Greenwich to Thamesmead

I took another long walk along the south shore of the Thames yesterday, following the Thames Path nine miles from Greenwich to Thamesmead. It was a sunny day and I figured I'd better seize the moment!

I started where I left off a few days ago, near the Greenwich Power Station and some new modern apartments, and soon passed Morden Wharf (above) where there's a riverside beer garden. (I didn't stop for a drink -- it was only 11 a.m.!)

The river along this stretch is pretty industrial. Yes, I meant to get my shadow in the picture. Let's call it "Self-Portrait with Tires."

There were boatyards and dry docks...

...and even nautically-themed art. This is a piece by Richard Wilson called "A Slice of Reality," a precisely sliced 1/8 segment of a sand dredger.

Wilson's artwork is part of "The Line," a sort of art trail that follows pieces of public art scattered through East London along the waterways and the Greenwich Meridian. I'd never heard of The Line before. Sounds like another future walk!

My route took me around the backside of the O2 Dome, past more apartments (what must it be like to live in a glassy high-rise with a view of the Thames every day?) and then through another industrial area, this one focused on "aggregates" like gravel and sand. The air was literally gritty. I could feel it in my teeth.

Eventually I passed the Thames flood barrier, which I've shown you several times before.

I also passed this derelict pub, which you may remember from one of my previous posts, when I saw it while walking the Green Chain. I said at the time that I thought it was possibly beyond repair, but look! Someone's repairing it! (I took this picture when I rode past later on the bus, which is why there's a bit of a "ghost image" over the building -- it's a reflection in the glass.)

I stopped for lunch at a little cafe on Woolwich Road. I actually wound up having a vegetarian English breakfast, but it counted as lunch. This was the view from my table. There's loads of construction in this part of south London. That guy in the blue shirt across the street was busily taking down old advertising posters from the shop window and putting up new ones.

Restored by my brief meal break, I kept going through Woolwich, past the round entrance to the foot tunnel that runs beneath the river. (Remember when I walked through it?)

Near the older buildings of the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, I passed this interesting group of iron sculptures. I thought they were by Antony Gormley but it's actually a piece called "Assembly" by Peter Burke. (Looking online, I see I'm not the only one who's made this mistake.)

Past Woolwich the path turned eventually to gravel, leading through woods along the river. This area looked like it had been burned in a past wildfire. The trees were dead but there were loads of wildflowers -- nature regenerating!

In Thamesmead I caught a bus back to the tube at North Greenwich. I think I can finish the Thames Path in one more walk. Maybe next week?