Tuesday 18th March 2025, Temp: 10°C, Distance: 9.36 km.

Total covered Distance from Sea (Woolwich): 72.25 km (44.89 miles)

Highlights: Art Deco, Ham, Police in boats, Half Mile Tree, sunshine…

The picture below nicely captures the progress of my walk so far and how far I still have to go. It’s taken from the Lock information boards along the way that tell the story of the various locks of the Thames and gives the viewer some interesting facts about the lock and its history. I decide that I should try and get pictures from the locks that I will pass on my travel up the Thames, maybe I will collect them together in a future post.

On with the walk…

I start my day for these walks leaving my house in Emmer Green and walking down to Reading station - its about 3km (~2 miles) walk, and the same on the way back, so usually adds about 6km (3.7 miles) to the day’s walking. I always walk by the River Thames in Caversham on my way, as it runs through Reading on the way to London. This morning it’s looking fantastic in the early March sunshine:

My destination for today is Richmond (upon Thames), and after negotiating the mainline to Paddington I change to the District Line which takes me to Richmond. Richmond station looks amazing with its’ art deco frontage, it’s the first time I have been there, so take a quick snap and head for the Thames.

Walking out of Richmond station through the town and along the Thames, it is a really nice day and lots of people are out enjoying the lunchtime sunshine and walking, jogging, strolling along the riverside. I stopped to pick up some lunch before making my way to the river. As it’s only March the boats are still tied up after the winter season, but I would expect that during summer there would be a considerable amount on the water, especially at the weekends.

I pass by some nice looking public gardens and nice riverside cafes and bistros where I imagine it gets really busy in summer, but today its mercifully empty-ish and relatively relaxed.

At the end of Richmond, where the river bends away from the town, up Nightingale Lane, is a piece of rock and roll history in the form of The Wick. Rolling Stone and ex Faces, Ronnie Wood (bought it from actor John Mills), and had another Ronnie (Ronnie Lane, Small Faces) staying in the Gatehouse. Later, Keith Richards also spent a few months living in the Gatehouse - Wood built a studio in the basement of Wick House, so was a natural gathering place of rock royalty of the time (various Beatles, Jagger, Bowie, etc…). It must have been fun to have hung out there at that time.

In the 90’s Ronnie sold the house to Pete Townsend of the Who, so the Rock & Roll connections continued until Townsend sold it in 2021, thereby ending the run of rock royalty.

After leaving Richmond I follow the river south and pass through Petersham Meadows, the sun is shining, the air is fresh, and I start to get into my usual walking rhythm. There are great views of the Thames here both down the river and looking back at Richmond Hill:

After passing through the Meadows I start to get close to Ham House and Gardens, so decide to take a slight detour away from the river and walk through the extensive grounds, which are a feature in their own right, as a nature reserve and audaciously named Ham Lands (can I get a passport, please?)!

Opposite Ham Lands is Eel Pie Island (do they still issue passports here, I wonder?), sitting in the middle of the Thames and home to another infamous jazz & blues venue.

Further on I reach Teddington Lock - this is the end of the tidal Thames. Beyond this Lock, the Thames is no longer affected by the tides which influence the levels and currents downstream (So don’t even dare to steer your massive ship past this point, captain!).

Just beyond the Lock there are two Grade II bridges (Teddington Lock Footbridges) which you can use to cross the Thames via a small islet to cross to the Surrey side.

I got a sail-by, whilst on the bridge, from the Marine Policing Unit:

After Teddington Lock the river winds up towards Kingston, with a lot of housing lining the banks. Many riverside properties are made up of confusing styles and weird features. I find they have either very nice gardens and extremely rundown, grim houses, or the houses are lovely and the garden is rundown and grim. Hardly ever are they both outstanding, and many are clearly abandoned to either holiday rentals or just seasonal use and neglected the rest of the time by the owners. I find this to be the case in lots of areas of the Thames where house prices are extravagant and inflated already, but the really nice properties are few and far betweeen.

But the weather is good and my pictures came out fine on this day, and on the outskirts of Kingston Upon Thames I reach a tree named the “Half Mile Tree“, apparently the distance to Kingston from this point …

Two more bridges to pass until I reach Kingston, the rather understated Kingston Railway Bridge and finally Kingston Bridge, and I finally wend my weary way towards the train station.

