20 Attractions to Explore Near Parndon Wood Nature Reserve

North Weald Airfield is an operational general aviation aerodrome located in North Weald Bassett – Epping Forest, Essex. It was an important fighter station during the Battle of Britain. Although unlicensed it is home to many private aircraft and historic types, and is host to a wide range of events throughout the year, including the Air-Britain Classic Fly-in and smaller airshows.

Copped Hall is a fine Georgian mansion that is currently under restoration. It is superbly sited on a ridge overlooking its landscaped parkland.

Rye Meads is a 58.5-hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Rye House, Hertfordshire. It is one of series of wetlands and reservoirs situated along the River Lea. This delightful wetland reserve beside the River Lee is a firm favourite with walkers, birdwatchers and photographers thanks to its many trails and hides. The HMWT site is an ancient flood meadow that has a variety of habitats including reedbed, marshy grassland and fen. It is grazed by ponies and water buffalo.

Harlow, The Gibberd Garden is an inspirational Grade II listed garden. Designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd, a leading Twentieth Century architect and Master Planner of Harlow. The garden comprises of formal lawns, streams and glades, a mature lime avenue, a wild garden with a tangle of paths, 90 artefacts and sculptures and a moated castle.

Lowewood Museum showcases the history of the Borough of Broxbourne. Discover the history of the local area from prehistoric times to the present day. Explore the stories of those who have lived and worked here, from Royal Academy artist James Ward to the Pulhams of Broxbourne, one of the most important garden designers of the Victorian era.

This was once one of the largest Augustinian abbeys in the country. The remains of some of the abbey buildings can still be seen today, including the gatehouse and the passage from the cloisters to the sleeping quarters. Its beautiful rose gardens also provide plenty of benches and picnic tables to relax.

River Lee Country Park is a 1,000-acre park with a variety of activities for all ages to enjoy, great for families with young children to couples, walkers, cyclists, and wildlife watchers. The park follows the course of River Lee and has green spaces, country parks, nature reserves, and lakes and sports centers.

The Abbey Church of Waltham Holy Cross and St Lawrence is the parish church of the town of Waltham Abbey, Essex, England. It has been a place of worship since the 7th century. The present building dates mainly from the early 12th century and is an example of Norman architecture. To the east of the existing church are traces of an enormous eastward enlargement of the building, begun following the re-foundation of the abbey in 1177.

The Royal Gunpowder Mills is a great place for families to spend days out exploring the secret history of gunpowder, explosives and rocket propellants and so more. It is a Scheduled Monument with over 20 listed buildings. It is also designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest for it wildlife. Its alder woodland is undergoing conservation.

The East Herts Miniature Railway is situated in the Van Hage Garden Centre, Great Amwell near Ware, Hertfordshire. This fantastic, 7¼" gauge railway completes two circuits of beautifully landscaped gardens and includes a trip over a pond and through a tunnel! Tickets for the railway cost just £1 per passenger. The railway opening times are from 11am-5pm on Saturdays and Bank Holidays . 10:30am-4.30 pm on Sundays. A special mid-week service operates during school holidays on Tuesdays and Thursday

Lee Valley White Water Centre is a white-water slalom centre, that was constructed to host the canoe slalom events of the London 2012 Olympic Games. It offers a range of white water activities including white water rafting on the London 2012 Olympic course, corporate days, hen and stag parties, children's parties, and much more.

Henry Moore Studios & Gardens is the workplace and family home of 20th-century sculptor Henry Moore: with over 70 acres of sculpture gardens & rolling fields. It has a display of over 20 of Moore's world-famous, monumental sculptures; showcasing his work as he intended, against the landscape he shaped. The Foundation supports innovative sculpture projects through a global grants program, runs exhibitions and research worldwide, and conserves the legacy of Moore himself.

It occupies the southwestern part of the county at the northeastern edge of Greater London. The name also refers to an ancient tract of woodland that crosses the district. The original forest was a royal hunting ground that was gradually enclosed. It contains areas of woodland, grassland, heath, rivers, bogs, and ponds, and its elevation and thin gravelly soil historically made it unsuitable for agriculture.

Paradise Wildlife Park is a majestic family-run animal park located in Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, England. The zoo is home to over 800 animals including Amur tigers, white lions, snow leopards, European wolves as well as African penguins, red pandas, Green anacondas, Two-toed sloths, lemurs, meerkats, Bactrian camels, Plain's zebras, Brazilian tapirs, and many more.

The New River is neither new nor a river. It is a water supply aqueduct, completed in 1613, to bring drinking water from Hertfordshire to North London. It used to go from New Gauge in Hertford down as far as Sadlers Wells in Clerkenwell but now the overground waterway now ends at Stoke Newington though there are some ornamental waters along its route south of Stoke Newington.

World of Dinosaurs at Paradise is now one of the UK’s biggest Dinosaur attractions and features thirty, moving, snapping, roaring dinosaur models. From cunning Velociraptors, to vast Brachiosaurus, from terrifying Spinosaurus to unpronounceable Pachycephalosaurus, plus of course, a mighty T Rex, they are all here! There’s a Dino Dig area too plus lots of other Dinosaur themed treats for all the family.

Cedars Park has been a popular public park since it was first gifted to the people of Cheshunt in 1919. For 100 years the park has provided essential space for quiet recreation in a landscape of lawns, woodland and formal gardens. The park has received a Green Flag Award every year since 2009, rewarding it for promoting standards of good management for green spaces.

A large grotto, built by a Quaker poet in the 1760s and restored by the Ware society. It survives from an eighteenth-century rococo garden. It is a Grade I listed building and with six chambers the most extensive shell grotto in the United Kingdom. The grotto is set into the northeast face of a hill, and comprises an entrance hall and a series of six chambers extending over 65 feet into and 30 feet below the chalk hillside, together with air shafts, light wells, and connecting passages.

The Epping Ongar Railway is a preserved railway, which runs along the last section of the old Great Eastern Railway and London Underground Central line branch line. Take one seat in one of the period coaches and watch the train pass through beautiful countryside from Ongar to North Weald, from here you can catch the heritage rail shuttle which takes you through Epping Forest and so more.

The woods are part of a wider, very large area of Sessile Oak and Hornbeam woodland at the northern most part of its natural range. Both woods contain protected Sites of Special Scientific Interest, one area in Broxbourne Wood undergoing significant restoration to a more open landscape with grazing animals.