London walks – My London+

Canning Town to Isle of Dogs

Looking towards Canary Wharf (No that’s not grass but chickweed!)

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.

Leamouth Peninsular from Bow Creek Ecological Park

Trinity Buoy Wharf Lighthouse and Faraday Museum

River Thames looking towards the Emirates Cable Car

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.

There are lots of new apartments around the Thames and inner docks, and building is still going on.

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.

View of the O2 building across the River Thames

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!

Three balls and mirror (my name for this!)

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.

Millwall Dock looking back to Canary Wharf

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.

Two walks – two different days

It was the least cold day of the week! Not sunny, but I was determined to do some walking last week. As it happened, I did two walks. The second one was on a bitterly cold day. I’ll come to that in a moment.

The first walk was in Richmond Park. I managed to drag my son along and we entered by Robin Hood Gate. My idea was to walk a different part than last time, and the aim was to exit at Richmond Gate. We walked to Roehampton Gate where we stopped for lunch in the cafe. Something hot before we ventured out again. From there we edged along the side of the park, finding all sorts of pedestrian gates I knew nothing about (I know mainly the main gates where cars and pedestrians have access). There was a trundle up a hill (I’m not good on hills!) for a nice view back towards Roehampton before the last push towards Richmond.

The first thing you see when you exit Richmond Gate is The Royal Star & Garter Home. Now dedicated at World Heritage Site, the home is accommodation and nursing for up to 180 ex-servicemen. Nearby is the RSPCA memorial.

Walking down Richmond Hill, you come to some magnificent views across the River Thames and towards London. We then caught a bus outside the Poppy Factory to go home.

View across The Thames from Richmond Hill

On the second walk, I retraced the steps of my old ‘lockdown’ route towards The Hamptons Wetlands and across the ‘horse field’. I left early, and the day was all blue sky and freezing! I wanted to photograph birds and, of course, horses. There were not as many birds at the wetlands that day. The heron and the Egyptian Geese weren’t there, but I did manage to photograph a Robin, Swan and gulls.

Robin – rather poor lighting and it wouldn’t keep still!

Not sure if this is heavy frost or light dusting of snow

Coming across the horse field, I was fascinated by a horse and foal. I spent rather too long taking photos and my poor fingers froze. But it was worth it.

On the way home I spotted a little Christmas tree (Conifer) outside a newsagents. I’d been looking for one for my writing/hobby room, so I bought it.

My wee Christmas tree. I’ve named her Mavis, and she is getting to know Basil!

Images of London

I have been to London several times over the last week or so, so I thought I’d share a few photos of places and nature. I took a couple walks, one of which was from Imperial Wharf to Wandsworth Bridge where I crossed the bridge, walked to Battersea Bridge, crossed back and wandered down Cheyne Walk before carrying on to Vauxhall. This will give you a flavour of my wanderings! Enjoy.

A busy Waterloo station the night a train had broken down and platforms 1-6 were unable to be used!

River Thames between Battersea and Wandsworth Bridge

Thomas Carlyle’s House, Chelsea (writer)

Helicopter landing at Heliport near Battersea

Imperial Wharf Gardens (river to the right)

No 16 Cheyne Walk, the former home of Gabriel Dante Rossetti (artist and keeper of Wombats!)

Home of the Chelsea Pensioners and also grounds (now cleared) for the annual Chelsea Flower Show

Thames Path – two walks

Tower Bridge closing – taken from the north bank

Last week I took two walks along two different parts of the Thames Path. The first was with a friend, along the north bank from London Bridge to Wapping, the second was from Datchet to Windsor in Berkshire.

The first walk took us over Tower Bridge, but we had to wait because the bridge was open to let a boat through. All the years I have been coming to London, this was the first time I had seen the bridge open and close. As it happened, we saw this happen twice, once going, and once coming back! Amazing.

Tower bridge – open. Taken on the South bank

Once over the bridge we walked to St Katherine’s Dock where we stopped for lunch., sitting on a bench overlooking the water. Afterwards we ambled around the dock admiring all the boats and the apartments. Some of these are old warehouses that have been converted.

