Sun, 20-Nov-22

    13 and a small dog set off on this foray. A day miraculously sunny and dry after a gloomy, wet outlook. Not the most rural of walks but plenty to interest nonetheless. The group split on entering the marshes into mainwalkers and Thameswalkers I followed the latter group through what seemed like a hogweed forest and along the river. A route peppered with mysterious, mildly witty signs and mock gravestones. (I don’t know either). We passed some concrete barges left over from D-day. People kept stopping to look at ducks through their ‘bins’ (I could have told them what they were. Ducks)

    Refreshment was taken at the RSPB centre. More people with ‘bins’. Some of us stayed for a look round the reserve some planned a circuit back to Rainham and others, including yours truly went straight to Purfleet.

    There was a bit of a flap there with trains cancelled for what looked like another hour maybe longer. We had just about given up all hope when one turned up unannounced and whisked us away. The second miracle of the day.

Extra Walk 172 – Rainham to Purfleet via RSPB reserve
Length: About 12.8 km (8 miles). Toughness: 1/10

10:19 Grays train from Fenchurch Street (Limehouse 10:23, West Ham 10:28, Barking 10:34), arriving Rainham at 10:42. There are several ways to connect with this train en route, eg. Jubilee or District line at West Ham.

Trains back from Purfleet to Fenchurch Street are at 06 & 36 minutes past the hour. Rainham is in TfL Zone 6 and Purfleet just outside it, but you can use Oyster at both stations.

This isn't really a country walk, more a stroll on surfaced paths along the “evocative and atmospheric” (translator's note: bleak) Thames Path on the capital's eastern fringe. In less than two hours you'll reach the RSPB's Rainham Marshes reserve, where the café is open to non-visitors for lunch and/or tea. There's a good view across the nature reserve from the visitor centre but RSPB members will probably want to spend the afternoon exploring it (£5 entry for non-members) before heading for Purfleet station. However, you could devise a route back to Rainham or even continue along the Thames Path to Grays, though I understand that this extension isn't particularly rewarding.

You'll need to print the directions from the Extra Walk 172 page. T=swc.172
  • David Colver
    Sun, 11-Dec-16

    1. Just me on this walk, on a day bright_enough_to_give_slight_sunburn. The designated train wasn't running, so it was necessary to take one bound for somewhere else as far as Barking, then a bus. Possibly others did something similar before or after me, but I never saw them if they did.

    The RSPB cafe was much as these things always are, save that it was rather cramped due to the erection of a Christmas Fair in the restaurant, with most of the tables in course of diversion to the display of craft wares of that rather earnest kind most likely to test recipients' skills in feigning gratitude when they appear as Christmas presents in two weeks time.

    The Royal Hotel 500m beyond the RSPB is so beaten up that it looked abandoned from the river. The impression was reinforced in the car park on other side of the building, where the first car had a completely flat tyre and had obviously travelled nowhere in some time. The grass was unmown and the plants in the window boxes look like plants in any window boxes I have ever owned, ie dead. The sign announcing the name and owner had been removed from high up on the wall, leaving its outline on the paint. The place was in fact open, but looked so frayed that I didn't dare venture beyond the lobby. I suggest it is removed in the walk notes until someone braver than me determines that it is as a viable lunch stop.

    The notes have this walk just right. It's not a country walk, but it's a distinctive corner of the country that I'm glad to have had the opportunity to see.

  • David F
    Sun, 11-Dec-16

    I planned to do the walk as well today, but started at the previous stage of the LOOP (Upminster Bridge), adding 4 miles to the walk. I got to Rainham station and saw that no trains were running, so decided to return to Barking and southeast London. I've walked the LOOP four times, so know the Rainham to Purfleet stretch very well. I recommend doing the extra four miles from Upminster Bridge tube station if this walk is done again. It's mud-free, so can be done any time of year.

Extra Walk 172 – Rainham to Purfleet via RSPB reserve
Length: About 12.8 km (8 miles). Toughness: 1/10

10:19 Grays train from Fenchurch Street (Limehouse 10:23, West Ham 10:28, Barking 10:34), arriving Rainham at 10:42. There are several ways to connect with this train en route, eg. Jubilee or District line at West Ham.

Trains back from Purfleet to Fenchurch Street are at 06 & 36 minutes past the hour. Rainham is in TfL Zone 6 and Purfleet just outside it, but you can use Oyster at both stations.

After this prolonged spell of wet'n'windy weather I thought I'd offer one walk where much of the route is on surfaced paths. It's not really a country walk, more a riverside stroll along the “evocative and atmospheric” Thames Path on the capital's eastern fringe. In less than two hours you'll reach the RSPB's Rainham Marshes reserve where you can decide whether to spend the afternoon squinting at the birdlife from the 4 km circuit around the reserve (£5 entry for non-members) before heading for Purfleet station, about 1 km away. The RSPB café is open to non-visitors and you can have lunch and/or tea there as you wish; there's also a large pub (the Royal Hotel) on the way to the station.

You'll need to print the directions from the Extra Walk 172 page.

Optional Adventure: A few weeks ago one of our number toyed with the idea of posting a longer version of this walk past the “dramatic industrial scenery” promised on the Extra Walk 203 page (Rainham to Grays), but feedback from a knowledgeable local about the dire state of the Thames Path on this extension swiftly deterred him. At least one SWC walker has done this in the past and lived to tell the tale, so if you're one of the Sunday hardnuts (© Mr M Tiger) you might like to see for yourself. At your own risk! T=swc.172
  • Mon, 07-Dec-15

    I managed to speak to Thurrock Council recently and they informed me that the vast amount of illegal fly-tipping adjacent to the Thames Path near Purfleet that made the national news back in January this year has now been largely cleared. However this is still a challenging part of the eastern sector of the Thames path and in my view the general environment has badly degraded since I started intermittently walking it in the mid 1990s. You will need a high tolerance of rubbish, graffiti "art" and industrial desolation to "enjoy" this 5 mile stretch. So, do it if you're hard enough!

  • Sat, 12-Dec-15

    My comments re fly-tipping etc relate to the Purflet to Grays section of walk 203, not to any part of walk 172

  • Sun, 13-Dec-15

    Just 3 on this walk. The weather was in two halves: in the morning w= murky-cold-and-drizzly and in the afternoon w= brighter-and-mild. We reached the RSPB cafe about 12.15pm and it was already filling up. We had tasty basic snack meals: baked potatoes with fillings and lots of excellent salad and soup and bread and cake. None of us wanted to do a circuit of the reserve but an RSPB volunteer allowed me to look through his expensive telescope and pointed out some black tailed godwits and a large flock of lapwings.

    We all agreed not to do the short distance back to Purfleet but retraced our steps to Rainham where towards the end we took a different path back to Rainham so we could experience just a little light mud for the proper SWC winter walk experience. We upped the pace for the last 1km to catch a homeward bound train at 2.40pm as it arrived in the station. A gentle and pleasant winter outing by the atmospheric Thames