Green Link Walk Section 4: Bankside to Peckham

14th September 2026

Up in town for an evening meeting at the London Transport Museum I had enough time to go south of the river and complete the Green Link Walk to Peckham. I took the path leading away from the Thames down the side of Tate Modern to Holland Street and round the back of the gallery, grabbed a sandwich from the Co-Op in Summer Street and crossed Southwark Street.

In Great Suffolk Street I passed the Hilton Hotel and then under three bridges, the first carrying a service road and the other two railways to Blackfriars and Charing Cross.

This area is defined by its railway bridges carrying multiple lines over the streets of Southwark so when I turned right into Pocock Street I passed under the line from Blackfriars again. At the end of the road by the huge mural on the end wall of Friars House I turned left onto the noisy Blackfriars Road heading south.

I soon reached St. George’s Circus with its tall stone obelisk. Constructed in 1771 as a grand southern entrance to the City of London it is now a busy roundabout. The base of the obelisk bears on one face the inscription Erected in XI year of the reign of King George MDCCLXXI, with the inscriptions on the other three sides reflecting the obelisk’s distances from certain London landmarks. One Mile From Palace Yard, One Mile XXXX Feet From London Bridge (one mile 40 feet) and One Mile CCCL Feet From Fleet Street (one mile 350 feet).

I turned left at the circus down Borough Road and once beyond the red brick and terracotta Passmore Centre (formerly the Passmore Edwards St George the Martyr Public Library and now used by London South Bank University) I crossed over the road and went down Keyworth Street, somewhat against the flow of students. A small plaza between two of the university buildings provided a bench on which to pause and eat my sandwich, watched over by a security guard.

After lunch I carried on to Newington Causeway, turned right to Elephant & Castle. It had been a long time since I was here last and it has changed through redevelopment (gentrification?) almost beyond recognition. The early 1960s’ Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre (the first of its kind in Europe) has gone. Tall towers have sprung up. The slightly silly name “Elephant Park” has appeared. At least the landmark colourful Elephant & Castle sculpture from the old shopping centre has found a new home on top of the small Castle Square retail area off Elephant Road.

Opposite the railway station I turned left through Castle Square and Elephant Park (I don’t know if you are allowed to park an elephant there, I didn’t see any) and at the end of Ash Avenue crossed over into Victory Community Park. I turned south along Balfour Street then east along Chatham Street to reach the next bit of green space, Salisbury Row.

I followed the Green Link waymarks across the park which differ from the directions in the guide which exit into Barlow Street and then pass under the bulky block of flats, Eugene Cotter House to reach Tatum Street. Following the signs I exited the park to the north east of Eugene Cotter House, went along Beckway Street and passed between Eugene Cotter House and Ellery House to turn left along Tatum Street. I don’t know who has signposted this alternative route or why. There were hardly any people on the streets here mid-afternoon which was slightly eerie. I did feel that I wouldn’t want to walk through here after dark.

A right turn and then left by the Huntsman pub followed by a succession of back streets heading roughly south east brought me to Surrey Square.

Straight across the park and out beside Tenterden House through the postwar Kinglake Estate to Albany Road and across into the wide open and sunny expanse of Burgess Park. I turned right at the lake and followed the broad path alongside it to a bench where I sat a while watching the world go by for here at last there were people. Also geese. Photo-bombing pigeons as well.

I carried on west across the park to Chumleigh Gardens, formerly a set of almshouses called the Female Friendly Society Asylum. The multi-cultural garden, established in 1995, in which the Georgian buildings stand are “Designed to reflect the area’s diversity, Mediterranean, Islamic, Oriental, African & English gardens rest side by side.” There’s a cafe here with a large unfriendly sign outside the door pointing out that Public Conveniences are located in the next building. Inconveniently these were closed due to vandalism 😒

Turning first south and then east along the south side of Burgess Park I joined the route of the Grand Surrey Canal. Constructed in the early 19th century to carry timber from Surrey Commercial Docks in Rotherhithe through South London to Camberwell and Peckham (and was initially planned to go further still but that didn’t happen). The canal closed between the 1940s and 1970s and was filled in. parts were built over but other parts turned into roads or linear parks. In Burgess Park a redundant bridge over the canal was left in place and became known as The Bridge to Nowhere.

