A new ticket deal from the Epping Ongar Railway makes it cheaper to take a heritage train trip on the edges of London.
Rather than an all-day pass, the railway is now offering single tickets, that encourage people to take a heritage train to Ongar, then take a countryside walk back — or head off somewhere else entirely.
The Railway Rambler ticket has been designed to encourage people to travel to this rural part of Essex by public transport and the walk from Ongar takes in some lovely sights including Greensted Church, the world’s oldest wooden church.
Having done the walk myself, it’s quite delightful. An hour or so in Ongar visiting the remains of an old castle and some old churches, then a countryside walk to the old wooden church, then amble slowly back to Epping.
The Railway Rambler ticket is £7 for adults and £3.50 for children and includes a heritage bus pick-up at Epping tube station at 9:45am to take you to the railway, then a train trip to Ongar just after 10am.
Although the Epping Ongar Railway offers steam train trips, the first train of the day is usually a vintage diesel service. If walking back to Epping, there’s plenty of places to watch the trains as well.
I can recommend the pubs too, having been a denizen of Debden and there’s the former RAF base at North Weald which is very much alive too. Eppin’ to Ongar is simply splendidly sylvan as is the bit back towards London, especially from the curvaceously canopied Loughton. Happy days!