Sunday 26th July
A combination of morning of procrastination and a tree falling on a railway line meant that I didn’t arrive in Stoke Newington to begin Section 13 of the Capital Ring until ten past three in the afternoon. Just as well it doesn’t get dark until nine o’clock at night really.
From the railway station I walked south down Stamford Hill to the gates of Abney Park Cemetery, popped in to use the facilities next to the cafe, and crossed over Stamford Hill again, turning up Cazenove Road over the railway line and then left and right to follow Filey Avenue. There were many people on these residential streets wearing strange clothes and big black hats. I think wearing these outfits means that God says they can cycle very fast on the footway and don’t have to give way to pedestrians but it could be something else.
Shortly after crossing Upper Clapton Road I entered Springfield Park, named rather literally for the series of springs which emerge here from the sand and gravel and London clay. Presumably these feed into the large pond to the right as you cross the park below Springfield House. Going down the hill into the Lea Valley (or Lee Valley, take your pick) I could see across Walthamstow Marshes on the other side of the River Lea/River Lee, the bank of which I reached opposite the marina. Turning right along the towpath I had deja vu all over again as I realised I’d walked along here before, after visiting the superb Markfield BeamEngine a short way to the north in South Tottenham.
I crossed the River Lea on the footbridge as I had done in 2019 and turned right onto the towpath, joining the Lea Valley Walk, which the Capital Ring follows for the next three miles.
I followed the broad gravel path alongside the river which was lined with a great variety of boats in various states of repair. At one point I was passed by a large steel barge towing what looked like an orange flying (floating?) saucer. The latter swung back and forth on its tow line to a soundtrack of a diesel engine revving and shouts of “Sorry!” as it bumped or narrowly missed the moored boats.
It was turning into a hot afternoon and alas The Anchor & Hope pub is on the wrong side of the river - though that might actually be just as well or progress would have come to a halt. As it was I carried on to the shade of the railway arches which carry the West Anglia Main Line over the River Lea. The arches also carry a plaque recording that in 1909 A V Roe made the first all British powered flight, in a triplane which was built under the arches and flew 900 feet across the marshes.
Further along I came to a sign which read “Welcome to the Lee Valley Ice Centre”, which meant I’d missed the turning across King’s Head Bridge so had to retrace my steps a short way and then cross the river and turn left to reach the Lea Bridge on Lea Bridge Road. On the other side of which I passed Lea Bridge Weir, where the River Lea and the River Lee Navigation divide at the redundant Middlesex Filter Beds, now a nature reserve. The Capital Ring follows the River Lee Navigation to the west of Hackney Marshes while the River Lea passes to the East so I can stick to one spelling until they join up again at Old Ford Lock. For a short while the towpath ran in the shade of some nice big trees before crossing over on a footbridge to the sunny side again to pass the filter beds and Hackney Marshes, both unseen behind the embankment and trees as the Hackney Cut as this part of the Lee Navigation is also called ran more or less south east. At least the marshes would have remained unseen except that just before Cow Bridge there was blue and white tape across the towpath, necessitating a short diversion while the police fished a corpse out of the water. Of course the man in Lycra decided the tape didn’t apply to him, lifted it over his head and cycled onward until he was given a polite bollocking by the woman police officer standing on the bridge and sent back again. Pillock.
Back on the towpath beyond the incident I plodded on along the Hackney Cut past more floating homes and the odd one which wasn’t floating any more, under another footbridge and under Marshgate Bridge where I rested on a handy bench for a few moments to drink some water, it being a bit warm. It was also quite busy with walkers, joggers, and cyclists so you needed to keep a constant watch fore and aft.
The high bridges of the A12 East Cross Route loomed ahead with the huge red advertising display sticking up above them. Underneath the bridges there was some interesting street art which was being added to by someone the UK Government would no doubt regard as a terrorist.
The other side of the A12 I passed the bars and restaurants in the former Olympic Press Centre, now part of Here East “London’s campus for entrepreneurs, creatives, and unconventional thinkers to create at scale. We put ambitious minds at the centre of East London’s evolving ecosystem of business, culture, and creativity.” On a Sunday afternoon they were mostly creatively eating and drinking as far as I could see.
