To get back to Erith to start today’s walk, I caught the Elizabeth Line at Farringdon to the end of the line at Abbey Wood. I then got a bus into Erith to rejoin the path where I’d left off 2 days earlier. Today’s walk would take in the last few miles of the England Coast Path as far as the Woolwich Foot Tunnel and then the Thames Path 'proper' would take over taking me past the Thames Barrier, Greenwich, the City and through Central London to Vauxhall. The path to Woolwich isn't pretty and on an overcast Sunday morning it was even less appealing! For the first couple of miles, I passed a number of piers, cranes, silos, conveyor belts and associated buildings - some derelict.
There then followed some newer buildings, namely the huge Cory Waste Incinerator & the even bigger Crossness Sewage Treatment Works. Crossness Pumping Station came next, a grand looking Victorian building opened in 1865 but decommissioned in the 1950s. It is now Grade I listed. When in operation it pumped raw sewage from all over London into a large reservoir that was then emptied into the Thames on the ebbing tide. The derelict looking exterior of the pumping station belies the restoration work that has been going on inside since 1987 by the Crossness Engines Trust. You have to see it to believe the over-the-top Victorian ironwork. One of the original steam engines has been restored to full working order. The engine is fired up on occasional open days organised by the Trust. https://crossness.org.uk/
After Crossness Pumping Station came a gentle left hand bend in the river to reveal the first view of the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf in the distance. This is always a most welcome sight as it marks the start of the end of the England Coast Path section of the Sea to Source walk. Between here and Woolwich I passed Thamesmead on the left. Thamesmead is a huge housing estate first developed in the late 1960 as mainly social housing to deal with serious overcrowding in South East London. It was built on former marshland most of which was previously part of the Royal Woolwich Arsenal site.
Beyond Thamesmead, Barking Creek Flood Barrier loomed large on the right hand side of the river. It’s a much larger version of the Dartford Creek Flood Barrier and at the mouth of Barking Creek, it is designed to prevent flooding of Barking during very high Thames tides.
About 1½ miles further on beyond the Barking flood barrier I reached the entrance to Woolwich Foot Tunnel just after midday. This is where the England Coast Path ends and the official Thames Path starts. The tunnel opened in 1912 and connects Old Woolwich on the south bank with North Woolwich on the north bank. It’s open 24 hours a day unlike the alternative Woolwich Ferry, which whilst also free, only operates from 06:00 to 22:00 each day.
Overall, I'm not a big fan of the 47 miles of England Coast Path section apart from Grain to the QEII Bridge but you have to walk them if you are going to be able to say "I've walked the Thames from Sea to Source"! Anyway, they were now under my belt.
After another 1½ miles I reached the Thames Barrier. Until January 2022, this was the official start/end of the Thames Path.
The remainder of this section took me up the right hand side of the Greenwich peninsular past the O2 and then down the left hand side of the peninsula into Greenwich.
Beyond Greenwich and really much of the walk through Deptford & Rotherhithe was pleasant enough but with the path being forced away from the river and so many apartment blocks, it wasn’t desperately interesting. As always though, I stopped off at Surrey Docks Farm for a quick look at the animals and a coffee. I’m always pleased to publicise the work of this charity https://www.surreydocksfarm.org.uk/
On reaching Tower Bridge, London suddenly became noticeably busier as it always does. Testament to this unique bridge is that so many people were taking their Instagram selfies with it as their background.
The final 3 miles of my walk to Vauxhall Bridge were quickly dispatched with the usual bottleneck at the London Eye. I finished the 22 miles at around 18:15.
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