Day 17 - London Bridge to the Thames Barrier, 10m

We travelled in style back to London Bridge by taking the Thames Clipper from Putney Pier.  This really is the way to commute, comfortable seats, a good view of yesterday's walk and we could even use our Oyster Cards.  What's the catch? I think it is the £7 price tag, though that did include a change of boat at Blackfriars.

Once we disembarked and started to walk toward Tower Bridge, we were on very familiar ground with the Tower of London and the city skyline across the river, and the Shard, HMS Belfast and City Hall on our bank.  HMS Belfast had a passenger liner tied up alongside which was a surprise.

After Tower Bridge we were immediately into docklands with converted warehouses, which are now posh bars, restaurants and flats.

Very soon we saw the community of boats which we think is where MP Jo Cox lived before she was murdered.  The path goes along the river through Bermondsey round short inlets and in places behind warehouses, with great views back to Tower Bridge and the city.  It is still very atmospheric and has a totally different character to our first 3 days walking.  There were places where we had to leave the river to go round warehouses, which gave us a flavour of the expensive apartments on the river front and the social housing (or former social housing behind).

The view back with Tower Bridge framed by the Shard on one side and the City on the other was quite something, though the view forward lacked the excitement of the last few miles!  Rotherhithe turned out to be quite interesting as it was from here that the Mayflower sailed with her cargo of pilgrims.

The first real view of the Docklands skyscrapers is at the end of a street in Rotherhithe.  At the top of the bend and across the river, we could see Limehouse Basin and Canary Wharf beyond.
Canary Wharf is truly enormous, and would dominate the skyline for much of our walk. Just past the bend in the river opposite Canary Wharf, we found a little gem, Surrey Docks City Farm, where we stopped for a mid morning drink. With all the photography etc our progress was fairly slow, we had only done 3.5 miles in 2 hours but as it was only 11.30am we thought it was too early for lunch

As we got further through Rotherhithe, there was much more new development instead of the conversions of old buildings we had seen so far.  After the farm we weaved in and out of the buildings including through the car park of the Hilton until we reached Greenlands Dock which is really nice, with its flats and a big marina.  Just after Greenland Dock we passed the boundary stone marking the boundary between Rotherhithe and Deptford and, until 1899, between Surrey and Kent. It was just as well that it wasn't as hot as previous days, as there was very little shade.  The character of the river was changing too.  Gone completely were the Thames Cruisers and we began to see the occasional yacht.

We saw the Cutty Sark in the distance before we got to Deptford, but we had to go round the old Naval buildings and decided that Deptford is really not very nice!  When we got back to the river, we passed a statue of Peter the Great, a gift from the Russion people.  In 1698 he was studying ship-building in the area and after he and his entourage caused major devastation, the Treasury had to pay significant compensation to the owner of the house he rented.  By now, we were close to the Cutty Sark.  We decided to buy sandwiches for lunch and found a nice shady bench in the grounds of the Royal Naval College.

From Greenwich, the river the yachts and commercial boats take over.  We could see the O2 arena in the distance so it felt as though we didn't have far to go.  After a relatively brief walk along the river, a notice said 'Thames path closed'.  We followed the diversion markers as best we could round the endless river front building sites and somehow ended up walking alongside the main road into the Blackwall Tunnel.

The detour signs seemed to evaporate and the O2 seemed to be across a main road.  The next bit to the end of the peninsula was past endless construction trucks until we finally got to the side of the big hotel next to the O2 and regained the path.  We think we missed a bit of the path, but not much. Rather to our surprise, there were a lot of people on the roof of the O2 - it looked very much like a guided roof tour!

It took a while to get round the O2, and the cable car over the Thames, but we could see our destination, the Thames barrier in the distance.

With only a minor diversion round a yacht club, we made it to the Barrier and walked through to find the end of the Thames path.

We decided to return to London Bridge in style to get a train, so we walked back to North Greenwich pier and got the Thames Clipper again, which provided a different viewpoint of the many interesting things we had walked past.  This time our fellow travellers were tourists, not commuters so it was a much less peaceful voyage.

And finally, we managed to get lost (again!) at London Bridge Station and the train home was late!

Day 16 - Putney to London Bridge, 9.2m

We left Ellie's house early again as the forecast was for another hot day and retraced our steps along Festing Road to the river.  Even just after 7am, the boat clubs along the embankment to Putney Bridge were open, though no-one was out rowing yet.  Putney Bridge marks the end of the Thames towpath, the start point for the Boat Race and the beginning of urban London.

