The sprawling county of Essex in east London is not a major tourist destination. With all London has to offer to the west and more popular spots like the English Riviera and Cambridge calling from the east, Essex and its lush reaches of Epping Forest go unnoticed — unless you’re an East London biker.
For more than 85 years, there’s been a simple outdoor tea hut along a stretch of Epping Forest called High Beech. Behind its obvious titular product, it serves hearty breakfasts, sausage sandwiches and other typical English morning cuisine. It’s cash only with only outdoor seating, so the London weather doesn’t always treat the hut well.
Despite its remote location, the tea hut become a weekend destination and social spot over the decades for London motorcyclists looking to take a break during their morning forest rides while showing off their beloved bikes. It’s a very “off the radar” hang out unless you spend your Sunday morning in riding leathers and a helmet.
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A couple years ago, this two-wheeler landmark almost went the way of so many beautiful, rugged entities in this often bloodless, cowardly world. London governmental authorities swooped in on the bikers’ tea party and threatened to shut it all down because that’s what governments do best — ruin good things and happy times.
As the smiling faces above indicate, the hut still stands tall in Epping Forest as a rowdy petition and online protest thwarted the London overlords overreach. The whole episode only proves what I’ve always known: You don’t get between a leather clad biker and his tea cakes.
