Day 2: Charlton – Rotherhithe

Another bank holiday weekend, and time to continue the walk, this time going on the Thames Path proper. I arrive at Charlton station nice and early and head towards the Green Chain walk via Charlton Athletic’s ground at The Valley. The Green Chain are some walks around south London linking together local parks. This eventually leads down to the Thames Barrier, very close to where I caught my bus two week’s ago.

Suddenly the control buildings for the Barrier appear, and then the Barrier itself. I am right next to it now, on the downstream side. Here there is a sign for the Thames Path with both the barge logo and the acorn. The National Trail starts here and its 180 miles to the Source. A tunnel take you to the other side of the Barrier, where the ‘hero’ view of the Barrier can be seen. The upstream side has large hoods, and despite its age still looks very space age.

Etched into the wall of the tunnel is a representation of the river from mouth to source, name checking towns, tributaries, locks and weirs.

The path from the Barrier is pretty shabby and makes the extension look good. I suspect this may be due to age of the National Trail section, but parts were looking a little unloved. The river here echoed that of Erith again, with wooden piers and industrial sites. A prominent gravel works is one of the obvious sites here and the path heads onto the Greenwich peninsula.

The first buildings of the Greenwich Millennium Village are here, now looking quite old. Although probably very nice flats, the exterior was hideous. Very eighties in red, orange and white. Although made pleasant by the Greenwich Peninsula Ecologic Park (a smallish pond!).

Here the Dome dominates the pathway ahead, but two large tents have appeared on some of the bare land in front of the Dome. As I get closer the noise from them is noticeable – cheers and the sound of footballs being kicked. The northern side of the complex reveals itself to be the David Beckham Academy, one of the England and Real Madrid midfielder's latest business ventures. It seemed popular for the noise, but this is surely a temporary site before the developers finally come in to build the promised residential schemes around the Dome.


Next, on a pier in the river is Quantum Cloud, a sculpture by Anthony Gormley. This is a mass of short scaffolding pieces welded together. The centre is a far dense mass than the outer edges, and from certain angles the human figure (the signature of Gormley’s work) is apparent.

Through the blue fence to the right, now, is the Dome. The ticket huts now standing derelect and empty. Weeds pushing through to tarmac. The pier that once brought visitors here in 2000 is locked off and disused. However, some work is now underway here to convert the place to The O2. But it is very sad that the place has stood empty for so long – and it does show. In needs to be ready for 2012 at least, as some of Olympic events are due to be held here.

On the other side of the peninsula I cross the Meridian, but there are only a few remants put here in 2000, to mark the fact. Indeed there were so many parraell lines on the path, I was unsure which was supposed to be the meridian itself. Although a gap in the glass in the railings and a tuning fork type structure on the pier all seemed to line up. Pearing through the fence at the ground of the dome reveals some plaques in the ground with markings of different counties on either side of the meridian (Spain and Algeria I spot). But its difficult to see and entirely cut off from the public now.

The towers of Canary Wharf now loom over the water, sparkling in the spring sunshine. The path now runs past more industrial sites, as well as some working wharfs (although empty on Sunday). Indeed this has the most industrial feel of any section of the path since Crayford Ness. There are a lot of cyclists here making it quite perilous on the narrow paths and blind corners.

The domes of the Royal Navel College at Greenwich are now visible, but I’m still surrounded by industry. Suddenly I turn another corner and find some beautiful buildings at Ballast Quay. Here are some Georgian cottages on a cobbled street that look a million miles away from the dereliction behind me. These were the former Harbour Masters Office and presumably workers cottages.

Past Trinity Hospital, a delightful little building with clocktower. It was founded in 1613 by Henry Howard, the Earl of Northampton and Keeper of Greenwich Park for the poor men of Greenwich. It had accommodation for 20 men, all of whom were widowers. The almshouses themselves (pictured with clocktower) were built in 1812 and are now administered by The Mercers' Company, one of the ancient City Livery Companies.

Close by is the Greenwich Naval College. A combination of building work on the path and filming (I think I heared a policeman mention the BBC) makes for a poor photo, but beyond there is a May Day festival in some of the grounds near the Cutty Sark. Just in time for lunch, I can partake in the hogroast. Have a quick look at the Cutty Sark (always impressive and not too hounded by tourists today) and the entrance to the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, before heading off on the Thames Path with a 99 Flake. I have an option here. From Greenwich to Teddington Lock it is possible to walk the Thames Path on both sides of the river, the connection at Greenwich being the foot tunnel. There are of course opportunities to cross over further upstream across the bridges of Central London. But, on this occassion, I choose to stay on the south bank.

This is where the path heads though council estates of Deptford. It is also round here where the signposting of the Thames Path become woeful. Direction arrows disappear and I keep going the wrong way and have to recorrect. This is a point where the path deviates widely from the river, so you need good signs. Either they’ve never been there or they have and been destroyed or vandalised. Some of the original buildings at the Deptford docks have been retained and are very attractive. But here my camera battery goes flat.

The quality of the housing improves as I head north again past Greenland Docks. Again the signage is poor, and the path moves to and from the river frequently, but sometimes there is no signage to say so. At one point I walk down the wrong path and a very irate old man bashes on his window to shoo me away. The path then goes through the Surrey Quays City Farm and from here the building become older and more prestigious along Rotherhithe Road. The Docklands Hilton causes more path problems, but finally I get another good run along the river as I pass Westferry Circus on the far bank and leave Canary Wharf behind me.

Very quickly I’m in historic Rotherhithe and outside the Mayflower pub and the Brunel Engine House. This is where the pumping equipment was housed for Brunel’s Thames Tunnel and very nearby is Rotherhithe Underground Station. The Tunnel is used for the East London line and I head back to Waterloo on it and the more modern Jubille Line from Canada Water. But I’ll be back (with a fully charged camera) for the next stretch to Tower Bridge and Central London.