Thames Crossings - Woolwich Foot Tunnel Opps I mean DLR from George V to Woolwich Arsenal - 29 August 2014

I had planned to cross by the Woolwich Foot tunnel, but got held up in the Albert Dock and taking photos of City Airport I did not want to walk under the tunnel at 19:30, I was too scared! So that's postponed until 12th September.

Today I left work at 17:00 and walked my normal walk, blah, blah blah, fast forward to the Lower Lea Crossing, so unlike last week instead of turning right into Dock Road I crossed the dual carriageway and made my way towards the Dangleway (Cable Car) and followed the side of the Royal Victoria dock as far as I could, which was in fact to the part of the undeveloped part of the  former Royal Albert Docks site just after the Newham Council building (Building 1000) famous for its appearance on Benefits Street (I think that's what its was called).

Building 1000

Anyway this building had been empty for years, mind you it is in the middle of nowhere. I remember when I was working in Scotland and flying from City Airport that this building was unoccupied and that was in 2000. It's good to see they have spent rate payers money well with two exotic trees in the atrium. Forgive me I'm getting ahead of myself. Where was I, oh yes the Dangleway following the docks.

I'm used to the older docks in the Isle of Dogs and on the southern side of the river. Greenland Dock and South Dock, these are much smaller than the Albert and Victoria docks which are huge, let's face it they swallow up City Airport and that not a small place. Built for the big ships, but now prime sites for re-development, business and residential, no wonder they built the DLR this way.

The views are impressive both up and down the docks, there's even a bridge, well in fact three bridges, across the docks, two of which are for pedestrians and cyclists one of which is a swing bridge the other is a lot taller accessed by lifts if your on foot.

Royal Victoria Dock

These docks see a lot of traffic with Cruise ships and the like visiting, he says with the authority of someone who knows, like hell I do! There was one ship berthed, a hotel, but it looked pretty permanent given the stays attaching it to the dockside, the Sunborn, don't know if that's the ship or the hotel anyway pretty impressive, all the benefits of a cruiser without the sea sickness!

As you walk along the docks across the far side is the Spillers Millenium Wharf, this pre dates the year 2000 and I would guess this was built in thirties given it's Art Deco design. It's impressive if somewhat derelict. If I'm not mistaken Ashes to Ashes TV series used it as a backdrop. In front of the wharf is an old lighthouse ship (Lighthouse 93) and what appears to be an ocean going tug raised out on the dock on a pontoon, this is the SS Robin and I'm visiting it in October.

Spillers Millennium Wharf

I must say I was enjoying this walk, it would have been even better if the sun had be out, there were a few people walking up down taking in the views, a trio of young Asian girls sitting on the dock (or should that be Dock of the Bay, having a shifty fag, a further two young Asians sitting on the staff benches outside the Newham building having a cuddle until I spoilt their privacy!

The dominating feature here, apart from the dock it's self is of course is the Tate & Lyle refinery which completely dwarves City Airport in front of it, whilst City Airport completely dwarves Tate & Lyle noise wise. I stood and watched the planes for quite awhile, it's non-stop they take off and land east to west, well they did tonight, one taxi's up the runway, whilst another prepares to land, once it's landed the other one takes off. It was great, really good views of the planes and some pretty good photos given it was getting dark and was overcast.

Plane Sugar

It was at this point that things began to get difficult, I knew at the time I was making a mistake but I still followed my heart and entered the confines of the former Royal Albert Dock and notwithstanding the warnings that this was private etc etc etc. This is a very large expanse of waste land that was the former docks, old railway tracks are embedded into the ground, there are platforms where the dock building were.

Royal Albert Docks

The only buildings left standing appear to be the docks orginal administration buildings, these looked more like a country retreat. As they have been left standing I guess they must have listed building status, it will be interesting to see what becomes of them. Rather bizarrely there's a road sign inside the docks where the exit used to be directing you to the MI and M25.