We had to wait for the rush hour traffic to cross the bridge and the next part of the path, which wended its way through high rise blocks near the river and then back to the river, was full of cyclists all going pretty fast and not necessarily sticking to the cycle lane. We stayed with the cyclists for quite a while, and felt as if we might get knocked over at any minute, but fortunately they all seemed competent, even when they passed only inches away and they were very useful as we could follow them when we weren't sure of the route.

As we reached Wandsworth, we walked through the riverside park, past some interesting houseboats before a detour past the rather unattractive River Wandle.

In the next section, we could begin to see the developments going up all along the Thames on both sides.  Some much more attractive than others.

After the Albert Bridge, the really attractive white suspension bridge, we reached Battersea Park, which is really lovely and has a huge Bhuddist Pagoda in the middle.

We decided to cross the river at Chelsea Bridge, so that we could walk along the Chelsea Embankment rather than walk along main roads behind Battersea Power Station and construction sites in Nine Elms. We crossed back over at Vauxhall Bridge and went back down to the path on the south bank past Vauxhxall Cross home of MI6.

Then we were in tourist London, passing the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye, the National Theatre, St Paul's and all the famous sights.  From then on, we hardly heard a word of English!

At the Milennium Bridge, we walked halfway across to get a better view of St. Paul's and the Tate Modern.  On the way back, we noticed the little house (the tall white one) which featured in the historical novel 'The House on the Thames' and, of course, the Rose Theatre.  We soon arrived at the Golden Hinde II and London Bridge, the end of today's leg.

Day 15 - Richmond to Putney, 8.5m

Another hot day and another early start, this time in Richmond.

Again we after we left the bridge and the park beyond, the path was lovely and green and shady.  We walked along the edge of the Old Deer Park and the Kew Gardens.  Again, we couldn't see much of the parks but there was lots to see on the other side of the river, including Syon Park's rather unusual pink boat house.  After Richmond lock, we noticed the classic salty smell of tidal water and almost no Thames cruisers at all.

Eventually we did see a bit of Kew we were familiar with, benches we had sat on last year looking out over the river to Syon House.

The next bridge was Kew.  We were expecting a townscape but we spent moat of the time on another green path, the old urban part was through Barnes.

Then it was on along a shady path to Chiswick Bridge, past a brewery and to the end of the Boat Race Course.

The path led past the Harrods Depository and continued under Hammersmith Bridge.  That was the most disquieting bridge to go under as it is very low and the girders moved!

And finally we arrived in Putney, diverting to Ellie's house via Festive (Festing Road) home of Mr Benn.

Day 14 - Hampton Court to Richmond, 7.8m

We decided to start the Thames in the city when it didn't look like rain and the forecast temperatures were up to around 23 degrees C, but as our start date approached the forecasts got hotter and hotter.
That and to avoid the rush hour was why we found ourselves at Hampton Court Bridge at 8.30am.

Having crossed the bridge we walked along the river bank past the Palace and then on for 3 miles past the grounds.  We couldn't see into most of the grounds, but the path was pleasant and we could see houses and boats on the far bank. The boaters stopped talking to walkers around Oxford, but now we had reached Greater London, we noticed that the numbers who speak on the path had gone down to almost no-one.

After 3 miles we reached Kingston, where we managed to miss the signs and cross the bridge by a rather circuitous route.

Once away from the bridge, the route took us through a riverside park, then along a green path to Teddington Lock, which is absolutely enormous, though there is a smaller lock further over.

Then it was on towards Richmond, again along a green path, and to Ham House, a lovely National Trust Property right by the path, where we whiled away an hour or so in the tea room, gardens and house.

We reached Richmond about a mile and a half later before it got too hot to walk.

Day13 - Runnymede to Hampton Court Bridge, 13.5m

This was our very long day and it looked as if it could get quite warm so we had been unsure how we were going to get on as we had been getting rather tired, but after a rest day we were on good form.

As we left Runnymede Pleasure Grounds, two traditional wooden cruisers came past flying the red ensign. The first one was captained by a man in full naval uniform.  Perhaps they were off to the Traditional Cruisers Rally we had seen advertised previously.