Thanks for reading this post. It took me an age to finish as I got very disinterested in writing over summer and just concentrated on doing more of the Thames Path, and generally being out in the summer months.

There are many more sections done and in the making and hopefully now that autumn is upon us I may be forced indoors once more to type away!

Coming next, the longest section yet, Kingston to Staines - will I survive? …

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This short section of the Thames Path usually runs from Kew Bridge, through Kew Gardens on the Southside of the River Thames, and ends at Richmond Bridge / Richmond Lock. The towpath in Kew Gardens collapsed during the especially bad 2024/25 winter damage.

The towpath repair was meant to be finished by Summer 25, but still no sign of it being finished. Instead the National Trail put a detour in place on the Northside of the river, and not a very interesting looking one, at that, so I decided to postpone this leg of the Thames Path until the path was reinstated. Alas, the path is still not open, so I had 2 choices; leave for now and return when reopen, or do the detour. I decided to wait, so at the time of writing, it is still not open (July 25) so hence the delay.

*** Update for September - further delays to opening, thought to now open in October 25?? - story here ***

No fear, your faithful writer will return and do this section, hopefully before the year is done (pending the reopening, of course). In the meantime I thought I would just put this holder in place and rewrite it once the section is done. The downside is that it messes with my stats a little bit, but I can always re-jig the stats once its done!

Meanwhile, if you are really interested, here are the details of the closure and detour.

The BBC News article with nicely dramatic videos.

Chiswick Local news report on will it / won’t it open in summer.

Richmond Council updates, which seem really out of date.

National Trail official details.

Nice little map showing the closure points and also the location of the towpath destruction:

Here’s a Richmond councillor with some sort of update:

Anyway, lets hope its re-opened soon, so that I can continue on the Thames Path National Trail and fill this section (if not the gaping hole in the towpath) of my walk :-)

Next up - Richmond to Kingston! …

Tuesday 4th March 2025, Temp: 9.4°C, Distance: 11.05 km.

Total covered Distance from Sea (Woolwich): 55.39 km (34.4 miles).

Highlights: Extremely Low Tide, Parrots!, Holst!, Sausage Rolls, Mutton!….

My journey starts off by getting the train from Reading to Paddington and then jumping on a tube to the start point, which today is Hammersmith.

A short walk to the River from the tube puts me back on track, and I need to cross to the South side again and pick up the Thames Path there. Today the tide is out (very out) and it’s very sunny, but cold again. It’s also the start of March, so I’m happy to be getting past the gloom of winter and looking forward to some summer days walking up the Thames.

Just a stones-throw from the Barnes Wetland Centre from the last leg, I come across the Leg o’ Mutton Nature Reserve. a beautiful little nature reserve which runs by the Thames Path not far from Chiswick Eyot, that has a wonderful amount of wildlife and an interesting backstory, being saved from development by the kind people of Barnes.

Currently the Reserve is looked after by the Barnes Community Association…

Someone else enjoying the reserve is this parrot (technically a Ring Tailed Parakeet)…

Because the tide was so low and the fact that it hadn’t rained for some time this winter, it gave plenty of opportunities for wandering on the shoreline of the Thames. Sometimes it just has to be done…

Further on the Path, I came across Gustav Holst’s gaff along The Terrace, a lovely riverside street which overlooks the Thames and Barnes Bridge. Along from Holst’s house I also find another blue plaque dedicated to Ninette de Valois (Dame), founder of the Royal Ballet, after a bit of research, I find this street has also housed a number of remarkable residents, including poet & writer, William Ernest Henley (one-legged William inspired the character Long John Silver in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel “Treasure Island.”), pop singer Duffy, and Ebenezer Cobb Morley, the founding father of the Football Association and modern football! What a street, just don’t ask about the house prices.

Passing under Barnes Railway Bridge, I walk past the White Hart pub and Rick Stein’s seafood restaurant, both with excellent riverside views. I walk on under Chiswick Bridge and before Kew Railway Bridge I find a spot to eat my sausage roll, which has been burning a hole in my mind for the last half hour! It turns out that I was right next to The National Archives, which I had half a mind to visit, but maybe another time…

Snacking over, I continue on under the Kew Railway Bridge, and take a bunch more photos of the Thames as it is such a low tide that everything in the river looks weird - this is the lowest I’ve ever seen it and keeps me pondering the river bed all the way to Kew Bridge, where I will stop for the day.

