Thames Crossings - Thames Clipper - Masthouse Terrace Pier to Woolwich - Friday 10th October 2014

Oh well British Summer Time's almost over and I won't be able to take many photos of my walks home shortly. Even now its too dark by 18:00 to take any decent shoots. Well at least the video works pretty well in the dark and I must say I'm pretty pleased with my speeded up video of the trip on the Thames Clipper from Masthouse Terrace Pier to Woolwich. The trip actually took just under 20 minutes whilst my speeded up version is a little under three minutes, I even think the music fits well!

So what happened onto days trip, as normal not a lot. I made sure I left on the spot at 17:00 tonight as I was not sure if the trip would take longer than usual given the extended trip on the Thames Clipper. As it is I was home by 20:00 which is 20 minutes earlier than the regular walk.

I left by the back entrance, out via the tradesman's entrance and then it was the normal direct route, past Spitalfields, across Brick Lane.

Spitalfields

Brick Lane

I crossed Whitechapel Road, across Commercial Road, and into Watney Street market, still busy at 17:30.

Watney Street Market

Past Shadwell left into Cable Street then into Narrow Street and long the River front, with a good sunset developing. Then its all along the Thames path apart from the short road walk between Sir John Dougall Gardens and Docklands Sailing Club.

Thames Barge

I was quite surprised to find myself arriving at Masthouse Terrace Pier just across from Greenwich in time to catch the 18:26 Thames Clipper, if I was in time given the need to take photos, purchase a ticket and get the video camera out!

Sunset over the Pepy's Estate Deptford

Here comes the boat, but no ticket, but I did get the sunset over the Pepy's estate in Deptford, and the boat arriving but no video footage. The boat docked, people got off and the crew lifted the gangway, 'Hang on, I won't to get on' shouted the other passenger 'Only joking replied' the crew, I bet!

Thames Clipper arriving

I purchased my ticket on board, which cost £4.50 with a travelcard discount, I do feel the pricing of the service is a little steep compared to a tube or a train, but the view is far more spectacular! By the time I had completed the transaction we were arriving at Greenwich. I will need to remember this when I do that crossing and ensure I get my ticket first otherwise I will not be able to film!

Canary Wharf

I spent the journey filming, catching the sunset and the fading lights of Canary Wharf and then I concentrated on the river front at Greenwich and the Greenwich Peninsula. At the O2 or North Greenwich as the stop is called most passengers got off, mainly the "beautiful young people" obviously heading for a themed meal in one of the many high street chained restaurant or the cinema. Well I guess it beats paying £20 to park in the car park. Personally I don't like the O2 as a venue of choice for a night out, it was bad enough when I went there for the cinema, and don't get me going about the Tooting Car Moon exhibition in 2007!

Canary Wharf again!

On the final leg of the trip, I concentrated on the north bank and my favourite location Tate & Lyle. We slowed down to go between the Thames Barrier which was impressive all lit up and soon we arrived at Woolwich, and with a a final shot of the City I disembarked for the remaining 3 mile walk home, but not before taking some photos of the metal men in the Arsenal.

Assembly - Woolwich Arsenal

The walk home was quick, somehow I managed to walk through Woolwich and in particular Powis Street which meant I walking back on myself!

As I entered Academy Road it started to rain slightly but nothing to bad, and when I got home I had a lovely Bottle of German Weisse Beer!

A very good trip, the Thames Clipper at night is highly recommended!


View my video of the Thames Clipper Trip here!

Open City River Cruise - Wednesday 24 September

All my attempts to visit sites during the recent Open City weekend failed, everything I applied for was full, I was offered a slot early on Saturday morning in Beckton which was just too early and too far for me.

So what was I trying to visit? Mainly sewage works, water works, CrossRail works and waste regeneration works. I even tried to visit SS Robin in Royal Victoria Dock, but at least that has a happy ending as I've booked a slot in October. I did suggest going to Trinity House wharf but Beverley was less than under whelmed!

So having failed, I signed up with the Open City Architectural River trip from Greenwich to The Dartford Crossing (although in reality we only got as far as Erith). This was going to be interesting as it was a commentated trip leaving at 18:15 and let's face it its dark by just gone seven, so I was not sure how much we would see. Nevertheless it was a glorious evening weather wise and we were treated to a fairly good sunset.

Greenwich

The commentary was going to be provided by the magnificently named (and he must have taken some stick whilst at school) Benedict O'Looney, and I kid you not. He did a grand job talking us through the entire trip to Erith and back. Although on the way back, as I expected he was referring to sites we could barely see, for example the lock gates to the King George V dock, I saw it because I new where it was supposed to be, well I saw a dark murky shadow.