I passed beneath The Bridge to Nowhere and left Burgess Park crossing Sumner Road to join the Surrey Canal Walk which heads south along the route of the Peckham Branch of the Grand Surrey Canal, passing under two more former canal bridges which at least still carry traffic, first on Willowbrook Road and then Commercial Way.

The canal route ends at Peckham Square - the Library is built on the site of the terminal basin - and the Green Link Walk finishes on the other side of the Square, underneath Peckham Arch on the High Street. A high street that was occupied by a Metropolitan Police Live Facial Recognition operation with cameras set up in the street. I don’t know who they were looking for. Two brothers selling dodgy goods out of a suitcase perhaps? Mange tout, Rodders!

Green Link Walk ✅

33 photos from Green Link Walk section 4 on Flickr. Opens in a new page or as a slideshow below if your viewer supports it.

A few thoughts. The Green Link Walk cuts across London from North to South linking some 40 areas of green space - although some are small enough that you’ll miss them - and keeps where it can to mostly quiet streets. On the way it passes through quiet residential areas, the City, tourist hotspots, and bits of London you probably never thought to visit. At 15 (or 16) miles it’s easily doable in three outings. Two if you’re fit and keen. One if you’re a lunatic.

Route guidance is downloadable for free from the Inner London Ramblers here.

The four sections are marked on openstreetmap.org

GPX files for mapping on your phone can be downloaded from Footways.

Green Link Walk Section 3: Regent's Canal to Bankside

Saturday 5th September (late afternoon)

Section 3 of the Green Link Walk is only two and a half miles, from the Regent’s Canal to Bankside on the other side of the River Thames. After sitting for about half an hour in Duncan Terrace Gardens I decided to carry on walking rather than quitting and heading for Angel tube station.

After all it was a sunny Saturday afternoon, how busy could the City be?

I left Duncan Terrace through the gate at the southern end and crossed City Road, passed the large octagonal vent shaft building above Angel station on the Northern Line then crossed Goswell Road into Owen Street with Owen Square on my left and St. John Street into Chadwell Street to reach Myddelton Square, keeping left of St. Mark’s Church.

The name of the square along with several other streets nearby is from Sir Hugh Myddelton (1560-1631), a Welsh born clothmaker, goldsmith, banker, entrepreneur and engineer who is mainly remembered as the driving force behind the New River, an artificial waterway opened in 1613 to bring fresh water from springs in Hertfordshire London, which in part it still does. The original route of the New River (and the current New River Path walking route) runs through Duncan Terrace and Owen Street before veering south to the former waterworks at New River Head.

The Green Link Walk continues west to cross Amwell Street (named after one of the springs near Ware which fed the New River) and on to Lloyd Square safely locked away behind its railings. From the westernmost corner Lloyd Square you can see the former Post Office Tower over in Fitzrovia.

I turned left and passed a guided walking tour in Wilmington Square, which sounded as if it was New River related, past the end of Exmouth Market and then on down Tysoe Street to Spa Fields. I’ve been here a few times because the adjacent London Archives has very interesting free exhibitions. The current offering is Londoners on Trial - Crime, Courts and the Public 1244–1924. I must arrange to come back and pay another visit.

I was now in Clerkenwell, - the area derives its name from the Clerks’ Well, clerken being the Middle English plural of clerk, a literate person or clergyman. It being Saturday Clerkenwell was fairly quiet save for someone doing a fashion photo shoot at The Horseshoe pub and a wedding at St. James’s Church.

