Bourne End to Windsor along the Thames Path

I was aiming to start at  Marlow but the train stopped at Bourne End , owing to a problem on the track, so I started my walk rather than wait for a railway replacement bus. The weather was still amazingly dry but I was beginning to be concerned about finishing before dark. In the event I completed  this eleven mile section of the Thames Path in plenty of time and a very fine stretch it is.

It begins with Cock Marsh owned by the National Trust, which has been common land since 1272.

The path continues to the village of Cookham, where I stopped briefly to look at the gallery, formerly a Methodist chapel, devoted to the works of the artist Stanley Spencer.  He was born in Cookham in 1891. Although he studied in  London, he returned to Cookham, which became the subject and setting of many of his paintings, including the famous ‘The Resurrection, Cookham’.

The path moves away from the river at this point , through lanes and woods, until My Lady Ferry is reached. On the opposite bank amid beechwoods are the grounds of the Cliveden estate:

The Thames at My Lady Ferry

This was home of ‘The Cliveden Set’ in the thirties and the ‘Profumo Affair’ in the sixties.

Beechwoods near Cliveden, Buckinghamshire

On past Boulter’s lock, the Thames path goes right through  the pretty town of

Maidenhead.

Brunel's railway bridge of 1839

After this it goes under Brunel’s railway bridge. Spanning both navigation and towpath, the bridge still has the widest flattest brick arches in the world. It  is also the setting for Turner’s wonderful painting ‘ Rain. Steam and Speed’, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1844. Certainly I witnessed a scene much more suited to a quiet Sunday afternoon stroll than that depicted in the painting.

The path continues through idyllic countryside ,under the much less romantic M4 motorway, through Dorney Reach , heading towards Eton. In fact the Eton College rowing lake is being prepared as one of the 2012 Olympic Games sites.

The path goes past the chapel of St Mary Magdalene at Boveney where once timber from the woods may have been uploaded onto boats. Parts of the chapel date from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries:

Chapel of St Mary Magdalene, Boveney.

After  Boveney Lock the river winds past Windsor racecourse on the opposite bank.

The Thames Path heading towards Windsor

The path remains quite rural for a while.

Eventually one crosses the Brocas meadow and Windsor castle comes into view, towering over the town.

Approaching Windsor

The walk ended here and so I had completed almost all of the Thames  Path from Oxford to the Thames Barrier.

Gravel pit lakes: a circular walk from Cheshunt

Although I have walked along the towpath from Cheshunt many times, and visited some of the lakes formed from former gravel pits, I had never branched out and walked the very fine tarmac path to Fishers Green before. I found it a particularly rewarding walk on a fine autumn morning and even more beautiful than the towpath.

 

Lake formed from gravel pits near Cheshunt

I followed a leaflet from the Lea Valley Park Information Service describing it as one of their ‘best circular walks’.

From Cheshunt station I went into the Park at the Pindar Road car park, where I was disappointed to find that the toilets were closed for repair. Since a drain has collapsed, it could be some time before they re-open. I then crossed to Fisher Green and then turned south.

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Next I circled back following the sign for Cheshunt station once more alongside the Horsemill stream via Hook’s Marsh. Having rejoined the river ,I went past the Young Mariners’ centre where the children used to enjoy sailing lessons. Behind this is the YHA.

Shortly afterwards the route branches off towards Holyfield Marsh and eventually reaches Holyfield Weir

Holyfield Weir with sailing lake behind

I then took the path towards Hayes Hill Farm , which is the Lea Valley Park Farm. Next to this is the Lea Valley Information Centre and I was able to have my lunch in their cafe.

Could these be bitterns?

This is an area where bitterns can be seen at this time of year. I wasn’t at all sure that I hadn’t seen a pair. According to my bird book, these birds are allies of herons.

From  here it is a short walk back to the station via Fisher Green and the river.

This walk of about five miles (with links to Cheshunt station) had been in preparation for a joint walk on October 24th to celebrate the end of my 400 miles. However this walk was cancelled owing to heavy rain. It’s a fine one for families with push chairs nevertheless and at the end of September I had splendid weather.

Hackney Wick to Limehouse

Hackney Wick is not the best place to go on a hot and sunny Sunday afternoon, especially when you discover that there is an infrequent bus replacing the train from Hackney Central to Hackney Wick. If this  looks like the area that time forgot, it’s possibly something to do with its proximity to the site of the Olympic Park. It’s an area awaiting development.

I rejoined the Lea Navigation and followed it until, parting company with the Capital Ring, it headed south towards Bow. The tow path passes, on the other side of the river,  the famous Bryant and May match factory.  There are several memorable features of the strike that took place there in 1888 which make this site a particularly important one for the history of labour organisation:

Firstly in addition to long hours and low wages the match girls had to contend with the harmful effects on their health of the yellow phosphorus used to make the matches. This caused ‘phossy jaw’ an ultimately fatal, face-rotting form of bone cancer.

Secondly the workforce was female. 1400 women and girls refused to sign a statement that they were happy with their conditions. When they formed a Union they asked Annie Besant to be their leader.

Thirdly, when the company backed down it was because of the power of publicity. Annie Besant’s original article had triggered others. Eventually the founders of the Salvation Army opened another factory ,using less harmful red phosphorus, at nearby Old Ford and guided tours were given.