The trip was well supported

There must have been getting onto 100 people making the cruise and on a boat that accommodates 250 there was plenty of room. Most people rode up top in the open on the way out, with the current and against the tide, the return trip most people retired to the lower deck as we were now heading in to current, it was dark, and now pretty breezy.

Angerstein Wharf near Greenwich

As for myself I was switching from side to side and between decks. The return trip was slightly spoilt by a number of people who obviously found it a bit boring deciding to have a bit of a booze up, speaking very loudly thus making it heard to hear the commentary. The boat had a bar, and I was taken aback when I was charged £2.50 for a cup of tea! But this was softened slightly when I was given a complementary Snickers bar. The boat, whose name I can't recall, was similar in layout to a Thames Clipper, was very smart and well appointed and comfortable.

Tate & Lyle Refinery

So what did I gain from my two and half hour trip, quite a lot really, it was very interesting, some I already knew, some was incorrect and some was new to me.

Benedict was very enthusiastic as you would expect, he is an architect himself, has his own practice in Peckham called O'Looney Associates (titter, titter schoolboy style) and he delivered his words either off the cuff or pre-prepared. He's not what I would call a natural public speaking but he knows his stuff especially the architects who designed a lot of the building we saw. He was guilty of trying to use one too any superlatives and sometimes found it difficult to conjure up the right one, but I don't want to put him down as he did a great job and kept me interested, neither I'm not going say rather him than me because I would love to do something like that.

Thames Barrier

So what did we see, well loads as you would expect. We started with the Greenwich Navel College, now Greenwich University, The Queens House, Greenwich Power Station, Trinity House Hospital, Millwall, the Isle of Dogs and we hadn't even got round the first bend in the river!

The Woolwich Ferry

I was really chuffed to "sail" past the Tate & Lyle Refinery and get a good look from the river, I was interested to learn that Thamesmead was never completed as originally planned, I overheard one table state 'Thamesmead, that really rough' and I wouldn't disagree at all. I refereed football matches down there a couple of times, my god that was uncomfortable, in the end I refused to referee down there.

View upstream towards the City

Then onto Canary Wharf and all the building architects got a good airing, mainly Americans although one of the taller towers was a Norman Foster effort. The Ravensbourne College on the Greenwich Peninsula was pointed out, this now explains it's wonderful colour scheme. There's a Gormley statue near Greenwich Yacht club and the Dome which Benedict pointed contains the shape of Gormley when looked at in the right way, just like one of his metal men. I've seen this statue a number of times and this evening was the first time I had noticed his shape - wonderful!

Erith Waste Centre

The Dangleway apparently cost £43million, my god! The Thames Barrier was expected to be raised about ten times a year when originally planned, my god! There's an indent around the barrier housing which indicates the water level at Westminster, if the water raises above this indent at Woolwich it means Westminster is being flooded! Apparently it's not just a case of raising the Barrier, there's a sequence of closures involving Barking Creek and the River Darant amongst others. We went past the sewage outfalls or at least where they used to be under the London sewage extraction scheme created by Joseph Bazalgette which included his two huge swear outlet pipes from London following the big stink. We could just make out the Crossness pumping station where there is one, if not two, working beam engines, well worth a visit.

Former Ford Dagenham wharf

We were now at Erith and here we have the modern Human waste processing plant, and a waste incinerator which turns waste in to electricity, but most fascinating was the nut oil factory (actually I don't know if that's factually correct) it has a number of concrete silos which date back to 1916, amazing.

Canary Wharf

I was fascinated to learn about the Beckton Gas works which was apparently enormous, and whilst all gone now, the metal piers which supported the jetties and wharfs still remain firmly embedded in the river shore, looking like sentinels guarding the foreshore in the semi darkness.

More Flats being built

We went up close to the site of the former Ford Motor works at Dagenham and what a site that must have been it even had its own blast furnace at one time, the only one in Southern England. At the time of passing there was a huge ferry boat and I mean big, I don't know what it was doing as they don't make cars at Dagenham anymore.

Canary Wharf

So all in all a good adventure, the only downside was getting home, which took me an hour, two buses and a walk and it's barely four miles away. I will certainly be booking up for more of these trips.