Jerusalem Passage brought me out in St. John’s Square and I crossed Clerkenwell Road to pass through the arch of St. John’s Gate, originally built in 1504 as the south entrance to the inner precinct of Clerkenwell Priory, the English headquarters of the Knights of the Order of St John known as the Knights Hospitaller. The order was re-established in the nineteenth century, they’re the St. Johns with the ambulances. The building has had a variety of uses since the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII including a printing house, William Hogarth’s father’s Coffee House and a tavern. It is now the Museum of the Order of St. John. I’ve passed many times but not had the time to go in and the same applied today.

St. John’s Lane (with the aeroplane clock) and St. John’s Street brought me to Charterhouse Street. I was tempted to nip into The Hope for refreshment but it was very busy. Instead I crossed Charterhouse Street into the Grand Avenue of Smithfield Market. It being Saturday afternoon rather than early on a weekday morning the market was closed and empty, the usual smell of meat absent.

I emerged into West Smithfield and made a short diversion up Cloth Fair to check out the oldest house in the City then returned past the St. Bartholomew’s Gatehouse into Little Britain, getting my first sight on the walk of the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was about to get much busier.

I stopped by Postman’s Park for a look at the ceramic tiles of the Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice and a sit down before heading into the mêlée.

I passed between Christchurch Greyfriars Garden, which was a Christopher Wren church until the Luftwaffe visited on 29th December 1940 and 81 Newgate Street which until December 2021 was the headquarters of BT. This was on the site of the Central Telegraph Office, which also had a visit from the Luftwaffe on 29th December 1940 but was partially rebuilt and not replaced by the BT Centre until 1967. Also on this site Guglielmo Marconi made the first public transmission of wireless signals on 27 July 1896.

And on into “tourist central”. Queen’s Head Passage into Cannon Alley to the north side of St. Paul’s Churchyard.

I skirted around the east side of the cathedral past St Paul’s Cathedral School and then dodged through the wheelie suitcases and Nikons to cross the road into Peter’s Hill. Not far to go now.

Down the steps of Peter’s Hill to the no-longer-wobbly Millennium Bridge which was packed. Yes of course you can walk six abreast or stand in a big circle, not like anyone wants to get across the river. Bloody tourists! 😆

The Thames looked glorious as usual in the sunshine mind you.

So with impeccable bad timing I arrived on Bankside just as Tate Modern was closing.

Green Link Walk Section 3 ✅

35 photos on Flickr from Green Link Walk Section 3. Opens in a new page or as a slideshow below if your viewer supports it.

Green Link Walk Section 2: Lea Bridge to the Regent's Canal

Saturday 5th September

Back to Lea bridge to continue the Green Link Walk. I set out on Section 2 at half past midday which was slightly later than anticipated because the TFL Go app directed me to a bus stop in Hackney which doesn’t exist. I got off the number 56 bus at Chatsworth Road and walked down to the River Lee, ducking under Lea Bridge, passing the now familiar Princess of Wales pub which was doing a good Saturday lunchtime trade. I’d been along here on the Capital Ring recently but this time once past the weir and the hump where there used to be a canal arm I turned right, leaving the river and the Ring behind and striking out south across Millfields Park. I didn’t strike out very far though before finding shaded bench on which to eat the sandwich I’d bought while hunting to the right bus stop in Hackney. Today’s expedition had been a spur of the moment thing and I’d not had breakfast.

Thus refuelled for the walk ahead I carried on. It was fairly busy in Millfields Park but probably quieter than in the year 527. According to tradition it’s believed that the Battle of Hackney took place here when Æscwine of Essex rebelled against Octa, the Anglo Saxon King of Kent, defeating him to establish the Kingdom of Essex. There’s not much evidence that Æscwine existed mind you so it could all be bol… erm, a myth 😀

On the far side of the park I crossed into Millfields Road which took me all the way to Clapton Pond which was very photogenic in the sunshine.

I passed the pond, crossed Lower Clapton Road and carried on along Downs Road to Hackney Downs. Rather than following the main route of the Green Link along the east side of the downs I headed straight to the centre because there’s something quite rare for London in the middle of Hackney Downs. Public Conveniences. I sat a while and watched someone grooming a large black dog which was standing on top of a large grey rock and then returned to the south-east corner of the downs to rejoin the walk.