Exit from the docks

Having walked the length of the docks and not having found a way out, I tried to climb the fence but gave up. Not being as young as I was once and also in fear of ripping my trousers I gave that up a a bad job and retraced my steps, with a jarred back to boot (and I'm paying it for now)!

This added about 30 minutes to my journey and it was about now that I began to have second thoughts about using the foot tunnel. I've used it before, but not many people use it any more as it's in the middle of nowhere and the DLR is far quicker, I just felt uncomfortable and as I had the DLR on my list anyway I thought I would chicken out. I will come back on the 12 September as I will be able to leave early as I've got an exam that afternoon (what am I doing taking exams at 57!). I will make a special effort to go direct without any divations and get there about 18:30, although only an hour or so earlier it will make all the difference. When I told Beverley she was pleased as she was rather concerned with me using the tunnel.

Having retraced my steps I now had the pleasure of walking along the busy A1020 Royal Albert Way all the way into North Woolwich. This runs along side the University of East London, and I know for a fact you can walk inside their campus by the dock but you need to be below the A1020 where the DLR runs to Beckton, but there was no access from the road.

The A1020 swings a right and crosses the entrances to both the Royal Albert and King George V docks and here is the piece de la resistance of this walk, you get an uninterrupted view along the length of the docks and City Airport towards Canary Wharf.  A magnificent vista and at this time of the night with the sun just breaking through the clouds a very fine view.  Here I had a great view of  the planes landing and taking off.

Finding George V DLR station proved a challenge as it's well hidden with very little signage directing you there, however the route did take me into the centre of North Woolwich. This has been completely re-built, mind you I don't know what was here previously but the building are fairly new, it's laid out I a cross with lots of shops and street furniture, quite pleasant really.

The DLRis at the end, I was surprised how busy the station was, and even more so when the Woolwich train arrived which was pretty well damn well full up, no chance of film the journey from the front of the train. I understand that Woolwich Arsenal is one of the busiest DLR stations on the entire network, just makes you wonder how the underground would be patronised if that came out to SE London, although under Boris' 30 year plan the Bakerloo Line is due to arrive at Hayes (Kent) in 2044, mind you I'll be dead by then!

The trip to Woolwich takes 4 minutes, my film is pretty crap, I'm not keen on filming directly into people's faces and the view through a tunnel is mainly reflections of me filming!

Having arrived at Woolwich I took a new route to Shooters Hill via Burrage Road and then some shorter local roads and through a series of alleyways and unmade roads, step but pretty quick, I arrived at Eaglesfield Park with views across the Thames Valley, this is more or less the highest point inThe Royal Borough of Greenwich.

Video of plane at City Airport

I finally arrived home at 21:00 pretty sore and stiff, but on checking I discoverd I had walked almost 13 miles, not bad for a evening stroll after a hard day at the office!

Video of DLR trip between George V and Woolwich Arsenal

Thames Crossing - The Woolwich (Free) Ferry - Friday 22 August 2014

The last time I did this crossing was way back in January I went the wrong way and ended up going  via Bromley-by-Bow adding a good couple of miles to the walk and I ended up having to run along the ferry approach to catch the last Ferry of the day at 20:00. But that was not the worse part, that was the sense of exposure, almost threat I felt as I walked across the Lower Lea Crossing and turned into Dock Road. Remember this was January, it's was dark, nobody was around, I was in the middle of the Crossrail construction site, well the road that runs through it, a Hanson Concrete factory on one side and high fences and the Docklands Light Raiway high above me on silts on the other side. There was nobody about, it was rather creepy, I felt a little bit more comfortable, when the road opened out into the North Woolwich Road, and I had some new flats on my right. However once the road turned off to for City Airport I entered the realms of Silvertown, never a particularly attractive area dominated by the Tate and Lyle refinery, and the old North London Railway line running down the centre of the road, now it was even worse, the Railway line was, and still is, a construction site for CrossRail and a lot of the buildings down Actory Road have closed and been boarded up, no one was around, it was bleak. I remember getting to work the following Monday and retelling my experiences and stating I would not be going that way until the light evenings return.