Thames Crossings - Greenwich Foot Tunnel

With a bad back, a sprained ankle and an early start tomorrow (04:45 for a trip to Carlisle for the footie) I decided to keep it simple today to ensure I got home as quickly as possible. This coupled with the knowledge that the Tall Ships would be on display at Greenwich and apparently Canary Wharf I decided to walk home via the Greenwich Foot Tunnel.

This took me back to the route I used to follow when walking home, first started when I was in training for the Caledonian Challenge 10 years ago. The route takes me via Whitechapel, Limehouse, Canary Wharf and then along the river to Greenwich, under the river, through Greenwich Park across Blackheath and on into Eltham.

As I walked along the river I expected to see the Tall Ships, Canary Wharf was passed, no ships, Deptford was passed, no ships, Moathouse Pier no ships but there was an impressive tug Portwey, Falmouth.

Steam Tug Portwey

Tall Ship

Isle of Dogs Entrance

Didn't look as if it was going anywhere but it was steaming. As I began to turn the corner and Greenwich came into sight I saw some sails. Yes, a Tall Ship in the middle of the river, tacking and splicing the main brace ready to repeal borders.  

Then I spied a couple of other ships, these were only small ones on the far shore doing nothing. Well at least I had seen some, but not the host I had expected. I'm going "up the Shared" on Sunday, travelling by the Thames Clipper so hopefully I will see more.

There's quite a Festival going on this weekend including a firework display tonight and trips and visits to the ships themselves.  Greenwich was quite busy with people coming and going there were a lot of tents on the open space by the Cutty Sark and also int the grounds of the University. Parking had been suspended, not that many people where taking much notice of this. There was even parking on Blackheath, not very well patronised.

But I'm jumping ahead of myself what about the Tunnel. What can I say about a Tunnel, you go down by the stairs or the lift (when it's working) and walk along the tunnel to the other side.

Avoiding the cyclists. Cyclists have always been the bane of the foot travellers, even when I used to use the tunnel by bike at the turn of the century. They have tried all sorts of things, including barriers midway through the tunnel. The Greenwich Tunnel unlike the Woolwich Tunnel is always busy basically it starts somewhere and finishes somewhere, people want to go to Greenwich and even the Isle of Dogs!

Greenwich Tunnel Entrance

If you interested you can details here about the tunnel.

And here's my video of the crossing, almost as exciting as DLR one last week!

Thames River Crossings - Emirates Air Line

Pretentious title for a Cable Car that goes from nowhere and ends up at nowhere, unless you are of the opinion that the O2 is somewhere, I certainly don't, and don't get me going about the cinema there and the free parking arrangements!

I thought I better get the Cable Car now before the dark evenings are upon us once again. This will be my third trip on the Dangleway and I expect my last as I can only take so much excitement, so unless I have a need to visit Royal Victoria again, bye bye Dangleway.

Hanbury Street

Synagogue in Commercial Road

But first things first, I left work at just gone 17:00 and felt in fine fettle, the freshest I have felt walking home since I covered the four odd miles from work to the Dog and Bell in Deptford in a hour back in January. The weather forecast had changed throughout the day, with rain originally forecast I had brought with me full foul weather wear, but by the time I left it was very pleasant, if a little blowy.

My route took me round the back of Spitalfields, across Brick Lane and down onto the Whitechapel  Road, past the London Hospital and then left into Commercial Road (A13) which led me past the Troxy Night Club / Cinema, a fantastic Art Deco building.

The Troxy, Commerial Road

Over the Regents Canal and Limehouse Cut, through Popular,  passing the magnificent All Saints church and DLR station (the former being magnificent) over the Blackwell  Tunnel approach road ( a future Thames crossing!), skirting Bow Creek over the Lower Lea Crossing and past the Crossrail site and round the corner to the Emirates Royal Docks,  a total of 4.9 miles and a far more interesting walk than the Lower Road in Bermondsey / Surrey Quays I did last week.

The Limehouse Cut

The Regents Canal

I mentioned how good I felt when starting out, however, by the time I got to Commercial Road I was beginning to feel somewhat under the weather, light headed and a touch of sickness, this called for emergency action!  I purchased a bottle of lucazade and a double Mars bar, it perked me up a little, just enough to get me to the Cable Car.

Bow Creek

The prices have gone up since I last travelled, the CSO claimed only 10p but I reason at least 30p. It appears now that TFL are putting all their efforts into selling this as Tourist Attraction as opposed to being part of the integrated transport system. All the tickets are geared up to trips on the Cable Car, DLR and the Thames Clipper, with rovers, family tickets and the like. They also have boards advertising local attractions, if you can call them that - Canary Wharf, Container City II (whatever that is), Cutty Sark, Emirates Aviation  Experience (by all accounts not much of an experience), ExCeL London, Greenwich Peninsula, The Crystal?, The O2, Thames Barrier, bit of a walk, Trinity Buoy Wharf, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, a nice place but hardly local, Royal Observatory, why catch the Dangleway when you can go by train, and SS Robin, I don't think this is open yet.