Soon we found our way to Wapping. Here there are several good pubs. I have visited the Prospect of Whitby in the past, a pub that has a noose hanging outside its back window overlooking the Thames. Here criminals were executed. The pub is also well worth visiting as it has lots of original features. However, today that pub was further than we wanted to walk. But there was one place I wanted to see, and that was Wapping Old Stairs which run alongside the pub called Town of Ramsgate. The pub dates from the 1400’s and the steps was where the fishermen of Ramsgate (in Kent) brought their catches and landed them at Wapping Old Stairs.

The Thames. On the shore having come down Wapping Old Stairs. Oliver’s Wharf

Today we walked down the alleyway and down the stairs. They take you right onto the Thames. Using the handrail is a good idea as the tide comes up over the steps and they can be rather slimy. But it was exciting to stand where fishermen once had hauled their load in here. Crazy that I didn’t take a photo of the stairs themselves, I was that excited! I’m sure I will be going back.

Rather in need of refreshment we thought about visiting the pub, but we walked on a little further until we came to the Captain Kidd pub. This looked like it was closed from the outside. There is nothing much to see, but we walked through open doorway into an alleyway that led to the pub. Here we stopped to have tea (very English!) and sat in the courtyard garden overlooking the Thames. The pub stands on the execution sight of the pirate Captain Kidd, though before becoming a pub in the 1980’s, this building was a workshop and a coffee warehouse.

After refreshing cups of tea, we headed back up river and this time crossed at London Bridge. If you like a pub crawl, then Wapping is a good place to do it! The history of those places wraps around you.

A nice sculpture for Berkeley Homes, North Bank

Datchet to Windsor

On Friday I took the opportunity of reasonably good weather to pick up my Thames Path walk upstream. Last time I finished at Datchet. This time I was doing a very short section – a two mile walk along the Thames to Royal Windsor. The day started badly with difficulty getting train tickets as my local train station ticket office was closed. I won’t bore you with all the details, but I ended up running the length of Clapham Junction station to buy a ticket there (having been directed the wrong way to the machines that could not provide the discounts I am entitled to). I caught my train with three minutes to spare. In a little over half an hour I was in Datchet.

A nice green path off the road down to the Thames

The first part of the walk was on the road, which was extra busy (and I was soon to find out why). The path was then easy going between trees and foliage on both sides. I became aware that on the other side of the river there was some sort of horsey event taking place. I Googled it and found it was The Royal Windsor Horse Show.

Looks like I have coincided with a horse show!

Coming up the steps and onto Victoria Bridge I admired the horses. However, walking a little way on, I realised that there were barriers up and I had no access to the Thames Path on that side. I stopped someone on the road to ask about it and he said I’d have to use the road. I was beginning to think it wasn’t my day!

So I carried on along the busy main road into Windsor itself. My intention was to spend the day looking around Windsor, as I’d not been here in many years. It took a while for me to remember it.

I have to admit that everything that had happened that morning had left me rather stressed. I saw there was a church open, so I decided to go and pay a visit. Whatever your take on religion, you cannot deny the absolute calm of standing in a church away from the noise of traffic and people.

The Last Supper, Light of the World, Royal Pew

St John the Baptist church was rather dark (comes out lighter in the photos), but it was lovely and had two great paintings – The Last Supper and Holman Hunt’s The Light of the World. Outside, I sat on a bench in the church garden overlooking the street and ate my packed lunch.

Finally, I made my way down to the river, stopping off in Alexandra Gardens for a cup of tea. The promenade was lovely and teeming with ducks and swans. The sun came out as I walked. This part of Windsor held surprises like the Hawker Hurricane and Baths Island. I actually laid down at Baths Island. It was relaxing with just the putt, putt of boats up and down the Thames.

Slowly, I made my way back into Windsor and decided to head over the bridge and into Eton to see the famous college. Eton has a lovely high street with cafes and independent shops. I went into an antique book shop and almost bought a book, before heading to the college. Wow! What a place. It really is something else.