The next 500 metres brought me to Clapton Square which I cut through to reach Lower Clapton Road opposite the former Police Station, now a school, and then along Churchwell Path into the grounds of Hackney Church. Somewhere in the churchyard is the grave of Rear Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort of Beaufort Scale of wind strength fame. I did a loop of the church but somehow failed to spot his amongst the many tombs. I rejoined Churchwell Path south of the churchyard and followed it all the way to Morning Lane, passing under the Mildmay Line on the way, and then continued south into the centre of Hackney.

Hackney is quite hellish for pedestrians because of cyclists who ride just wherever they like. Roadway, footway, across parks, the wrong way up one-way streets, diagonally across junctions frequently without actually looking where they are going or even while looking at their mobile phones held in one hand. You really need eyes in the back of your head while walking and I witnessed several near misses.

Turning west I passed Hackney Telephone Exchange, the Picturehouse, and the Town Hall before turning left along Hackney Grove and then Martello Street, going under the railway line to reach London Fields. Standing by the railings near the Pub on the Park to check my route I was suddenly struck in the kidneys by a set of bicycle handlebars. Some gormless idiot was pushing his bike along the footway without taking any notice of where he was going or anyone else around him apart from the girl he was with. I had to resist the urge to knock the c*** into the middle of next week 😡 Like I said above, hellish.

I followed the footpath across the middle of London Fields (now even more aware of two-wheeled terrors) crossing Lansdowne Drive on the other side where two bicycles almost collided, their riders both having decided to ride diagonally across the junction with Shrubland Road, down which I continued. I made the very short detour to get a photo of the corrugated iron Sight of Eternal Life Church, a “tin tabernacle” built in 1858 at a cost of just £1250 and believed to be the oldest surviving example of an iron church in existence.

Amazingly it’s not yet been converted into or replaced by flats.

I returned to the walk along Albion Drive, crossing Queensbridge Road and arriving at Albion Square Gardens. Sitting in the shade on a bench under a tree, with palm trees and the gentle sound of someone playing Steel Pan Drums somewhere nearby it felt like anywhere but Haggerston in the middle of London. A little oasis of cool and calm.

Crossing the corner of Stonebridge Common and passing beneath the East London Line railway I reached Kingsland Road. It’s a fact that anyone who is lost will always first ask directions of someone who isn’t local and this was proven by the young guy who approached me as I was about to cross Kingsland Road who had apparently got off at the wrong station and was trying to find the way to King’s Cross. I said I wasn’t local so couldn’t help him. It’s a sad indictment of these times that my first thought was “do not get your mobile out to check for directions if you want to keep it” 😟

Through De Beauvoir Town (and yes I pronounce it Da Beaver because 1, it’s correct and 2, it’s funny) I walked to the left of De Beauvoir Square and onward along Northchurch Road. This section of the Green Link follows the same route as Cycleway 27. Say no more 😉 

Everyone appeared to be having a good Saturday afternoon in The De Beauvoir Arms when I passed though as far as I can make out they don’t sell Beavertown beers which is strangely disappointing. Another half mile or so along residential streets brought me to the New North Road, having left De Beauvoir Town and entered Islington. I took Spellbrook Walk to Prebend Street and the well-tended little front gardens of Islesden House. I took these to be almshouses but they are general needs housing and sheltered accommodation run by the loacl authority. They’re not as old as I first assumed either, the estate was built in 1948 by the Trustees of the London Parochial Charities. In 1953, the Trustees conveyed the property to the City of London. They’re very different to most of the buildings around here.

The spire of St. James pointed at a bright blue sky with hardly a cloud in it as I walked down Prebend Street and it was turning into another warm afternoon. I stopped at a local shop on the corner of Packington Street for a cold drink. I’d have bought an ice cream too if they’d had any. I realised afterwards that I could have turned left here and gone through Packington Square and Canalside Square to take the alternative route along the Regent’s Canal towpath but that was on the next page of the walking instructions. Instead I carried on along the street to cross the canal at Danbury Street bridge.