The Dangleway was busier than when I last past through, mind you it was dark then and in the winter, but I still managed a pod for myself, the trip took about 13 minutes with a couple of stops mid way. I think I prefer travelling at night as every thing looks better all lit up. Mind you in the sun it would have been better, and I expect at dawn and dusk it's pretty impressive, need to keep an eye out for a suitable opportunity.

The Dangleway

Having landed safely in Greenwich, I made my way to the re-furb  Pilot Inn, now called the Pilot. This has been one of my favourites for some time, I had noticed it had had a make over when passing by a while back, the name change in its self was rather disappointing so I was a little concerned at what I might find. Firstly the garden out
front was very busy with loud speaking locals, entering the Pub I discovered it was very busy, until I realised most people where there for the Shakespeare event in the back garden, A Midsummer's Nights Dream. - hope they did not get too wet! 

Emirates Greenwich Peninsula Station

I found myself a seat with the assistance of a member of staff and ordered my meal, a burger with bacon and stilton and a serving of chips. Whilst the pub looked nice, it was not the Pilot Inn I have enjoyed in the past, gone were the model boats and local knick knacks, gone was the comfortable snug bar (well I found it comfortable) to be replaced with plush seats. The dinning area had smaller tables and taller barrel tables. I guess most people would say it was an improvement but not in my book, but hey I'm a dinosaur! What I can say is that the food was really nice, I reacon that was the best burger I've ever had and the pint of Summer Ale went down a treat too. I did sample a lager, but I just don't like lager and could not drink it, it was a free sample I might add.

By the time I left the Pilot and made my way home the rain set in, I never bothered to put on my jacket and just used my umbrella by the time I got home I was slightly wet. My route took me along Bugsby Way, up Charlton Church Lane, past Charlton House, through Hornfair Park up Shooters Hill and home,
a further 5 miles, I think I arrived home at 21:30. An enjoyable evening!

And here's a video of the Cable Car trip

Thames River Crossings - Tower Bridge Friday 25 July 2014

Fire Station in the Lower Road

I've done this bridge countless times but I've not yet filmed the walk across so that was the objective today. The other factor is an evening with congenial company at the Dog and Bell in Deptford. It also meant I was not walking all the way home today, only the 4/5 miles to Deptford (slacker).

You will recall we had had a lovely week weather wise, unfortunately the heavens decided open between 17:30 and 18:30 and boy did it rain. I was however prepared I had brought my waterproofs with me. So whilst I did not get wet from the rain I did get wet from the sweat I generated on my walk!

Surrey Canal Road Bridge

Lots of other people, mainly tourists, where inappropriately dressed and therefore took cover wherever possible, in subways, doorways, arches, shops and the like. I always find if I shelter from the rain for any great length of time, ie more than 5 minutes, I immediately need to use the loo! Those people who were obviously City workers were not bothered by the rain and promptly stomped off to ensure they caught their train home from London Bridge. A number of people had very flimsy plastic capes which ripped to shreds at any slight gust of wind.

At least the rain moved the tourists off the middle of the bridge as they huddled in the lea of the Tower Bridges towers to get away from the rain, this enabled my walk across the bridge to be a lot easier than normal.

Captain Benbow was 'ere

Once across the bridge I planned to walk along the river, it's slightly longer but far far more interesting.

In the end I decided I would walk along the road as given the rain speed was of the essence. I must say that the walk to Deptford along Jamaica Road, Lower Road and Evelyn Street must rank as one of the most boring stretches of roadway in London, there is almost absolutely nothing of interest on route,  apart from the Deptford Tunnel approach road and the Swedish church, an old bridge over the route of the former Surrey Canal, the occasional attractive row of terraced houses and Surrey Quays Overground Station.

I did divert on route as I neared Depford to visit Sayes Court Park, Captian Benbow used to live here before promotion to Admiral. It's quite a pleasant park, especially if you are a wino!

After a evening of good beer and good chat we departed home via SouthEastern Railways to Woolwich Arsenal where I decided to walk home having felt cheated by my short walk to Deptford.

Here's the film of my crossing.