Well here I am almost eight months later the light evening have come and are almost gone, so I needed to fulfil my own promise to walk this route once more in the daylight. I need to get there by 20:00 to catch the last Ferry, although not so critical as I can always use the foot tunnel after all that's next week's walk.

I left work at 17:30 slightly later than I anticipated and took almost the same route as last week although rather than walking down the Commercial Road I kept to the back streets, Stepney Way as far as Limehouse. I know this area quite well have delivered a number of local walks for the Ramblers Association a few years back. This route passes through a conservation area, with attractive yellow bricked two up, two down cottages, which 50 odd years ago would have been called slums! 

I passed a chap standing outside his house, with shopping bags and reading a book "left your keys behind?" I called out, he responded with a nod "been there, done that" I replied, well at least it wasn't raining! 

Unlike the other week, when I crossed via the Dangleway, this time the weather was brighter and everything looked a lot fresher, I expect the view from the Dangleway was good this evening

The walk along Dock Road and the North Woolwich Road was not at all threatening this time, it was light, there where people about and traffic was frequently passing me, and as I passed the Docklands Stations there were plenty of people hurrying home to their flats that a) either weren't there before or b) were hidden away in the dark.

One building I definitely did not see before was the Tate and Lyle building, I obviously saw the refinery at Silvertown before, but not this one at West Silvertown, in fact I don't recall having seen it from the other side of the river either.

Tate & Lyle Building

When I arrived at Actory Road I made sure I crossed the Crossrail works at the earliest opportunity as there is still no access to the ferry along this road. Funnily enough the footbridge I used is the original railway footbridge that used to be at Silvertown Station.

Crossrail Site (Tate & Lyle refinery in background)

Actory Road did not feel as threatening this time either, although the Henley Arms, not a pub I would be that keen to visit, was a little, how can I put it? Meanwhile the Crossrail works are progressing, they have built a very impressive eight foot concrete wall down the middle of the road where the North London Line used to run, and is it horrible, yes it is, just what you want when you walk out your front door, but I guess it's required to help reduce the noise of the Crossrail trains which are going to be far more frequent than the old North London Line, that ran at best two trains an hour, one each way.

Nice View!

Poor old Silvertown does not have much to offer, there's been quite a lot of new developments but it's not somewhere you would make a point a visiting, not of course unless your me! It must suffer somewhat as this is where the North Circular Road ends and the ferry crossing to Woolwich is still very popular with heavy and high vehicles as both the Blackwell and Rotherhithe tunnels have height restrictions, so I expect a number of heavy duty lorries rumble through here during the day.

The Woolwich Ferry

There was no need to run to catch the Ferry as it ws only 19:20 and therefore I should be able to catch the 19:30 sailing, although I did note that the road to the approach road was closed with a sign stating the 'Ferry Closed' that was ominous, although turning the corner my fears were proved unfounded as cars where queuing further along the approach road. The problem was that they had taken one of the Ferries out of service which meant I in fact once again ended up catching the last ferry!

Loading the Ferry

The crossing is very quick only about three minutes, plus a a couple of minutes to weigh anchor and dock. There were only about six foot passengers, most of the business no doubt taken by either the foot tunnel or the Docklands Railway. The passenger accommodation below decks is cavanous, there's even some no-smoking rooms!  I stood on the starboard side of the ferry ( actually I don't know which side starboard is) but was asked to move to the Port side for disembarkation.

Anchor's aweigh!

The sky was fairly dramatic, large grey clouds, a slight threat of rain, interspersed with blue and looking up river with distant views of Canary Wharf the sun was begining to set giving the underside of the clouds a warm orange glow. 

View down River

Apparently there's been a river crossing here since the fourtenth century although the present service was introduced in 1889 as a free service established by the Metropolitan Board of Works, the forerunner of the Greater London Council, it was originally served by three paddle steamers named Gordon (after the General of Khartoum, you know Chalton Heston) Duncan and Hutton. The current fleet was introduced in in 1963 and are named after local politicians John Burns, Ernest Bevin and James Newman.