Take a look at some of the low water pictures:

Eventually I stop taking pictures and head over Kew Bridge as I’ve spotted a nice looking pub (The Bell & Crown) on the river front on the other side, so head over to the Chiswick side for a pint to finish the day’s walk.

For my new subscribers, it is straightforward to sign up for a Substack account and you will be able to access and read all the articles previously published. This email is just to collect the articles in order so it makes it easier to see everything in one place. Happy reading!

Coming soon, part five…

Thursday 27th February 2025, Temp: 8.9°C, Distance: 9.01 km.

Total covered Distance from Sea (Woolwich): 45.39 km (28.2 miles)

It’s been a while since my last newsletter, it’s been a busy spring/summer, but I’m trying to find some time to write the next few legs of the Thames Path, before I completely forget about them! I’ve almost reached Oxford by now, so I’ve passed through London on my way up the Thames, and I’m now trying to catch up on my newsletter entries. Too much walking and not enough writing.

Starting from my last finish point (Imperial Wharf, Chelsea Harbour) from the previous leg, I started on a cold, crisp, sunny, late February morning, but perfect for walking.

The first part of this walk takes me from Battersea Railway Bridge on the north side of the Thames to Wandsworth Bridge which will take me over to the south side, where I will do the majority of the path. Its very windy on this day, and this first stretch on the North side is quite dull, and has views of lots of very expensive river-fronted flats. There are many posh dogs being walked here! The path goes past Imperial Park, which is nice, but there is a cold wind blowing, its exposed and I don’t pause to look into the beautiful gardens.

My walk is interrupted by a very noisy helicopter flying low down the Thames, and landing at some swanky flats on the other side of the river, this is actually London Heliport (London’s only licensed heliport), owned by the extremely rich Reuben Brothers. I guess if you happen to live on this stretch of the river, you would need to get used to the roar of helicopter engines pretty quickly, or get some robust earplugs.

There is a detour away from the river here, that diverts around the streets, and I pass more posh dogs, a Sainso’s and rush to pass the lunchtime crowds to eventually cross the River at Wandsworth Bridge.

Wandsworth Bridge is exposed and cold, so crossing quickly puts me on the South side of the Thames for the remainder of this section until Hammersmith Bridge. There is a small section here that runs by the river, blocked again by private flats, cement works and refuse tip, and the Ship Inn. Dating from 1786 it used to refresh the many watermen that populated the river back then. I’ve no time or inclination to stop for a pint, so carry on.

The Path crosses the River Wandle shortly after and I am suddenly struck by a sense of nostalgia. I walked the River Wandle as a youth in the Army Cadets, and also got a medal for my efforts. Nowadays everyone gets medals for everything, but back then (1983-ish) it was an achievement to be proud of. The medal is now lost but my memory remains, and I must have stood near this spot some 42 years ago upon finishing the Wandle Walk with my old friends from Essex.

The next stretch keeps diverting from the riverside and through streets to keep dodging more private riverfront until I reach Putney Bridge.

The south side of the River here is known as Putney Embankment and is a nice walkway lined with trees and has decent views. Further on are many rowing clubs with direct access to the Thames and a nice atmosphere. Further on, after crossing Beverly Brook, the path expands into parkland and open spaces opposite Craven Cottage stadium (home of Fulham F.C.).

It’s here, in the wilds, that the Thames Path goes past the London Wetland Centre. This wetland area was formerly four disused victorian reservoirs that were converted 25 years ago into the beautifully rich wetland landscape today. The Thames Path does not get much of a view of the Wetlands but I saw loads of wildfowl and other interesting birdlife walking this stretch. Also present here, is the memorial and one mile marker post for the start of the university boat race, commemorating Steve Fairbairn - Famous Oarsman and Coach.

Passing this stretch of the river I am more than happy when I see Hammersmith Bridge appear in the distance (my favourite London Bridge), as I have decided to quit this part early as its cold, and I’ve run out of water and need a break. I head over Hammersmith Bridge and find the Blue Anchor pub for refreshments sitting by the river before heading for the tube station and back home.

Monday 24th February 2025, Weather: 12.8°C, Distance: 12.31 km.

