Another early start for what would be the last official leg of this year’s Thames path walk, although I have plans to venture all the way to the sea sometime before the year is out. The 0601 was running a minute late, it is great that these days you get updates on the station signs for such small delays.
I was on the path by 0700 pretty good time I think. I chose the Southbank because it is more interesting. To start with any how, later on I spent a lot of time having to leave the river’s edge because an apartment block was in the way. It meant I walked a bit further than the map suggested.
I dropped in at Borough market but they were still setting up and not coffee was available. It was not until Greenwich was I able to get a coffee, and a very nice mushroom and halloumi sausage roll at Peyton and Byrne.
I came up with a plan to do some of the north bank, by using the Grenwich foot tunnel, then getting the Dangleway (Emirates Airway) close to the barrier. It meant soing the outside of a large curve, and I found out that the path was not always by the riverside, and spent quite some time walking inland, then back again. Eventually I realised I was at a deadend, with a long walk round, so I got on the DLR at East India and then gor off at Victoria.
When I got off it was clear something was going on there were police everywhere. I stopped and asked one of them what was going on. Apparently there was an Arms exhibition at Excel and there had been deomnstrations earlier in the week. hey were there to keep the peace. I suspect there was facial recognition CCTV about too, a couple of vans with cameras on poles gave the game away.
There was no queue for the Dangleway, and I had a chat with the friendly guy who was ushering people on to the empty gondolas. I had one to myself and made the most of it by taking plenty of video footage in 4K 60fps. Watch this space for the edited video.
It was only a mile or two to the Thames Barrier from the other end of the Dangleway next to the O2 Arena. It did not take long to walk along what is mainly Olympian Way, with lots of riverside apartments. When I got to the barrier a dark cloud came over but the barrier was in the sun, a Thames barge came throigh for a lovely sight worthy of a photo.
I walked through and industrial esate to a main road then got a bus to Woolwih and headed down to the Arsenal. On the way I stopped off at a really friendly cafe and had poached eggs on toast. Down by the river I got a boat all the way back to Embankment which took about 50 minutes.
Back at Euston I had 15 minutes to wait for the 1534 to Tring, and was home at 16:30. The offcial Thames path was done but I plan to return a walk twards Kent and where the sea offically starts, but that will be a story for another day.