Walking the Thames Path: day 1

Day 1
Woolwich Arsenal - Putney
34.26km / 21.29 miles
6:28:43
1,556 calories

 

The river Thames has been a key part of my life for over 20 years now - since I went to university and first stepped into a rowing boat, on the Thames in Oxford. In Oxford the Thames is known as the Isis, derived from the old name for England's longest river, Tamesis.

Over my university years I got to know the Isis, and the Thames at Wallingford where we also trained, well. When I moved to London I joined Thames Rowing Club in Putney, and since then the stretch from Putney to Chiswick is my stomping ground, part of the tidal Thames known as the Tideway.

I can tell you where every shoal is on that seven-kilometre stretch, can warn you about the trees that overhang the bank at high tide, where the stream is fastest, and how to safely navigate in a rowing boat. And I've walked or run the banks of the Thames between about Tower Bridge and Richmond quite a bit.

But I don't know much of the rest of the river, and for a while now I've been wanting to walk the Thames Path. The official national trail runs 184 miles along the banks of the river, between the source in Gloucestershire and the Thames Barrier. Obviously you can do it in chunks, but I thought it would be nice to do it in one sustained go, if possible. This year, the stars have aligned: I have neither much work nor much rowing tying me down, and after a bit of admin I managed to find campsites and accommodation post-lockdown to make this work.

The view from Woolwich Arsenal Pier

So today, I set off. I used a cycle hire bike to get to Battersea Power Station, where I picked up the Thames Clipper riverboat service all the way to Woolwich Arsenal, actually a couple of km downstream of the official trail start. It was a lovely sunny morning, perfect for sitting on the back of the boat, but it clouded over somewhat as I started walking back towards Putney.

At the Thames Barrier there's a tunnel with the river profile engraved on the wall. The river climbs less than 100 metres in total, so at least this is going to be a flat walk!

Thames Barrier

I was quite glad I'd chosen to walk upstream rather than downstream; much of the first stretch is industrial and a bit dusty and grubby. However it was still interesting looking at the types of industry going on. Did you know there's a British Awning Company, dedicated to making awning? Towards Greenwich there's a really attractive residential area, and then the path goes around the O2 arena and past the Naval College. Greenwich at this time of year should be buzzing with tourists and it was a bit weird to see it relatively quiet.

I thought about stopping for a coffee but decided to forge on towards Deptford, where the path temporarily leaves the river for a bit. Throughout this whole section Canary Wharf looms on the other bank - the bends in the river mean you see it from all angles for a long, long time.

Panorama from Deptford Strand

On 'Deptford Strand' I stopped for lunch and put a blister plaster on my left heel, before setting off again. This bit of the path starts to become less industrial and more scenic. It passes over a couple of locks - in use, and not - and the little marina at Greenland Dock where some guys were fishing. Curving round the Rotherhithe peninsula there are plenty of reminders of the history of the path, such as a statue to the pilgrims who left aboard the Mayflower for America from Rotherhithe (via Plymouth). I passed the Mayflower pub, where friends and I had had an excellent Sunday lunch before Christmas, and was well through halfway and on to territory I'd walked before.

Like Greenwich, the whole section of the path from Tower Bridge to the Southbank is usually heaving in July (and quite unpleasant, to be honest, with just too many people). Today, it was easy walking with plenty of space to distance and for cyclists to pass.

At Borough Market there were loos (hurrah), excellent coffee from Monmouth Coffee, and an excellent doughnut from Bread Ahead. Not all the stalls were open but quite a few were. At Monmouth, a man was having a lively argument with the manager over the fact he only had cash to pay with; like most other shops at the moment they weren't taking cash. I'm not sure how they were going to resolve the issue.

DOUGHNUT

The sugar rush gave me a temporary spring which took me down the Southbank and my favourite view of the City (seriously, it never gets old). At Lambeth Bridge I crossed to the north bank, because if you stay on the south side of the river you have to cut away to get around the M16 building and then Battersea Power Station later on. At Vauxhall, a guy sitting outside a cafe asked if I was walking the Thames Path - apparently I looked like a rambler! He recommended doing the Capital Ring, which is a 78 mile / 126km route around the city - one I would quite fancy at some point to be honest.

On I went, my feet and legs getting steadily more tired and, it turned out, a blister developing on one of my right toes. I passed through Battersea Park, busy with joggers and people looking at the pagoda in the middle, and past Albert Bridge, which always reminds me of a wedding cake in its pale pink paint.

Battersea Park: nearly there. Sort of.

I'm not sure if it helped knowing how far there was to go, or not, but it was good to see Wandsworth Bridge appear in the distance and then see the 1 mile to Putney Bridge sign. I stopped my watch at 34.3km, with barely any battery left.

It was a long day and my legs are tired, but I've only got one more day as long ahead of me so the other days should be easier. Tomorrow is Putney to Kingston, another bit of river I know well, and then I start heading into less familiar territory!