Total Distance covered from Sea (Woolwich): 36.38 km (22.6 miles)

There are eighteen Bridges on this leg between Tower Bridge and Battersea Railway Bridge. I think its the most of any leg of my journey to the source. I started where I finished my last leg, which was Tower Bridge. Walking through the Tower of London to just look at that famous monument - I did not see any ravens on this occasion, but plenty of tourists on this bright February morning.

Starting on the north shore of the Thames on the other side of the Tower, it was a perfect walking temperature, around 10-12°C, and a welcome return of the sunshine and partially blue skies. There is an old story of a double decker bus driver that jumped the Tower Bridge gap as it was opening, back in the 1950’s - apparently the geezer got a medal for that.. and a tenner!

This stretch of the river, is packed with the big attractions, Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast, The Shard, South Bank, Tate Modern, London Eye, etc, an embarrassment of riches, especially when I think of the stretches upstream that will contain little more than fields, cows, and hedgerows.

Walking along the north bank of the Thames, I passed under London Bridge, Cannon Street Railway Bridge, and Southwark Bridge, where you enter a beautifully tiled passageway named Fruiterers Alley, with its ornately decorated city scenes of old London.

Its not far from here that you also find nice views of Shakespeare’s Globe across the river and on this side, the Queenhithe Dock & Wharf, the only remaining Saxon dock in the city, and a mosaic which depicts the history of the vicinity.

I wander on, past Millennium (Wobbly) Bridge and views of Tate Modern art gallery, and crossed the Thames at Blackfriars Bridge, half remembering the Mafia hit on an Italian banker, that happened here in the early eighties.

This is where, in my mind, the South Bank Boardwalk really comes into its own, with the Oxo Tower, National Theatre, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank (undercroft) Skatepark, Royal Festival Hall, in quick succession and finally, finishing up at the London Eye. This section is also the one that is crammed with tourists and one that I hurried to get through, even on a Monday at the end of February, but there you go - if you ask anyone that ever went to London, they will probably recall this stretch of the river!

So, after ducking under Westminster Bridge, the obvious and most photographed building appears (you know, the one that is on the HP Sauce bottle 😂), so here are my obligatory attempts.

Crossing the Thames again via Lambeth Bridge, I was back on the North bank and right under the noses of MI5, who apparently live here in Thames House on Millbank:

Further along, near Vauxhall Bridge I stopped and shot the breeze with a Rock Dove, in front of the MI6 headquarters, I think he was trying to get me to divulge some state secrets (or a snack, not sure which), but I kept my cool and just kept the conversation light and moved along.

After the succession of fabulous sights, this next stretch is quite plain in comparison, and also devoid of tourists (probably for the same reason), and the Thames Path follows (too close) alongside Grosvenor Road, which was, at the time, partially flooded, but the drivers were respectful and did not attempt to drown me and the few other people walking here, but I did get good views of Battersea Power Station over on the other bank.

Next stop, after crossing under Grosvenor Bridge and, shortly after, the rather delicate looking Chelsea Bridge, I come to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, where a lot of Chelsea Pensioners live and is also the home of Chelsea Flower Show!

I pass an awful lot of posh doggies on the Chelsea embankment and head for my final two bridges and the end of this stretch of my walk, but not before admiring the London Buddhist Peace Pagoda on the opposite bank in Battersea Park:

Then onwards to traverse Albert Bridge and Battersea Bridge, and head to my final destination for the day, Imperial Wharf station. But not before walking past some rather nice houseboats that crowd the Thames on this side and then heading inland around Chelsea Creek to finish up at the station.

Next section: Imperial Wharf to Hammersmith. Tune in, Subscribe to my free newsletter, follow my journey up the Thames and let me know your thoughts 👍🏼

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Tuesday 11th February 2025, 10.89 km, 3.9°C,

Total covered Distance from Sea (Woolwich):

Bit of a dull day for my second section, and very cold. On the upside, I had the path mostly to myself. The tide was in and the river is quite high on this day.

On arriving at the Cutty Sark, where I finished the last walk, I discovered another pedestrian tunnel under the Thames and could not resist walking through to the other side just for the hell of it (and took a picture looking back over), then promptly walked back. I think the novelty of foot tunnels under the Thames will wear off very soon.

Shortly after starting I crossed the Deptford Creek and came across Peter the Great, famous Russian Tsar.