On the other side of the bridge I turned left along Vincent Terrace parallel to the canal, dodged around the twat in a suit with no spatial awareness who just stepped backwards into my path outside the Plaquemine Lock pub completely oblivious to his surroundings, and reached the end of Section 2 at Colebrooke Row adjacent to the portal to the Islington Tunnel. 

Which I couldn’t see because it was cordoned off with roadworks barriers.

It was twenty past three. I went and sat down in the shade in Duncan Terrace Gardens.

Green Link Walk Section 2 ✅

42 Photos on Flickr from Green Link Walk Section 2. Opens in a new page or as a slide show below if your viewer supports it.

Green Link Walk Section 1: Wood Street to Lea Bridge.

26th August 2026 

Having completed both the London Loop and the Capital Ring I suppose next on the list would be their little cousin, the Green Link Walk. This is only 15 miles long according to TfL, or 16 miles according to Inner London Ramblers. It leads from the edge of Epping Forest to Peckham. No one knows why it goes to Peckham 😀

The Ramblers' guides divide it into 4 convenient sections with the first starting near Wood Street station on the Chingford branch of the Weaver (London Overground) Line so that’s where I went first.

Technically the route begins at an unmarked point on a footpath in Rising Sun Woods about 0.4 miles east of Wood Street Station, accessible only by the number 20 bus between Walthamstow Bus Station and Debden. Wood Street Station is given as an alternative start point. I didn’t feel inclined to walk up Upper Walthamstow Road and back on a warm, humid day just for the sake of OCD so I started at the station.

Leaving the station I crossed Wood Street and turned left past the builders’ suppliers and garden centre in the Old Station Yard and then right into Barrett Road, following it round left through a short pedestrianised section by the former Manual Instruction Centre, now Wood Street Studios where apparently they now ork cows.

Barrett Road continued to the right and I followed its uneven paving all the way to the end, crossing Shernhall Street and turning right into Addison Road. What I had meant to do before Addison Road was divert into the Ravenswood Industrial Estate and get a coffee at God’s Own Junkyard but I completely forgot - just as well really since it's only open Friday - Sunday. I really must go back there some time. Anyhow, onward up Addison Road past the huge National Hero Service mural on the gable end of a house, created by Holy Moly UK during the height of the 2020 plague. Better than banging cookware together.

Addison Road led to Beulah Road and where this bore left into Orford Road I was greeted by the site of the ornate Old Town Hall. I had reached the gentrified environs of Walthamstow Village. It was easy to tell from the number of small restaurants and cafes with names like Village Pizzeria, Village Public House, and The Village bakery. Also many other restaurants, galleries, clothing shops, and a Gail’s obviously.

I carried on down Orford Road resisting the temptation of the Queen’s Arms, around First Avenue and to the wide, busy Hoe Street which I crossed, turned right over the railway bridge by Walthamstow Central Station and then into Selbourne Road passing Walthamstow Bus Station and then across Walthamstow Town Square Gardens. Had we not been two months into a drought this would have been the first bit of “green” on this Green Link Walk. As it was only the trees showed any shade other than a yellowy straw colour. The next bit would be much more colourful since it went the full length of Walthamstow High Street and its famous market, the second longest in Europe, beaten only by the Porta Potese in Rome, which admittedly is twice as long. I’d be surprised if that had as many bargains. I’d bet that it doesn’t have two Lidls either.

At the western end of the High Street I crossed Blackhorse Road near St. James Street Station and headed west along Coppermill Lane. There are a lot of very odd bird-themed signs along Coppermill lane, presumably connected to the nature reserve at Walthamstow Wetlands further along the lane although I’ve not been able to find any explanation online.

