Thames Path 02 - London Eye to Kew Bridge

Sunday 15-Jun-2012

The second leg of our upstream journey produced some lovely sunny weather.


Alan, Andrea, Bill, Mary, Mark (me).

One thing about walking through London is that you cannot move for historic buildings.

• 
  Houses of Parliament
• 
  Battersea Power Station
• 
  Battersea Dogs and Cats Home
• 
  London Peace Pagoda

At one point we passed a mooring with a number of cormorants which caused me to declaim the Christopher Isherwood poem:

    The common cormorant or shag
    Lays eggs inside a paper bag
    The reason you will see no doubt
    It is to keep the lightning out
    But what these unobservant birds
    Have never noticed is that herds
    Of wandering bears may come with buns
    And steal the bags to hold the crumbs.

We passed through Battersea Park and Wandsworth Park which are Grade II listed parks. I knew buildings could be listed but it was news to me that parks could be as well. According to English Heritage there are 1,601 registered historic parks and gardens.



Lunch was at The Boathouse right by Putney Bridge where we joined by Ros for part of the afternoon segment.



The remainder of the walk took us past the splendid Victorian engineering of Hammersmith Bridge designed by Joseph Bazalgette.



We passed through Barnes and over the river to walk the north bank for a while. Then back over Chiswick bridge for the final stretch to our end point at Kew Bridge and the train home.

Distance this leg 22.6 km
Previous leg 21.3 km
Total so far 43.9 km 

20120715-thames-path-02, a set on Flickr.

Cleaning the Wandle July 2012

This month the venue was Beddington Park and the theme was Himalayan Balsam - an invasive species which smothers indigenous plants and causes river pollution through soil erosion. See the Managing invasive non-native plants booklet from The Environment Agency. It was also the month for the annual picnic.

 

It took me so long to cycle down from Wandsworth Town that all the waders were gone leaving only wellies and so I was, again, land based. Given the recent rainfall the river was in full flood and, for a while, there was doubt as to whether anyone would be going in the water on safety grounds.



In the end it was deemed safe enough so the waders harvested whilst I and the other bank-siders gathered up and carted away.



Much of the gathering was done using garden muck buckets and old, industrial plastic barrels cut in half and fitted with tow ropes. By the end we had a fair old pile of Himalayan Balsam and the river looked a lot clearer.



As it was the annual picnic we worked a longer morning session and called it a day at one-thirty so we could have our picnic lunch.



Amongst the volunteers was Derek Coleman co-author of the newly published "River Wandle Companion and Wandle Trail Guide" so I snapped up a copy and got it autographed.

 

On the way back I was amused by a pair of nesting moorhens who had incorporated an old chair into their nest (or maybe it had washed up against their abode).



A cycle home followed a soak in the bath...

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.

Walking in the Lake District 2012 - Day 7

Day 7 in the Lakes. Sat 09-Jun-12. Last day. 11.5 strenuous miles around Grizedale Forest. 4hrs 20 mins walking.

A number of people up for Grant's 50th gathered in Cartmel then moved en-masse to Grizedale Forest Park. Some went mountain biking, some went on gentle walks, we went for a heavy duty walk - "The Siluran Way" - the longest and hardest of the marked paths around park.


Descending from one of the high spots


A misty view from one of the ridges



There were a number of pieces of forest art scattered along the trail. This arch is covered in carvings of forest plants and insects.



Lunch was a snack and a pint of Black Sheep Bitter at The Eagles Head, Satterthwaite.



We had to curtail the last part of the walk as we needed to get back and shower and change for the party but even so, according to MapMyRide, we did 11.5 miles.

Summary of our week in the Lakes:
Miles walked - 75.5 miles
Hours walked - 32.5 hours
Blisters - none
Pints of beer consumed - lost count

Training for our Coast to Coast walk next year has officially started!

