This was a wonderful walk, made all the better by a lovely warm sunny day. I woke to rain pouring down. The weather forecast was for the rain to clear, and by the time my friend and I arrived in Canning Town the skies were blue.
We began the walk by visiting Bow Creek Ecological Park (part of the Lee Valley) where I have visited earlier in the year, but unlike the last time I was here, we headed for Trinity Buoy Wharf by way of a different route. At the wharf, we stopped for refreshment at the cafe, sitting outside to enjoy the sunshine.
From the wharf we walked to East India Dock, another place I had visited earlier in the year, but after this, the walk became new to me.
We came to The Gun, a gastro pub, and decided we would lunch there. Unfortunately, there is no chef on Mondays or Tuesdays due to staff shortages. Such a pity as we would have liked to stay. It is an interesting pub and has a lovely garden overlooking the Thames. There is history to this pub as it is said that Horatio Nelson entertained Lady Emma Hamilton in one of the upper rooms, and I noticed one of the downstairs lounges was named Horatio.
We carried on walking, having to come off the Thames Path sometimes. Because of all the apartment building works, it is often difficult to navigate walks as you find parts are off limits. We were mindful of finding somewhere to eat and were told in The Gun that we would find something in Wood Wharf, but Wood Wharf looked a little like a building site! However, we stuck to the opposite bank in South Dock which leads to Canary Wharf. In the end, we bought sandwiches at a Tesco Express and ate them alongside South Dock and then crossed over the bridge into Canary Wharf to use the facilities!
Slightly losing ourselves, I used Google Maps to guide us on the next leg of our walk and on the other side of the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) station we headed into Millwall Dock. This has to be one of the largest docks.
From Millwall Dock we headed towards Millwall Park and across to Island Gardens DLR and our journey’s end at the Isle of Dogs. Why is it called the Isle of Dogs? The most likely explanation (according to Google) is that Henry VIII kennelled his hunting hounds here!
At Island Gardens we found a lovely cafe called Number 92 for a well earned cuppa.
This was such a lovely walk. London keeps on surprising me, and that’s why I love it so much. London and the River Thames and all its other waterways have so much to offer.
Note: Canning Town can be reached on the Jubilee Line Underground from central London at various points. The walk features in the book London Waterside Walks by David Hampshire.
My London+ 