Day 16: Tower Bridge to the Thames Barrier - 10.5 miles

Monday 4 October 2010

After a delay of a few weeks due to injury (always a risk with well honed athletes) and holidays, we began the final push to the Barrier. The day started with light rain and a walk from London Bridge station to the home of my cousin Claudine near Tower Bridge for coffee and croissants. So it was a little later than usual that we set of on the south bank past the Design Museum and the network of converted Victorian dockland buildings.

As we entered Bermondsey we came across the life sized statue of a Doctor Salter and his daughter. Neither of us had heard of Dr Salter, who it seems was a local benefactor in the 1920s, but he provided a good opportunity for a couple of photos.

Through Rotherhithe the path goes through tall warehouses before opening up around St Mary’s Church. The church was completed in 1716 and designed by John James, an associate of Sir Christopher Wren.

The church has connections with the Pilgrim Fathers, as the Mayflower sailed from Rotherhithe in 1620 and Christopher Jones, Master of the Ship, is buried in the churchyard. Just across from the church there is an eighteenth century school with two carved figures of schoolchildren on the wall.

A little further on is the engine house built by Brunel to drain the Thames Tunnel. The building is now a small museum dedicated to Brunel and the tunnel is part of London Underground.

The area has numerous examples of interesting industrial heritage, particularly some of the bridges around the docks. It was therefore something of a surprise to come across the Surrey Docks Farm in such a built up area. This is a working farm that is open to the public and even has a small cafe. It was a little too soon to stop after our earlier coffee so we pressed on through Deptford towards Greenwich.

Just before Greenwich there is a waterfront statue to Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia who came to Deptford to learn about shipbuilding in 1698. It is a rather elaborate statue, but provided a photo opportunity for your intrepid walkers.

The waterfront at Greenwich, as readers will know, is dominated by the Royal Naval College, built from 1696 as a hospital for seamen and now forms part of the National Maritime Museum. Unfortunately we could not see much of the building as it was being used as a film set for Pirates of the Caribbean 4 due out next year, so the photo below is one from the internet. We failed to spot Penelope Cruz so instead went for lunch.

Lunch today was at the Trafalgar Tavern just along from the Naval College. The pub was built in 1837 on the site of an older establishment and occupies a great spot overlooking the river. Immediately outside is a statue of Nelson. Apparently, the pub was known for its whitebait suppers, with distinguished diners such as Charles Dickens, William Thackeray and Wilkie Collins arriving by river. The wedding breakfast scene in Our Mutual Friend is set by Dickens in the pub. We continued with this tradition and lunched on whitebait and an excellent Cornish Ale.

Beyond Greenwich the path goes through a much more industrial area and there are many diversions around various building works. We even got lost at one point and wandered into a construction site. There is not really very much to report on this section of the river until we reached the Millennium Dome, now known as the O2. This iconic structure has worn well and surrounding waterfront provides great views of the river a Canary Wharf beyond.

Not long after the O2 we got our first sight of the Thames Barrier. We were hoping to see the stainless steel hoods of the barrier glinting in the sun, but as the day remained grey the view was a little different, albeit still impressive.

Just after the Barrier and on the way to the visitor centre there is a mural on the wall showing the entire length of the Thames from the source in Kemble to the Barrier. The total distance is 184 miles and the drop in height 105 metres. Thankfully for us we were walking down hill.

We were met at the end of our walk by Neil and Cynthia, friends of Chris and sponsors of our efforts, and Gill who represented Woking Hospice and the purpose of our fundraising. Neil and Cynthia kindly provided champagne and cake to mark the completion of 16 days of walking (mostly using Nordic poles) and completion of the Thames Path.

By way of a footnote, you may have noticed over the last 7 months, by the difference in writing styles, that this blog has been a co-operative effort and that Steve and I have taken it in turns to write the text.

I have personally thoroughly enjoyed walking the Thames Path and never would have anticipated 18 months ago that I would have either attempted it or achieved it. I would also like to add that it has been the greatest of pleasures to walk these 184 miles with Steve who has been the most entertaining and forgiving of companions and has put up with many of my jokes, 'interesting' facts and aches and pains.

We would also like to thank all of you generous people out there who have supported us by donating to Woking Hospice. People in this community will have a more comfortable time in the depths of their illnesses due to your kindness.

So time for us both to hang up our boots and take a well earned rest! Bye for now.

Chris Hacking and Steve Hickford - 8 October 2010.