According to wiki he had quite the trip to the big smoke:

Apparently, he had such a great time in London, he totally trashed his temporary residence at nearby Sayes Court:

Moving on from party Pete, you get really good views of the Canary Wharf skyline here:

Further on I came across several stairs which give access to the riverside, where, at low tide, you can mooch about on the mud if you like that sort of thing. The riverside had many more in times gone by, where watermen could transport public passengers on wherries and skiffs all along the shores. Nowadays it’s Uber Boats that ferry people up and down the Thames.

I chanced upon Surrey docks Farm here - they have a nice coffee shop and petting farm for people to just wander around and pet the animals, horses, ducks, goats, etc…

I then crossed the Surrey Basin, with its fantastic, red Bascule Bridge, which I imagine is operated by a giant who only gets summoned when someone wants to get their yacht out for a day on the river!

Coming around this bend in the river, I can see my destination, Tower Bridge, looming in the distance and my thoughts turn to ending this chilly day, preferably in a warm pub with a cold pint!

It’s a short walk over the bridge and sharp right to end the day in The Dicken’s Inn, with a well deserved pint of the black stuff.

Thanks for reading this leg of my ridiculously under-planned trip up the Thames, I will continue writing the legs up when I have the time. Just for the curious, I’m currently up to Kew Bridge / Chiswick and have also done ad-hoc parts near Reading. Part Three coming soon…

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Wednesday, 5th February 2025

I started this walk at the end. The Thames Path officially ends at Woolwich Ferry terminal, so thats where I headed.

Distance : 12.69 km

Arriving at Woolwich Underground Station on the newly opened Elizabeth Line is where I began. Pretty easy to get to from Paddington, and impressed with the new Elizabeth line as it was my first time on it. There is a short walk from the station to the Thames, walking past the old Woolwich buildings which have a lot of military history, the area is recently updated and looks a nice place to spend a bit of time looking at cannons and things.

The tide was on its way out when I started the walk, so the Thames looked pretty full and majestic on its way out to the English channel.

Some way along from the start point (Woolwich ferry terminal) is Woolwich Foot Tunnel under the Thames that you can walk through - which I did just for the hell of it - walking under the river was weird - I almost had the tunnel to myself, apart from a kid on a bike coming through from the other side whooping and shouting all the way - the echoes were amazing in there. After emerging on the other side, I looked back and thought it was a fun detour, but I had better start walking, so headed back to the south side.

The weather was great for February, and I had blue skies, sunny and about 9°C, so perfect walking weather. My first destination was the Thames Barrier, I remember when it was built, back in 1982 to stop the city flooding, but I think this is the first time I have been up close to it (although I have seen it numerous times from the air, flying into Heathrow and London City airport (just on the opposite bank). All the more impressive, when seen up close.

On a wall by the path here is a giant mural of the Thames all the way from source to sea - showing the elevation and main towns, locks and features all the way to the end (or start) in Kemble.

Next stop is the Greenwich bend which contains the O2 arena, lots more people walking around this area and also loads of weird sculptures around this part too to keep me entertained.

Also nice views here of the modern London skyline.

Ate my lunch here, sitting on the steps by the Thames - loads of tourists about and some real nice views. I visited Greenwich Observatory as a kid, so just imagined back to that time while I sat there and thought about my young self jumping over the Greenwich Meridian line about 20 times and staring at some other stuff which blew my tiny, young mind!

Onwards to the Cutty Sark, where my first section of the walk ends - pretty successful start to my journey up the Thames, and perfect weather.

I’ll post more sections about my walk over the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for my emails when I post, which you’ll get if you subscribe for free, so enter your email and hit that button below.

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Since the Thames runs through Reading, it meant that at least some of the journey would be close to home and include less reliance on public transport.

I decided that to do each section in the correct order would be tricky from the start, since there are currently a number of detours in place after the (pretty rubbish) winter of 2024/25. River bank erosion, decrepit foot bridges and an underfunded Environment Agency are all to blame so therefore I will do some of the detoured sections once the path is reopened on its original route.

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Currently the Thames Path National Trail terminates (or begins, for me) at Woolwich, London, close to the sea estuary. The path is 298 km (185.2 miles) long and begins (or will end, for me) in the Cotswolds, Kemble near Cirencester. So hopefully sometime in the future I will get to the end (or the start), only time will tell!