Thames Path 01 - Thames Barrier to London Eye

Mary and I have decided to walk the National Trail, The Thames Path over the next year or so, walking initially from East to West. We will do many of the sections as day trips, using trains to get to and from the start and end points. Later sections may involve two days walking with an overnight stay.


The team - James, Mary, Mark, John, Kate, Ian - at The Thames Barrier

For our initial leg we had a subset of the usual suspects: Kate & Ian, their son James, and John. We started at the Thames Barrier Information and Learning Centre. The first part of the path took us past the O2 Arena and miles of housing and disused factories.


Trinity Hospital, Greenwich

Then there is a patch of classier Greenwich with some lovely old buildings. There Kate, Ian and James peeled off leaving Mary, John and I to complete the rest of this leg.


Old Royal Navel College, Greenwich

Then the old dockland reasserted itself with apartment block after apartment block often built round old docks. Lunch was a ploughman's and a pint at The Dog and Bell, Deptford.


Docklands inlet

Eventually the mile upon mile of characterless residential buildings gave way to tourist land. That started at Shakespeare's Globe, past the Golden Hinde replica, Tower Bridge and segued into the South Bank.


Roundabout

The sunshine brought the crowds out in huge numbers helped by the Refugee Week festival. Finally we reached our destination


The London Eye

According to MapMyRide the distance was 15.12 miles but our new Garmin Montana GPS reckons 13.24m which I am more inclined to believe.


MapMyRide

Next stage will, hopefully, be on Sunday 22nd July starting at London Eye to somewhere between Putney and Richmond.