So getting onto the A12 southbound. Why is there a cattle grid on the ramp leading onto the A12? Is it to stop the Essex girls with their heels? Or the cattle that Wanstead is so well known for !? :crazy:
Whatever the reason, it gave me a little moment when the bike, at an angle as I’m banked coming off the round about, drifted a little as I crossed them :pinch:
Surely its not necessary?
there used to be loads of cows in leytonstone in the early 90’s (i think), no idea why but we’ve got a picture of a cow outside our house
At one time there were commoners grazing rights around that area and Wanstead Flats and every summer there was the nightmare of herds of cows allowed to roam around the roads.The A12 has been built since that all ended,my thought is maybe its for Deer as they are quite common in bits of the Forest.
As for the cattle grid I normally pick the bike up for that grid and then get it banked over again:cool:
When I worked at the AA in the late eighties early nineties, we used to have patrolmen helping the police round up cattle or horses with their towropes round there at least once a year.
Fascinating 
I’ll watch out for the wildlife in future.
And although I quite like the drift effect the grid causes, I think I will stand the bike up in future …
http://www.wansteadwildlife.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=300&Itemid=504 :w00t:
The day I passed my driving test in 1983 I pulled off the front of my parent’s house onto the road in Leytonstone and found a cow eating the flowers and bushes. At no point during my driving lessons had it come up what I should do when faced with a cow in a narrow sidestreet in east London. So I just sat and waited for the cow to move on. I also know of someone who, in the mid-80s, hit a cow with his car near the Whipps X roundabout. Made a bloody awful mess of his Audi. But even now, coming across cattle is still possible:
Cattle grazing on the Forest is continuing through 2011The City of London has purchased the herd of English Longhorn from the previous grazier E.W Davies Ltd and appointed Wildlife and Countryside services to manage the grazing service from Mid May 2011 to the end of March 2012.
The Conservators of Epping Forest will be seeking tenders for a cattle-grazier for Epping Forest and parts of its ‘Buffer Lands’ to start in spring 2012. This is to continue the established pattern of targeted conservation grazing across different sites within this popular public open space. The contract is initially three years (but with potential for the contract to be extended by a further three years)
The contract is a key element in the delivery of a 25-year grazing strategy, which was approved by the Conservators in 2006. The strategy aims to expand and make sustainable traditional, conservation led grazing across a larger number of sites and a greater area of Epping Forest and the Buffer Lands. Therefore, the Conservators would like to see this phase as making an important contribution to the longer-term ambition of the Grazing Strategy.
Drifting on cattle grid, not necessary, not necessary at all …
Did you stick to the 30 mph speed limit and observe the cattle grid warning triangle, or just grab a handful of throttle when you saw the 40 sign 
You should try it in the wet! I hit it once when it was pi**ing down, the rear slid out for a millisecond, not enough to lose it, but enough to warrant new underwear :w00t:
Now I always take it easy when heading over them.
There’s also one coming off the northbound side up to the roundabout just at the point when you’d want to break if the lights change on you, but I always try to avoid breaking across it. They really aren’t in the best place for us bikers… :crazy:
Interesting, but it does all sound like were back in Lundenwic times :w00t:
You should be careful of your back at your age!!;):P:D
This site explains it…scroll down to "Cattle Grid"http://exploringeastlondon.co.uk/eel/Leytonstone/Leytonstone.htm
Essex girls in heels…<giggles> 