Walking in the Lake District 2012 - Day 6

Day 6 in the Lakes. Fri 08-Jun-11. Gentle stroll from Ambleside round Rydal Water and Grasmere. Exactly 10 miles in 3.25 hours

We have tried to mix it up with our walks - some countryside, some fells, some coastline and now some lakes.


Rydal Water

As our route took us past Dove Cottage into Grasmere village we had to have a look at Wordsworth's grave.


Grasmere - Wordsworth's Grave

Plus buy some "original" gingerbread from the tiniest shop imaginable - previous a school house support by Wordsworth and his sister.


Grasmere - Gingerbread shop

Lunch at Tweedie's Bar and then the return route completed the circumambulation of the two lakes.


Grasmere duck


Grasmere view

Evening was pub food and beer in The Royal Oak, Cartmel, as a practice run for Grant's 50th birthday celebrations on the the Saturday.

Walking in the Lake District 2012 - Day 5

Day 5 in the Lakes. Thu 07-Jun-12. Through Cark and down to the coast. Very soggy costal path walk including Humphrey's Head. 19.5 miles in 6 hours


Wild Foxgloves

The first leg was cross country to Cark through some very pleasant countryside which is more than can be said for the weather. It started nice enough with paths only a little damp from yesterday but soon enough the predicted rain started.


Typical stone slab bridge over a small stream

Shortly after Cark we picked up the Cumbria Costal Way and headed down to the shore where the wind and rain really picked up. We had a soggy walk round to near Humphrey's Head then inland to Allithwaite for lunch at The Yakkers pub.


Cumbria Coastal Way

We, perhaps foolishly, went back to the coast for a circuit of Humphrey's Head - a limestone peninsula jutting out into Morecombe Bay. There we got another lashing from the wind and squelched our way back home to the hotel. The boots are still not dried out two days later.


Humphrey's Head

Evening meal was at Rogan and Co. featuring Simon Rogan, designer chef, who is competing in the Great British Menu. We went for the four course taster menu with wine which was exceptional.

Update, Sun 10-Nov-13. 
Filing some papers I found the original menu:

Great British Menu

• Grilled salad smoked over embers, ragstone, custard & cobnuts
• Native lobster soaked in its own juices with pickled beetroots, sweet apple & cuckoo flower
• Suckling pig cooked 24 hours with northern mead and nasturtium
• Hazelnuts and sweet cheese, rosehips and anise hyssop

4 courses £59
4 courses and tasting wines £79

Walking in the Lake District 2012 - Day 4

Day 4 in the Lakes. Wed 06-Jun-12. Transfer to Cartmel and view of Cartmel Priory. Gentle afternoon walk taking in Hampfield Fell and Lindale. 5.5 miles, 2.5 hours

Our four days in Beech Cottage, Windermere, being over we packed up and made ready to transfer to Cartmel for the next four days. We fitted in a bit of shopping before setting off for a new rucksack for me. My current rucksack I also use for cycling and a proper day pack would be lighter with more handy pockets and clips and an air back to keep my back from getting all hot and sweaty. I ended up with a Jack Wolfskin Barny XT 26 with the requisite number of bells and whistles.

Arriving at Cartmel we did a quick tour of the priory followed by a picnic lunch then off for an afternoon walk.


Hampsfell aka Hampsfield Fell

First up, the ascent of Hampsfell to see The Hospice. You can see by the way the trees have grown leaning over that it is pretty windy up there. The Hospice is for shelter from the cold according to the doggerel inside.


The Hospice of Hampsfell

Up the external step for the view including a (new word to me) "toposcope". The board lists the compass bearings to orient the toposcope and view the various points of interest.


The toposcope

The return route took us past an old lime kiln.


Lime Kiln - Back view


Lime Kiln - Front view

Wall stiles come in all sorts: wooden, stone, step and pinch - this being a fine example of the latter.


Pinch Stile

Dinner in the Aynsome Manor Hotel in the panelled dining room - an 1852 extension to the house which dates back to the 16th century.