Not far to the end of Section 13 now, under Wallis Bridge, under the Mildmay Line, and under White Post Lane to Canal Park where Section 13 meets Section 14 without a sign that I could see to mark the join.
I sat on a bench opposite the Hertford Union Canal entrance, considered having dinner at one of the popular canal side restaurants, checked the menu, thought better of it, watched people messing about in boats or wobbling about on paddle-boards, and decided to carry on along Section 14.
Capital Ring Section 13 Flickr Album - opens in a new page or below as a slide show below if your viewer supports it.
That simply involved getting off the comfortable bench and carrying on along the towpath. Section 14 runs for 4.8 miles from Hackney Wick to Beckton District Park. Much of the route follows the Greenway, the path on top of the Northern Outfall Sewer and therein lies a problem. A section of the Greenway between Channelsea Path near Abbey Mills Pumping Station and Upper Road near the East London Cemetery is closed for sewer works until 2028. Because the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway & the District Line run right through the middle of that gap the possible diversions add either 1.3 miles or 1.7 miles depending which one you take. So it made sense to knock a bit of this section off now rather than have a longer walk next time and if I took the shorter diversion I could finish conveniently at Plaistow Station to catch a train homewards. So off I set along the Lee Navigation past the Bobby Moore Academy and the London Stadium to Old Ford Lock. I must say that everyone on Fish Island on the far side of the river seemed to be having a good time.
Just beyond Old Ford Lock - its adjacent Lock Keeper’s Cottages famous for being Channel Four’s “The Big Breakfast” house - the River Lea rejoins the Lee Navigation, its big loop around Hackney Marshes having been bypassed in the 18th century by the Hackney Cut along which I’d just walked. By crossing the Lea on the footbridge just after the lock I left Tower Hamlets and entered Newham and just around the next bend turned left up a slope onto the Greenway.
The Greenway, here also called Victoria Walk, ran almost directly east in a straight line with the London Stadium (home to West ham FC) to the north and Bow Goods Yard East to the south. You can see the former but not the latter because although the Greenway is raised up it’s also screened by trees. Where there are gaps in the trees you get glimpses of Stratford’s towers and the strange squat black hexagonal structure that is the ABBA Arena.
At Marshgate lane there more sewer works and the usual ramp down from the Greenway to get under the railway was closed, entailing a loop down a path to the left, then left under the sewer and under the railway to the front of Pudding Mill Lane DLR Station. I was glad someone had been out and marked the route with Capital Ring stickers on various bits of street furniture. Having made it through the cunning stunts on bikes being performed across the station forecourt by the local yoof I crossed Marshgate Lane and rejoined the Greenway where it crosses City Mill River and turns straight east again towards Stratford. I crossed the Waterworks River and then the A118 Stratford High Street onto the next bit of Greenway which passes the impressive cathedral-like Abbey Mills Pumping Station, visible through a strategic gap in the hedge.
It was almost 6 pm and so still light. This is good because I felt that this particular bit of Greenway was not somewhere you’d want to be after dark. Now I’d reached Channelsea Bridge, the point where the Greenway is closed. The diversion route isn’t clearly signposted - I think I saw one sign in Manor Road - but I’d made sure to plot it on the map and load it into my phone's navigation app before leaving home.
I took the ramp down to the left into Abbey Road, passed the rows of resting Jubilee Line trains at Stratford Market Depot, Abbey Road DLR Station, and the row of railway cottages, straight on into Mitre Road, across Manor Road into Stephen’s Road to reach Plaistow* Road where I turned right. Simples. There are plenty of shops in Plaistow Road so I stopped to get a cold drink and a snack before carrying on to Plaistow Station.
In front of Plaistow Station seems to be the place to be to sit on a summer Sunday evening and swig cheap vodka from a bottle, or sleep propped up against a wall. I’d neglected to bring any vodka so instead I got on the train without delay 😀
Capital Ring Section 14 Flickr Album - opens in a new page or below as a slide show below if your viewer supports it.
Note: Pronounced “PLAHST-oh”, other Plaistows have different pronunciations.
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