Sunset across the Thames

Having crossed the river I continued home up the hill passing the Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich Common and then diverting past the Woolwich Academey up Red Lion Lane to Shooters Hill through the woods past Sevendroog  Castle, which looks very smart now it's been repaired, they have even floodlit it and then home, and another mission accomplished.

And here's the film of the trip on the Ferry about six minutes

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.

Rotherhithe Tunnel - Walking Home on a Friday - Thursday 17 April 2014

Every Friday since 3rd January I have walked home from work in EC2 to SE9, it's generally just over 9 miles and takes anything between 2.5 and 3 hours, normally the latter, and I vary my route each time.

A couple of weeks ago I decided that I would walk home using every crossing between and including Tower Bridge and the QEII Bridge at Dartford (how I'm going to walk to the Dartford Bridge is still a bit of a mystery to me, as the bus that crosses the QEII bridge finishes at 20:00), I've worked out that there are 22 ways to cross the Thames between these two points.

1. Tower Bridge - completed 4th April
2. Wapping to Rotherhithe (Overground Railway) - completed 11th April
3. Rotherhithe Road Tunnel - completed 17th April
4. Canada Water to Canary Wharf (Jubilee Line)
5. Hilton Docks to Canary Wharf Ferry
6. Greenland Pier Ferry to Masthouse Pier (Thames Clipper)
7. Masthouse Pier Ferry to Greenwich Pier Ferry (Thames Clipper)
8. Island Gardens to Cutty Sark (DLR)
9. Greenwich Foot Tunnel
10. Canary Wharf to North Greenwich (Jubilee Line)
11. Greenwich Pier to North Greenwich Pier (Thames Clipper)
12. Blackwell to Greenwich (Road Tunnel)
13. Greenwich to Blackwell (Road Tunnel)
14. Canning Town to North Greenwich (Jubilee Line)
15. Excel to O2 Cable Car
16. North Greenwich Pier t the Royal Arsenal Woolwich Pier (Thames Clipper)
17. Woolwich Ferry
18. Woolwich Tunnel
19. King George V to Woolwich Arsenal (DLR)
20. Dartford to Purfleet (Dartford Tunnel - Bore 1)
21. Dartford to Purfleet (Dartford Tunnel - Bore 2)
22. Purfleet to Dartford (QEII Bridge)

Tower Bridge from Rotherhithe

Wapping Tunnel - its a single bore tunnel

So on Thursday 17th April it was the turn of the Rotherhithe Tunnel, ok it was a Thursday, but given the 18th was Good Friday I think this is acceptable!

I left work at 16:50 and made for the north side of the Tunnel. I had previously worked out that although its slightly longer walk this way as I walk back on myself it would be easier and I can then walk directly home via New Cross, Deptford Creek DLR, Blackheath Hill and Shooters Hill.

Most probably choosing the day before the Easter Break was not the best day to walk through the tunnel as I expect it was busier than normal as people pack their bags and make a get away from the Big City for the Easter Break.

There are no restrictions to walking or cycling through the tunnel, although I had read that it's best to walk in the direction of the traffic and keep close to the wall as cyclists tend to use the pavement, this proved to be correct and at one point a cyclist went past me so close he brushed against me and almost immediately nearly collided with a car.

There's a long approach road down into the Tunnel a throw back to when horses used the tunnel, it then levels out and heads for the other side with a number of bends, apparently this was to prevent the horses bolting if they saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

There are a number of access points as you walk through the tunnel with steps to the surface so the tunnel must be underground as opposed to under river for longer than I expected.

So what's it like walking through the tunnel, frankly awful I would not recommend it to anyone, how cyclists and motorbikers do it regularly I don't know, its disgusting, fumes, fumes and more fumes. I took the precaution of wearing a mask around my mouth, but it was not a very good idea for someone who suffers from Asthma! But it had to be done!

Apparently its 3,689 feet long (1,125 metres) and was opened in 1908 by the Prince of Wales. I'm not the only fool to walk through the tunnel as Caroline's Miscellany and El Director! will prove!