There’s also a huge floral mural on the gable wall of a shop/house on the corner of Cassiobury Road and the rather quiet for lunchtime Coppermill pub both of which I passed before crossing the River Lea Flood Relief Channel. Passing between the reservoirs of Walthamstow Wetlands and the Coppermills Water Treatment Works the road narrowed, losing its footways and becoming the sort of almost rural lane that seems to give urban bloggers and YouTube vloggers a minor panic attack.

Given some major rainfall this would also be a much greener part of the Green Link. A noise above alerted me to the presence of people working in long cradles on the towers of the 275kV power transmission lines which run across the wetlands from Tottenham to Hackney. Rather them than me. Especially since the forecast cloudy and overcast weather had in fact now turned out to be few clouds and sunny. At the car park just before Coppermill Lane dived under the railway line with a headroom of only five feet I turned left onto Coppermill Fields, another barely green bit of Green Link.

I sought refuge from the sun under a large Willow tree whose branches ran along the ground making a handy place to sit in the shade for a while watching passing joggers and a family picking blackberries on the far side of the open field. Curses! Had I brought a packed lunch today I would have had a suitable container to do likewise😞 

At the other end of Coppermill Fields the path passed under two railway lines first by passing under a tall bridge and then immediately through a low subway, where the Weaver Line of the Overground crosses over the Greater Anglia Lea Valley lines at right angles.

I emerged onto a broad straight tarmac path leading across Walthamstow Marsh to Leyton Marsh. To the right across the marsh lay the River Lee and the part of the Capital Ring along which I’d walked a month ago. This time my route to Lea Bridge Road would lie east of the marshes, past the riding centre where behind the trees someone was practicing making a horse jump over fences, noisily.

At Lea Bridge Road I turned left and walked along to Bus Stop W outside the Lea Valley Ice Centre, which marks the end of Green Link Walk Section 1.

Green Link Walk Section 1 ✅

And then I carried on along Lea Bridge Road on Section 2. Only as far as The Princess of Wales though because I was sorely in need of a pint. I’d passed this canalside pub when doing the Capital Ring but it was absolutely packed at the time and I had many miles still to walk that day. Not this time though🍺

After which I caught a train from Lea Bridge Station and realised that I’d been there before too, coincidentally having walked there from God’s Own Junkyard in April 2022.

Twenty-nine photos on Flickr from Green Link Section 1 Opens in a new page or a slideshow below if your viewer supports it.

 

 

 

 

Completing The Capital Ring, Plaistow to Woolwich.

5th August 2026

Capital Ring Section 14

I alighted at Plaistow Station at a more reasonable twenty to twelve in the morning, headed along the High Street to the Library because public conveniences are few and far between here and then south along Balaam Street to rejoin the Capital Ring, turning left onto The Greenway.

The broad straight tarmac strip ran almost directly east, passing behind Newham University Hospital, crossing Boundary Lane, and then continuing behind Brampton Manor Academy although the hedges and trees ensure that you can’t see much of either place. It’s an exposed slog in the sunshine with no redeeming features. Signs warning that thieves operate in the area reinforce the idea that you wouldn’t want to walk here at night. The frequently encountered stench of shit ensured that you couldn’t forget that you were walking on top of a huge sewer. I was glad to turn right down the steps at Stokes Road and leave the Greenway behind.

A short walk along residential streets brought me to the large footbridge which spans the A13 Newham Way dual carriageway. From which above the roaring traffic I had a good view of Beckton Alps. (The spoil heaps from the former Beckton Gasworks, highest point in Newham and once used as a dry ski slope.)

On the far side of the bridge a short walk along Viking Gardens brought me into Beckton District Park. This large broad open space bisected by Tollgate Road stretches all the way south to Royal Albert Way. Considering that I was passing through during the school summer holidays the park was noticeably quiet with few people about. The smell of shit was now replaced by the slightly more agreeable waft of weed.

I passed the Will Thorne Pavilion, a multi-sided brick structure surrounded by builder’s fences and barriers with signs on promising that something exciting is coming in 2026, then past a kids playground, actually quite busy which is why you’re not getting a photo of the pavilion, and a few yards further on reached the Capital Ring signpost which marks the end of Section 14. For which I was grateful, some of it had been grim.

