The Lee Valley: the Thames to 3 Mills

Walking along the North side of the Thames in Limehouse, past The Grapes Inn (c1583) and the statue of a man entitled 'Another time' by the sculptor Anthony Gormley, you eventually come to where the river Lee flows into the River Thames.




























I decided to follow the river and explore some of the areas it passes through. As you leave the River Thames, you enter the Limehouse Basin.

 This is the Basin with its lock. It used to be known as the Regent's Canal Dock as it was the entrance to the Regent's Canal. It was opened in 1812 and was used by barges bringing coal inland from the larger ships which had come up the Thames from Newcastle.

Quite a variety of boats moored in the Basin.

Around the Basin are the high rise apartments and office blocks, a number of them converted warehouses, a reminder of its dockland heritage.

This walk takes you through the heart of the East end of London. It is quiet walking beside the water but the sounds of heavy traffic are not too far away.

The Docklands Light Railway with its driverless trains going over the river.

I walked onto the road here just to get my bearings. Across the road from the river is the Mission. This used to be the Sailors Society Mission. With the demise of the docks it then became a hostel for the homeless. Now it has been converted to luxury apartments, and with easy access to the City of London they command high prices.

Some riverside apartments have terrific views then there are the other ones.

This section is part of the Limehouse Cut which links the River Lee to the Limehouse Basin. It is a canalised river. Its aim is to help the boats negotiate the waterway without having to deal with the tidal bends in the River Lee.

Lock keepers cottages

Bow Locks. The locks link the tidal Bow Creek to the River Lee Navigation (the part of the river which has been canalised). Built in 1850 and then rebuilt in 1930. they were modified again in 2000 to keep the tide out and reduce the silting up of the canal.

Looking back at Canary Wharf and its tall buildings.

The London to Southend rail bridge.

Not a huge clearance between the bridge and the river.

Bromley by Bow Gasworks. In 1809 this was the site of a rocket factory but in 1870 it was bought by the Imperial Gas Company who built their gasworks here. Gas is no longer stored in these containers so it will be interesting to see what happens to these giant iron structures.

As I walked along the river I didn't see any water buses. Not sure they are running at the moment as part of the river is closed up ahead due to the construction of a major new rail line.

I finished the afternoon's walk here at 3 Mills at the wonderful cafe. I will post more about this heritage site in my next post.

Jubilee Greenway walk 4

This is the fourth section of this walk along the Jubilee Greenway. For the most part this section follows the main route of the London sewerage system. Quite a strange route for a pathway. It is not one I would advise visitors to follow but see what you think.

I needed to get to Victoria Park to continue along the pathway and that meant getting the tube to Bethnal Green. I used to visit Bethnal Green regularly in the early 70s when I knew someone living in the area. I remember it as a very run down area. The first place in London that many immigrants would settle as it was a very cheap area to live. Looking at it now, it is a very different are.

Walking through the streets I came across this unusually placed memorial in the middle of a row of terraced houses. It is a memorial to the men from Cyprus Street who had lost their lives in the first world war. There are 26 names on the plaque which is the highest number of men lost from just one street. The original plaque was damaged when the house it was on was demolished but local residents clubbed together and had a replica made. It is located here about 500m from the original site.

It didn't take me long to arrive at Victoria Park to continue with the Greenway walk. Victoria Park was developed between 1842 and 1846. It has a beautiful lake, athletics track and lots of green space for children to run around and enjoy.

I left the park through these large blue gates and followed a path beside the Hertford Union Canal.

Now the signs for the path were obvious and I didn't need to keep following the directions I had downloaded.

The path takes you over the River Lee and past a water recycling plant which of course reminded me about the route I was following which was above the main sewage system. Behind this sign was the Olympic Stadium, star of the 2012 Olympic Games.

It has since been adapted and the large triangular shapes above the stadium which housed the lights have now been removed. The stadium is to become home to a London football club(West Ham) in 2016. Prior to that it will be used in 2015 for the World Rugby cup finals and other major events.

I haven't visited this area since the Olympics it has been closed to the public whilst various construction work has been taking place. However the park will be open to the public this Spring so I will be returning soon for a more detailed wander around.

The directions for the walk no longer made sense due to all the closed roads so I had to try and work it out for myself.

It took me a little while of going backwards and forwards to find my way round this maze of building work.  The only people around were security guards telling me where I couldn't go but no-one to tell me where I could pick up the path again.

After crossing another river I followed the sound of heavy traffic and found myself on a main road ready to give up and go home. As I crossed the road I noticed what looked like a possible pathway and decided to follow it.

I then came across this wonderful building which is the Abbey Mills Pumping Station so I knew I had found the Greenway path again. It was also another reminder that the walk is on top of the Sewers.

This iron feature on the ground is engraved with the months of the year and this inscription 'Stand now at this month with your back to the sun - you wake in the morning the day has begun'. It is a reference to the East/West Meridian line which runs along here.

No idea why this sculpture is here and I couldn't get close to it as there was a wire fence in the way.

I crossed another river and decided that this walk no longer appealed to me. I was getting fed up of walking next to a temporary wire fence.

Finally there was an exit from the path that led to an underground station at Plaistow.

This was not the most picturesque of walks . The construction of Crossrail , a new rail line from NE London to SW London which involves 26 miles of new tunnels beneath London,  has turned a vast section of the route into a building site. It might be better when the Olympic Park finally reopens all areas to the public but as yet too much of it is still fenced off and parts of the pathway closed with no alternative route.