With the M25 and the M3 featuring on today's section, we weren't expecting much but the locks are as pretty as ever and the M25 bridge is impressive not just for its size but also the lightness of its construction, in fact the A30 west is on a separate more traditional bridge, the M25 bridge carries the motorway and the A30 east.  A little further on we found this coal post marking the spot where anyone carrying coal was warned that they were due to pay a levy on it under an Act of 1831.

We soon found ourselves approaching Staines where the riverside has been prettied up with various installations including the London Stone, which once marked the limit of the jurisdiction of the Corporation of the City of London, and the statue of the Swanmaster.

This turned out to be a day of unexpected sightings, such as this German Police boat (proudly labelled 'Polizei').  The riverside properties are mostly rather less grand than further upstream but no doubt still hugely expensive.  And every little boatyard seems to have a Thames sailing barge in amongst the usual collection of tired old boats.

And so we came to Chertsey lock and bridge, where the view of the bridge is utterly ruined by what must surely be the ugliest and least appropriate riverside development so far.  

The guidebook promises 'the colourful community' of Rye Peck Meadows, which turns out to be a collection of houseboats of very variable design and condition.  But we did like the unusual method of making your home look occupied when when it isn't.

Possibly the highlight of the day was the ferry crossing between Shepperton and Weybridge. It runs on the quarter hour if someone rings the bell to summon the helm, though ours turned up unbidden at the appointed time!  The fare (£2 each) works out at about a pound a minute!  There is still a green corridor with varied wildlife even this far into London.  Further along the very elegant Walton Bridge having cost over £32m opened in 2013 and is the sixth bridge to have crossed the Thames at this point.  

Hampton boasts a substantial sailing club building on stilts and a fair number of dinghies in the park, but amazingly for a Saturday afternoon, absolutely nothing going on.  We can't work out how these clubs survive.  The 'temple' is just a folly in the grounds of an impressive mansion, but you can also find an impressive line of floating 'mansions' moored against one of the many islands.

We watched some trainee rowers under instruction and found a striking rowing monument in a rather unlikely orientation before finally sighting Hampton Court Bridge.  The whole area was extremely busy as it was the last but one day of the Hampton Court flower show.

As we reached the bridge, we had completed the 147 miles of the Thames path in the country.  We have been incredibly lucky with the weather having walked in warm dry weather for 7 days from our first base in Lechlade at the beginning of June and another 6 days from our base at Ashampstead at the beginning of July.  We are taking a break again and looking forward to completing the Thames path in London some time soon. 

Day 12 - Bray to Runnymede, 10.2m

Our car parking at Bray was on the far side of Summerleaze Bridge which was built to carry gravel across the river on a conveyer but has now been converted to be a footbridge.  The path which was very well made continued close to the river giving views through the trees to more lovely houses and Oakley Court Hotel (pictured above with the towers).

On the other side of the path were the Eton Dorney Rowing Lakes but we couldn't see much of them, just the building at the end of the course.   The far bank was equally uninspiring, with another big static caravan site near Windsor Marina.  Later on we also passed the chapel of St Mary Magdalene, Boveney and Boveny Lock.

The next part of the path was uninspiring but we did see some unusual graffiti under a road bridge, a theatre in Winsor and a nicely-painted railway bridge as we neared Eton. 

All of a sudden Windsor Castle came into view as we crossed a grassy area belonging to Eton College.  Eton is really pretty but like everywhere else on this leg of our walk, blighted by the noise of the aircraft which come over every few minutes.  It was just possible to see the top of Eton College Chapel over the trees.

For a while we walked along the edge of the public part of Home Park until we reached the Victoria Bridge, where we had to cross the river.  The royal lawns across the river looked lovely, in stark contrast to the path which was badly overgrown.  We were glad to emerge onto the road at Datchet, where we spotted what looked like a yellow submarine, but turned out to be a lifeboat!

The awful path continued when we turned off the road at Datchet and after we recrossed the river on the Albert Bridge. The path improved towards our lunch stop at a Harvester pub across the road from the river.  It was OK but definitely not the best food or pub location on our walk.

The two Lutyens-designed gatehouses mark the start of Runnymede Meadows from which the Runnymede Monument is visible across the road.  We spotted an orange buoy in the river which seemed to be moving - which it was as it was being towed by a swimmer!  And finally, after what seemed like a long hard day we reached our car at Runnymede.