The updated capital ring Section 14 Flickr Album is here. (Opens in a new page)

Capital Ring Section 15

The final section began with a nice shady avenue of trees running along the Beckton Corridor. That avenue also had a handy bench on which to take a hydration break and jot down some notes about the day so far - I’ve started carrying a pocket notebook and a pen to help the old memory along. It was only five minutes to one, Woolwich here I come, let’s get this done.

A broad tarmac walking and cycling path ran around the northern edge of Beckton District Park. I’ve never seen such an uneven path, cracked, subsided, patched and seemingly without any solid foundations save for some form of mesh, visible in places where the surface had gone altogether. It formed a continuous sequence of trip hazards and must be uncomfortable on a bicycle. It also had a steep camber on each side so it was best to walk in the middle. Passing out of Beckton District Park into New Beckton Park my attention was grabbed by an extraordinary modern house (or possibly small block of flats) in Savage Gardens.

Lloyd Grossman voice, “Who’d live in a pyramid like this?” 🤔

Around the park and the school I went to reach Earl Ham Manor Way and then Cyprus DLR station. It’s not often you pass the Alps and Cyprus in the same afternoon.

The Ring takes the footbridge over Cyprus station and under the Royal Albert Way to enter the University of East London Docklands Campus. I grabbed a sandwich and a drink from the Costa in the West Building and a shaded seat near the dockside and stopped for lunch, watching the aircraft taking off from London City Airport on the far side of the water.

After lunch I carried on east alongside the dock to just before the Sir Steve Redgrave Bridge where the path turned away from the water to Gallions Roundabout. It was very breezy along the waterfront.

Here was a decision point. The Capital Ring carries on through the Royal Albert Wharf development to the Thames at Gallions Reach then along the riverside and across the lock gates for the Royal Albert Basin. It then crosses Albert Island and crosses the King George V Lock gates to reach Galleons Point. Because of development works the path across the King George V Lock gates can sometimes be closed, ditto if they need to open the gates for vessels to access the docks. There is no certain way to know if the path is open except by going there. If I found it closed I’d have to come all the way back and cross the Sir Steve Redgrave Bridge to rejoin the Ring at Galleons Point. So the question you have to ask yourself is, “Do you feel lucky?” Did I? Well I crossed the road at the roundabout and headed up the windy canyon of Atlantis Avenue. Passing between the near-identical blocks of brick-faced stacky flats, each with its regulation amount of outside space (i.e. a small balcony) brought me to the river at the most easterly point of the Capital Ring. It’s not somewhere I’d choose to live but the flats here at least get a great view downstream towards Barking.

It’s unclear if there’s a way through the new development along the river’s edge so I walked down Magellan Boulevard and back beside the river along Wallis Walk. This crosses the Impounding Culvert through which water is drawn by the Royal Docks Impounding Station a little way inland to control the water level in the docks. At the end of Wallis Walk it all started to get a bit more “ex-industrial wasteland”. The blocks of flats stopped alongside the lock to the Royal Albert Basin.

I crossed the lock gates onto Albert Island. The island hasn’t been developed as housing because it lies directly under the flight path for London City Airport right next to it in King George V Dock. This is also one reason why it is proposed that the Smithfields wholesale meat market and Billingsgate wholesale fish market be moved here from their current long-standing sites within the City of London. Assuming this goes ahead then in the next few years Albert Island will become New Smithfield and New Billingsgate Markets. How this will affect the route of the Capital Ring remains to be seen. Anyway there’s a lot of empty space here at the moment.

With some trepidation I followed the narrow path this way and that, hemmed in by high chain link and steel mesh fences and brambles. Alongside the river I noticed that someone has set up home by the beach, a tent in the bushes surrounded by a garden of found objects and wildflowers. 

I came around the final turn and up over some concrete steps to find…

Yes! The footpath gates are open and the lock gates are closed 👍

No need to back track around a lengthy diversion. I was very glad to see that. I crossed the lock gates noting that there was definitely some activity going on in the lock and left Albert Island behind.

