Thames Day 3: Beyond the Path...

Since there is no public transport to the barrier, Jimmy and I weren’t finished walking yet as we had to retrace some of our steps...

...which gave me a chance to catch a photo of the barrier in this soft golden light.

This time when we walked past the CEMEX cement factory it was in full swing and we were fascinated.

Here is the sand coming off the ship...

...and moving across the conveyor belt over our heads.

We walked back to the O2 where we caught the overground to Camilla and Tristan’s neighborhood.

I wasn’t thrilled about Jimmy’s choice to walk through the park at night, but the view was worth it. Having dinner and catching up with Camilla and Tristan was a nice way to end a long day.

Thames Day 3: Thames Barrier...

It was exciting when we caught our first glimpse of the Thames Barrier, the end point of the Thames Path. Frankly, I must admit that before Kent and Carlin’s invite, I’d never heard of the Thames Barrier and I had no idea what to expect as we approached it.

Before getting there, we still had some unusual art to pass...

...as well as a cement factory at Angerstein Wharf.

Built in 1984 in answer to the horrible North Sea floods of 1953, the same impetus to the building of the Maeslant Barrier near Hoek van Holland, the methods used by the UK versus the Netherlands to prevent flooding along their main river could not be further apart. While the Netherlands uses two huge floating gates which remain in dry dock when not being used, the Thames Barrier is made up of ten steel gates, eight of which lie flat on the riverbed and rise to close during extreme flooding risk. The Dutch test their system annually in September, whereas the Brits test theirs monthly. 

They did it! Carlin and Kent walked from the source of the Thames to the official end of the Thames Path for a total of 184 miles (294K). We walked for 12.5 miles (20K) that day bringing our weekend total to 39 miles (63K). Hard to believe that the Thames riverbank through London is so long!

Unfortunately, Carlin and Kent had to dash to the airport, so they couldn’t join us at the Thames Barrier Information Center where we watched a very informative movie about how the system works and saw several displays before being kicked out because the staff felt like closing early.

Technically, the Thames Barrier is not actually at the North Sea, so some diehard trekkers continue to walk to the Thames Estuary. However, that leg is not considered part of the official Thames Path because it is very industrial and not conducive to walkers. Although Kent seems to think that perhaps someday they will walk that final leg, I agree with Carlin that I’d rather skip that to walk along the coast to see pretty views instead. I’m not ashamed to admit that I have simple needs: a nice place to walk and an occasional fish pie. 

Thames Day 3: Greenwich to Greenwich Pensiula...

The biggest “city” along the way was Greenwich, which is still technically part of London. There’s a lot of history there, including the 15th century Palace of Placentia (now the Old Royal Naval College) where both King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I were born. This is the Cutty Sark, a British clipper ship built in 1869 for its speed to be used in the tea trade, which is preserved in a dry dock as a tourist attraction.

Unfortunately, we were too rushed to walk through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, which opened in 1902 and sits 50 feet (15 meters) below the Thames. It is used by northbound walkers on the Thames Path to join the southbound path for the remaining leg of the journey.

We could see the O2, the immense entertainment center built for the millennium, in the distance which we would eventually walk around as the river nearly makes a u-turn.

The sky had turned rather gray by the afternoon.

The Prime Meridian of the world, from which all longitude is measured, passes through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. It also passes through the O2 culminating in this metal strip at the Thames, depicting where we crossed from the Western Hemisphere into the Eastern Hemisphere.

Mermaid, by British artist Damien Hirst who once lived along the Greenwich Penisula, is surrounded by a blue-ringed octopus, one of the most poisonous animals in the sea. It was interesting to walk along the massive residential blocks that we had seen from the Emirates Airlines Cable Car six months earlier...

...and to see the cable cars from below. This sculpture is Quantum Cloud by Antony Gormley in 1999. It’s 98 feet (30 meters) high featuring a human figure, based on the artist, surrounded by a seemingly chaotic cloud that vibrates with energy. It was built from 3,600 5-foot (1.5-meter) long hollow square sections of galvanized steel.

At The Jetty, a community garden and café, is another sculpture by Damien Hirst: Hydra and Kali, depicting a battle between the sexes, with swords against serpents, as well as the ravages of time.

Thames Day 3: Rotherhithe to Greenwich...

Our next attempt for coffee was also fruitless, but at least the Surrey Docks Farm, an educational working city farm which opened in 1975, was entertaining.

This wasn’t a very encouraging sign to see in the window of The Ship & Whale gastropub.

Not only were we thankful for a place to have a drink and a run to the loo, it turned out to be a turning point in the day’s plans as we discovered that an error had been made when calculating the distance to the end point. Instead of a relaxing lunch, we grabbed takeaway so Carlin and Kent would be able to make their flight. 

Of course, that didn’t stop me from stopping to take photos along the way of sculptures...

...cityscapes...

...locks...

...and piers.

This particular statue is of Czar Peter I of Russia, known as Peter the Great. As a young man, he lived near the Royal Dockyards in Deptford in 1698 and this statue was erected in 2001 to commemorate his four-month stay. Rumor has it that the original intention was to have several dwarfs baring their buttocks, but instead settled for one court dwarf holding a ship and a globe.

Thames Day 3: Bermondsey to Rotherhithe...

As I mentioned, I couldn’t stop taking photos of the views looking back towards central London.

I hope to someday come back to check out The Mayflower, the oldest pub on the banks of the Thames, as it wasn’t open when we walked past. Apparently Captain Christopher Jones lived in Rotherhithe and moored up his ship, the Mayflower, outside this pub back in 1620 (which was called Spread Eagle at the time), before heading to Southampton to meet up with the Leiden contingent of Pilgrims and start their fateful journey to the New World.

They clearly have a sense of humor...

...but aren’t too worried about following safety rules.

Came across this cute Tower Bridge bench.

Oh look—another photo of The Shard...

 

...and another statue. This one marks the approximate spot at Cumberland Wharf where the Pilgrims set sail for America. 

Although this staircase was very slippery and the wood was clearly rotten, we still couldn’t resist heading down to the beach at Rotherhithe...

...which overlooked Canary Wharf, home of skyscrapers for many UK and international banks. We tried to stop for coffee at the Hilton Hotel, but had no luck getting served, so moved on.