Thames River Crossings - Queen Elizabeth II Bridge - 18 July 2014

A return to the River Thames Crossings today, following my sojourn along the London Loop. As I’ve enjoyed my travelling into Essex so much I’ve decided to return to cross the Queen Elizabeth II bridge between Purfleet and Dartford using the Ensign X80 Bus between Lakeside and Bluewater and then walk home from the first bus stop on the southern side of the river.

Railway Station

To avoid having to wait at Lakeside for the an hour for the 19:00 bus I leave work early at 16:30 which will enable me to catch the 18:00 bus, but first I must catch a train to Chafford Hundred a “new town” created during the late 1980’s early 1990’s, had it been built at the beginning of this century I expect it would have been named Chave Hundred. I must admit I was taken aback by the number of people of alighted the train at this small station on a single track line that also serves Lakeside. Apparently more than half the flats (in the estate) were repossessed during the early 1990s housing slump, impacting it so significantly that prices fell by half.

Covered Bridge to Lakeside

It’s a quick walk under the railway along a covered footbridge down some stairs to enter the House of Fraser (the shop not the undertakers from Dad’s Army) and entry into Lakeside shopping centre, or should I say the Intu Lakeside Shopping Centre as it likes to brand it’s self.

I remember visiting the Shopping Centre when it opened in the early 90’s in the midst of the previous recession, there were lots of people there but only window shopping, not many bags were in evidence. This evening it’s quite being just before six, its had a face lift since I was last here, and as far as Shopping Centre’s go it’s not in the same league as Bluewater, which appears slightly more upmarket, if that’s possible for a Shopping Centre. Bluewater has more exclusive stores whilst Lakeside has a lot of high street names and a rare example of an HMV outlet. In typical Essex fashion plumb in the middle of the main thoroughfare of the centre is a glitzy Champagne and Cocktail bar with a huge cut glass chandelier (I doubt it’s cut glass).

Cocktail and Champagne Bar

Tracking down the bus station was a feat of map reading as its located behind Debenham’s at the far end of the centre. I wanted to get there in plenty of time to ensure I got the top front seat so as to give me uninterrupted views whilst crossing the Thames. I think I may have queue jumped as I was the second person on board. Unfortunately the ticket machine was playing up and I had to wait whilst the driver called up support from the depot, well a small hut across the bus station. I ended up being the last one on the bus. However, no one had taken the front seats so I had these all to myself, all four of them and the front window was particularly large just right for the wide vistas I was eagerly anticipating.

The downside however was the sun, which was extremely hot and being intensified by the marvellously large window, it was like sitting in a greenhouse. I could hear other passengers commenting on this as they moved to sit on the shady side of the bus.

It’s a quick trip to the Bridge, just one stop on route, even during the height of the rush hour on a Friday evening, our driver was manoeuvring his bus to move into the left hand side lane, which took as behind a three decker sheep transporter and even being in the confines of the bus I could smell them. Travelling in that heat can’t have been nice, although they did have the benefit of free flowing air as the sides where open. It was an Italian lorry so I hope they were not going all the way to Italy.

I was not disappointed by the views which were immense up and down the Thames and the hinterlands of both Essex and Kent. There were large boats in the river a small yacht tacking backwards and forwards. Eurostar and HS2 trains zoomed past on route for Paris and St Pancreas. There were power stations, jetties, oil containers, and all manner of industrial building alongside the wider areas of marshland. The only downside was the traffic, big lorries kept overtaking and my view to the right would be obstructed temporarily. 

The trip across the bridge took something like seven minutes and forty one seconds, and on leaving the bridge the bus turned left to make its way to Bluewater depositing me in the middle of knowwhere, although Premier Inn and the Beefeater Grill had thought this was a good place to build, which I guess it is given it’s close proximity to the major river crossing.

I was now in the hands of Google Maps to get me home, well that’s not entirely true as I of course knew exactly where I was but normally I’m here encased in a car. Google deemed it a good idea to direct me along the A206 to Crayford where I could pick up the road that goes in a straight line through Crayford, Bexleyheath and Welling and up Shooters Hill. Unfortunately the A206 is a duel carriage way without any footpaths. I had to negotiate my way around a series of new housing estates weaving in and out of roads and paths trying to keep as close as possible to the A206. Finally I ran out of alternatives and had no choice but to walk along the duel carriageway, however, I was not alone as I passed a couple of people on route and there was a pretty well defined path in the grass along the side of the road.