Galleons Point has a change of spelling but is still more stacked flats. Which spelling is correct? Well the area and stretch of river is named after the Galyon family. Don't expect consistency in English place names.

Presumably these are more expensive flats since they face the Thames and have views downstream and upstream. Having walked along the path between the flats and the river I came to a locked metal gate, released by pressing a button on the wall behind you. This gate can only be opened during “daylight hours” (unless you have a residents’ key fob) so if you find it won’t unlock you have to go all the way back to King George V Lock and follow a lengthy diversion via Albert Road and Barge House Road. I didn’t see a button on the outside so if you were walking the Ring in the “wrong” direction presumably you can’t get through at all and have to follow the road instead? Fuck private public spaces. Fortunately the gate unlocked to the press of the button.

At Barge House Causeway, a long slipway leads out into the river, the landward end surrounded by memorials and tributes to Kaliyah Coa, an 11 year old girl who died accidentally in March 2025 after entering the river here, reportedly while attempting to retrieve her friend’s shoe. The Thames is cold, it is unforgiving, it demands caution. 🙁

From Barge House Causeway I followed the path which hugged the riverside along a concrete wall to another slipway and then into Royal Victoria Gardens, a green space which once belonged to the Royal Arsenal across the river. Although with this summer’s weather it’s a not-very-green space apart from the trees.

At the far end of the park by Woolwich Reach is the old disused North Woolwich Pier, built by the Eastern Counties Railway for their ferries to Woolwich, or as they called it South Woolwich, which had no railways at the time. Once a direct railway was built two years later and the municipally owned free Woolwich Ferry was established just upstream in 1889 it rather did for the Eastern Counties Railway's ferry operations and they ceased in 1908. Some kids were playing on the beach at the water’s edge, watched over from the top of the steps by a couple of adults. The Thames is cold, it is unforgiving, it demands caution.

At Pier Road I crossed the approach road to the Woolwich Ferry just as Dame Vera Lynn was docking (the ship not the singer, stop it). There’s no pedestrian crossing here for some reason so you have to be careful with the traffic when getting from the river bank to the north entrance to the Woolwich Foot Tunnel.

Opened in 1912 the foot tunnel, along with the similar one at Greenwich, allowed the workers who mostly lived on the other side of the Thames to get to the docks without relying on the lightermen's ferries and risking being late for work because of bad weather. I’ve been through it several times before. I made my way down the 126 steps of the spiral staircase (there’s a lift too) to tunnel level and out under the Thames. Because the tunnel curves downwards under the river bed and then up again towards each end you cannot see all the way from one end to the other. It is 1,654 feet (504m) long. Once you start on the upward slope it feels longer. Try not to think about all that water less than ten feet above the tunnel roof 😏

The tunnel has a lot of signs stating that cycling is not allowed, that cyclists should dismount, that cycling is forbidden under the byelaws governing the tunnel, etc. All a waste of time and money since it seems that the signs are invisible to cyclists (and illegal electric scooter riders) some of whom ride at great speed, using the downward slope to gain as much momentum as possible. Despite the CCTV it seems no enforcement of the byelaws is carried out. I was glad it wasn’t busy. I reached the south end of the tunnel. Of course the lift was out of service - I’ve never seen it working - so I dragged myself up the spiral staircase and out of the entrance building to the south bank of the Thames in Woolwich.

Capital Ring ✅

I went and celebrated with a pint in Prince Albert Rose’s before making my way to Woolwich station for the train home, making it through the gate line with just two minutes to spare before peak hours started 😁

Capital Ring Section 15 Flickr Album (opens in a new page) Or in the slideshow below if your viewer supports it.

 

 

Where next? No idea.

Would I recommend walking the Capital Ring? Maybe. Parts of it are a bit grim. Parts of it are very busy. The London Loop is nicer but is also twice as long!

Anyway I now have both certificates hanging on my wall 😊