What is also interesting is that many aspects of this story find their echo in the world today. Workers in the Third World continue to be exploited. The argument,used by the nineteenth century government, that banning a harmful substance could be a ‘barrier to free trade’ is still used. The recent attempts by Trafigura to conceal the harmful effects of their waste-dumping in the Ivory Coast have been thwarted by the power of publicity.

After this,  it is  necessary to cross a large roundabout at Bow, with a Macdonald’s next to it. Over the roundabout the tow path continues past the historic Three Mills:

The House Mill is possibly the largest tidal mill in the world. It looks very much a remnant of an innocent rural past but in 1872 its use changed from milling flour to distilling gin.

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Continuing on to Bow Locks I took the path along the  man-made Limehouse Cut, which goes past a lot of rather dull- looking flats.

The Limehouse Cut passes under the Commercial Road

Soon the Thames is reached again at the Limehouse Basin and this short walk of 2.6 miles ended.

Woolwich to Falconwood on the Capital Ring

Travelling to the start of this walk on the Docklands Light Railway, as I passed through West Silvertown, I thought of Melanie McGrath’s memoir of her grandmother’s life: ‘Silvertown’. It has a harrowing tale of the unfortunate girl having all her teeth pulled so that her future husband would not be burdened with dental expenses. I’d also recently read Peter Ackroyd’s ‘Biography’ of London and been shocked to read the chapter on the destruction of this dockland area in the Second World War.

There’s plenty of evidence of the past in Woolwich where the former buildings of the Royal Arsenal stand proudly in a new ‘development’

As I walked down the broad no 1 street, I came upon ‘Assembly’ a set of sculptures by Peter Burke. He had an engineering background and I feel these contemporary sculptures blend well into this historical setting.

'Assembly' by Peter Burke

And so once more to the Thames with views of the barrier and of Canary Wharf on a grey day.

view of the Thames from the Woolwich Dockyard Promenade

Across the river is the Tate and Lyle Sugar Refinery in Silvertown

Tate and Lyle Sugar Refinery

Reminders that this area was home to the Royal Naval Dockyard are two nineteenth century cannon:

The Capital Ring leaves the Thames and heads inland, winding through streets, with a view of the old chimney of the Royal Naval Dockyard’s steam factory.

chimney of the Royal Naval Dockyard Steam Factory

The route now heads south and  joins that of the Green Chain Walk, linking a series of woods and open spaces. The first of these was donated to London County Council by the Maryon Wilson family in 1891. It had been a sand pit: sand having been used as a floor-covering before wool carpets were widely available. Maryon Park and the adjacent Maryon Wilson Park  are attractive and the former was used as the main location for Antonioni’s 1966 film :’Blow Up’.

Maryon Park

Here I had my lunch on a bench dedicated to the memory of human rights campaigner, Denis Alan  Player, before climbing steps at the end of the park into Maryon Wilson Park.

 Having made my way through this and past a children’s zoo, which was still open despite an unfortunate infection of e-coli from a similar farm in the west country, I came to Charlton Park. Down a lime-tree lined walk was Charlton House, affording a much better view of this fine Jacobean mansion than that from the road(See November 1st 2008 post : The Thames Barrier)    

I reflected on the unintended consequences of inequality. Clearly certain families had been able to amass great wealth and build themselves large mansions which dwarfed the cottage dwellings where most people lived. Some, as in the case of Sir Adam Newton, who built Charlton House , did so because of the rewards of  high office, some, as in the case of the Maryon Wilsons, who succeeded him,  had invested in a commodity (sand) which other people needed. Estates such as these  often form the basis for much loved parks, sometimes  as a result of  public campaigns to keep them as open spaces for the benefit of the community. On this day, when I walked through so many formerly privately owned parks, I could not help but wonder if there would have been so many public parks  if they hadn’t previously existed as private parks. 

Once through Charlton Park, it was necessary to cross a road and then go through  Hornfair Park. After crossing another road, I reached Woolwich Common, a wild place, which, presumably escaped enclosure owing to its use as a place of assembly for the military.

Woolwich common

 After this comes a continuous belt of ancient woodland beginning with Eltham Common and going on through Castlewood, Jackwood and Oxleas wood. These woods have been designated a site of special scientific interest because of the variety of plants and animals.

Severndroog Castle

In the midst of Castle Wood on the highest point in South London, indeed on the highest point between London and Paris, lies Severndroog Castle. This was erected by his widow in memory of William James, who had distinguished himself at the battle of Severndroog in the eighteenth century. He defeated troublesome Arab pirates off the coast of Malabar. James came home from service with the East India company a rich man and bought this land. A valiant preservation society has fought off the sale of the building to developers and is fund-raising to open the building to the public once again. 

The path continues down some steps and over the site of Castle Wood house from where you get a wonderful view.

The path winds  through Jackwood and if ever one wanted to lose any sign of the city this is the place to do it. Apart from one dog walker I saw no-one.  

Then the route passes the site of the former Jackwood house

site of Jackwood house : from 1860s to 1920s

 and comes to Oxlea Meadows and its cafe. From here the view stretches out over south-east London:

looking out from Oxlea Meadows

More woods follow : firstly Oxlea Woods and then Shepherdleas Wood.

Oxleas woods

Soon after an open space in Eltham Park is reached. Going past the Long Pond I had an excellent view of a heron:

The Long Pond in Eltham Park North

The end of this walk soon follows at Falconwood Footbridge.  I felt somewhat amazed by the number of  (mostly deserted) green spaces I had walked through. With station links I had added 7.3 miles to the total.