On my way back I stopped off at a lovely veggie/vegan cafe for tea and cake and sat at a table outside watching the world go by.

Back over the bridge, I walked through another park with a maze and a very gentle game of bowls was taking place. I was thinking about catching the train back home when I decided to walk further along the Thames Path in the direction of Datchet to see how far I could get. As it turned out I almost completed the walk because from this side the path ran alongside the far side of Home Park. However, eventually I came to the trailers and horse boxes and knew I might have to turn around. I came across a nice man with a gorgeous horse and asked him about getting through. He advised me that I could not walk much further before coming to barriers. He suggested I walk through the field of trailers and horse boxes, following the metal road, and out through the security gate. I asked if I would be allowed to do that. He said, ‘Yes, but if not, I’ll see you ten minutes!’ So, I that’s what I did. There was something beautiful about the sounds of neighing and snorted horses (I’ve always loved horses), but I just kept walking and I even had a little banter with the security guard!

Back onto Victoria Bridge and on my way to Datchet

Back onto the road, Victoria Bridge was just around the corner and I was back on the Thames Path and was on my way to Datchet. This was not how I’d planned it, but in the end I had walked all but a small section of the river on the original path. I had walked close to ten miles in all!

Stormy weather in London

Today in England more Covid restrictions were lifted. Now we can eat/drink inside cafe’s and restaurants. Museums and art galleries are once more open, or will be opening in the next few days. A friend and I had arranged to walk somewhere in London today, but the weather this month has been pretty rainy. So we decided that somewhere around London Bridge would give us more places to dive into when the showers came. This worked well.

First off, we walked to Southwark Cathedral for a quick amble round before heading to their cafe for lunch and a good chat. We sat outside because we hit a sunny interval. It was so warm we took off our jackets. However, we had to dive inside with our cups of tea when a cloud burst arrived.

There goes the diet! (Note takeaway bag. I took half home)

We then took a chance and walked towards Hays Galleria, yet we had to dive under cover in London Bridge station for a few minutes before we made it. I spotted a book shop (Riverside Bookshop). I’d not come across this one before so it warranted a look. Of course I found a book to buy, as you do (well, at least me!). We walked through the Galleria and out to the Thames and walked to Tower Bridge and onwards to the edges of Bermondsey to where the River Neckinger meets the Thames. Behind us the clouds were gathering for a storm, so we headed back and took shelter at One Tower Bridge. Thank goodness we made it, as it really was a cloud burst, with thunder and lightning. The photo above was taken shortly after the storm.

Neckinger River (the River Thames is behind me)

It was getting late so we headed back to London Bridge where we went our separate ways. This is just a short part of the Thames Path (south side). There are lots of things to see. I particularly like Shad Thames where the warehouses used to be. Here, in the past, men would come to the gates each morning to see if they could get work for half a day. The area was regenerated some years ago and the warehouses converted into apartments and shops. I’d love to look inside one of the apartments, but unless you have a few million, you won’t get to buy one!

It was a lovely walk today, despite the weather. It good to be back in London again. I’m sure I will be back again very soon.

London into Tier 3

Tottenham Court Road Tube Station (one of several exits)

Well, we knew it was coming, but today we have been told that on Wednesday 16th London will go into the higher tier, tier 3. Cafes and restaurtants can only serve takeaways and tourist attractions have to close. I don’t know as yet how long these new restrictions will last, but I’m guessing until Christmas.

I did manage a trip out today to the British Museum (I knew a decision on the tiers was coming this week, so decided to get in quick!). I’ll post about that shortly. Meanwhile, I wanted to highlight another blogger, namely The Flashpacker. Her latest post highlights some self-guided London walks (with maps) I thought might be of interest. She also mentions some lesser known museums that I have also visited and can vouch for whole heartedly. Do check out her website and see her London walks.

And now I am keeping my eyes open for good days to get out and walk!