Day 1 Woolwich to London Bridge 10 June 2023

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Woolwich to London Bridge 13 miles 10 June 2023

First day of what will be a completely new experience for me: a day walk on a Trail that is completely in a city for a day. Dave, Mike and I walked the part of the South West Coast Path that passes through Plymouth in February 2014, but the day ended outside the city limits. Matt, Dave and I have pledged to walk the entire 187 miles; that may take some time due to work and family pressures on Dave, and that Matt will shortly be living in Sheffield.

Freya joins us for the first part, mostly in the buggy but she walks a short distance and uses her scooter as we find the start point at Woolwich, a mission that is more difficult than anticipated, as there is no way marker. That may be attributed to the fact that the start point has moved a couple of miles eastwards from the original start point at Thames Barrier, apparently so that it meets the England Coast Path at the same place.

At the start point at Woolwich

Weather is warm, but navigation unsurprisingly easy, despite one or two wrong turns as the Trail makes its way past industrial buildings and residences. A couple of miles brings us to the Thames Barrier.

From here, the path becomes busier with cycles as well as pedestrians. We stop for a while at Greenwich, where Alice collects Freya.

The surroundings are an eclectic mix of industrial and commercial sites, residences, and, as we approach Central London, some iconic sights. Interspersed are some quieter areas: parks, and city farm almost opposite Canary Wharf. The images below (a sample from the album that has a link above) hopefully give more of a taste of the variety than text.

We end at London Bridge; could have progressed onto Waterloo, but train times dictate that best to stop there. It is a great walk with lots of interesting sights.

Woolwich to London Bridge Day Cumulative

Miles walked 13 13

Ascent (metres) 10 10

Hours 5 5