It was about 9 miles to get home and the trip was uneventful, Bexleyheath was beginning to busy up for Friday evening, whilst the sky was beginning to darken as the storm clouds began to roll in . It was a race home to beat the forthcoming storm. It finally broke as I was walking across Oxleas Meadow with fork lightening and loud rumbles of thunder, the rain held off just as I got home only to pass my daughter who was on her way out to watch the storm with Flosi!

A short film of the crossing, well 7 minutes and 46 seconds to be precise!

Thank God that's finally finished! - The London Loop Rainham to Purfleet

I've finally finished a most disliked walk, the London Loop has not been enjoyable and to cap it off the final section along one of the better section was undertaken on a duly, humid July evening a fitting mood under the circumstances.

Not a lot to say about this walk, it was only just over five miles long, mostly along the Thames riverside, which would not have been the case if I had undertaken this section a few years back as the route used to go around the back of the landfill site it now goes along by the river. Shame about the weather, if it had been sunny I think I would have been in a far better mood!

The Giant Hogwwe

Crossing Rainham marsh

The route kicks off by crossing the HS1 and Eurostar routes, then it cuts through some waste / marsh land with an abundance of wild plants and loads of giant Hogweed, felt like I was on the film set for day of the triffids. I then crossed under the A13 and continued along more wasteland / marshland with the hum of the A13 always in the background. I had seen a few people along the path before the A13 but now I saw no one. The path crossed a road and appeared to be sending me up a blind alley as there was a high wired fence topped off with barded wire, but following a slight gradient I found myself on the top of the river wall and the walk now continued all the way along the river to Purfleet.

Ahead of me were an array of large metal silos, these turned out to belong to the Tilda Rice processing centre. They have a jetty on the river front so must receive most of there products by ship.

There were a number of information boards along the way giving a brief history of the area, there was a ferry between Rainham and Erith for the purposes of joining the Pligrims Way dating back to 1199. Another ferry served the monks on the south side at Abbey Wood served the monks at  Lesnes Abbey. They used to cross the river to attended Rainham Church. Then there were the concrete barges leftover from the D-Day landings and the Gunpowder magazine at Purfleet which served as the main Gunpowder store throughout the Georgian and Victorian times.

D-Day Barges

Tilda Rice Processing Uni

Of course the best view of the walk was the QE2 bridge, unfortunately with the atmospherics today the views were not that great!

QE2 Bridge

Just before you arrive at Purfleet there is the RSPB reserve, I could see it way off, multi coloured in different tones of red and orange with what looked like two large up turned paper cups on the roof and wondered what it was, it also boasts a draw bridge.

Gunpowder Magazine at Purfleet

I passed a grand total of two people between joining the river and arriving at Purfleet, both dog walkers with nothing to say, mind you nor did I.

Oh dear what do I say about Purfleet, maybe it would have benefitted from the five gunpowder magazines blowing up to enable some new town planning to take place. I can't say I saw anything that was pleasing to the eye. The row cottages called Botany Terrace I guess sums the town up. Maybe I missed the best bits, but I doubt it, sorry Purfleet.

Well that's that, what sticks out from the 152 mile walk which started on 15 May 2009, not a lot but here goes!

1. Snow at Farnborough Kent

2 taking Flosi with us and having a drink in Farnborough and sitting away from everyone only to find we were by a door which suddenly open to be confronted with a dog - let the dog wars commence!

3. Finally visiting five arches at Cray

4. Drunks shouting abuse at us in Feltham

5. Travelling on a bus replacement service to the end of the Jubilee line at break neck speed, more like a ride at Alton Towers than a bus service, only to be told by the driver that he did not realise he had any passengers.

6. Finding out there was not a Sunday service from Banstead station and having to walk an extra 3 miles on a very hot Sunday afternoon

7. Getting soaked walking from Enfield to Cockfosters and then going on to Barnet to find a pub that did shit beer and then saw AFC get stuffed by Barnet 4-0

8. I've enjoyed the process of walking the last three sections after work on a Friday evening, especially as the weather was so nice.

9. The stretch through Addington Hills was a time for reminiscing as I went to School round here, we even stopped off at the Sandrock for a drink.

10. Healthfield Park at the top of Gravel Hill in Croydon needs to be revisited when the rhodaderons are in bloom, again I remember this from my school days.

11. Walking through Bushy Park one summer was nice, the deer were close by and we were joined by Emma and had lunch in Hampton.

12. Whilst not a very nice part the Shot Tower in Crane Park was unusual and unexpected.

13. I always enjoy walking along canals, so the section along the Regents Canal was good.

14. Stanmore tube station was rewarding!

And that's about it!

And this is where it all started in May 2009!