(For Full Day Riverside Walks See Full Days / Longer Walks / Lost Rivers)

BANKSIDE – FROM BLACKFRIARS TO BOROUGH MARKET
Starting at Blackfriars – a walk along the North bank to cross the Millennium Bridge then on the South bank – with great views of the city, pass Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe, Southwark Cathedral. (could end with meze meal www.tasrestaurants.co.uk or do your own thing in Borough Market)

CANARY WHARF – THE OPEN WATER AND GREEN SPACES
If you associate Canary Wharf with a jungle of glass, steel and concrete – think again.  The open stretches of water give a feeling of air and space between the buildings.  This walk covers the history of the area, with lots of visual aids to show the sheer scale of the 19c docks. But its emphasis in on the open waters and imaginative landscaping of its green spaces, the most impressive of which is 300m long Elizabeth Line Station Roof garden.

DOCKLANDS – BOOM AND BUST – Riverside walk St Katharine’s Dock to Canary Wharf
The London Docks once the world’s largest trading port, is now reborn in 21st century Canary Wharf as a leading world centre in trading money. The walk passes through the old villages of Wapping and Limehouse and ends at Canary Wharf. Return by boat (3hrs +).

GEORGIAN RIVERSIDE – HAMMERSMITH TO KEW BRIDGE via Chiswick House Grounds (6m.) ‘More walk less talk’
A stretch of the Thames lined by grand Georgian houses with pretty riverside gardens. Pass William Morris’s Kelmscott press, Chiswick church with Hogarth’s grave. Cut away from the river to pass Chiswick House, a Palladian villa in classical grounds. Rejoin the river along the picturesque Strand-on-the-Green.Walk ends by Kew gardens (4hrs) ((could end with a drink/lunch in a riverside pub www.bell-and-crown.co.uk).

LONDON’S LOST RIVERS (Half day walks…more walk less talk)
See Full Day / Longer walks / Lost Rivers for full route of the Fleet, Tyburn, Westbourne, and ‘New’ Rivers

  • LOWER FLEET VALLEY – ST PANCRAS TO BLACKFRIARS - A walk weaving through the backstreets and narrow alleyways of the lower reaches of the Fleet River. Starting in St. Pancras graveyard the walk passes the site of 2 Spas!  It then explores one of the most crime-ridden areas of Victorian London– used by Dickens as location of Fagin’s Den.  It still retains its brooding atmosphere in the narrow streets lined with Victorian warehouses.  Although long covered over one still feels the river’s presence and at one site one can still hear it, and tide permitting see its outlet under Blackfriars Bridge.
  • TYBURN RIVER Through Marylebone and Mayfair – The Tyburn River rises in Hampstead flows (now through the sewers) under Marylebone, Mayfair, and into the Thames at Pimlico.. We will follow part of the river’s course, strictly above ground through 2 of London’s most elegant and fascinating areas.  The layout of those areas, their history and their land-ownership are directly related to the course of the river.
  • THE WALBROOK Shoreditch –> Thames nr. Cannon St (3 ½ hrs.) - It is the shortest but arguably the most important of London’s ‘Lost Rivers’, as it formed the heart of Roman ‘Londinium’.  A walk of great contrast between the vibrant, youthful area of Shoreditch and the serious money-making pulse of the City. It passes Shakespeare’s original playhouse, foundations of which have been recently discovered and the location of 2 major archaeological digs, Liverpool St. Elizabeth Line and the Walbrook . These are shedding new light on London’s history.  (Could end with a meal in Vinoteca –City. www.vinoteca.co.uk – not Suns).
  • THE WESTBOURNE -  Hampstead – Hyde Park  (approx 5m.) - A walk from Hampstead to Bayswater. Rising on Hampstead Heath the Westbourne flows (underground) down through West Hampstead, Kilburn, Paddington and Bayswater.  It is a truly varied walk where you will see the influence of the river on its adjacent areas. This walks ends at a gastro pub nr. Hyde Park (approx 4hrs including coffee stop).
  • THE WESTBOURNE – Bayswater (Royal Oak) to Chelsea Embankment (approx 4m.) - A walk from Bayswater to Chelsea  Rising on Hampstead Heath The Westbourne flows (underground) from Bayswater into Hyde Park where the row of marshy ponds were converted into the Serpentine.  The route then weaves through Knightsbridge and the elegant streets of Chelsea to end on Chelsea Bridge where, if the tide is low, you can see its outlet into the Thames (Drink/meal in www.mitrelancastergate.com) (approx 4hrs including coffee/tea stop.).

    • LONDON’S NEW ‘FAR EAST’ – THE ROYAL DOCKS AND SILVERTOWN (3 hrs)
    Best done in summer/autumn – it is v. exposed – but glorious on a sunny day!
    The development of this massive expanse has been a very stop/start affair, from the failed 2012 Olympic ‘Pleasure Park’, and Boris Johnson’s 2013 much trumpeted £1.7bn Asian Business Park now a ghost town at Gallions Reach, to the successful redevelopment of the erstwhile Silvertown industrial site.  The pace has now picked up with the opening of the Elizabeth Line and the relocation of City Hall to the Crystal building in Royal Victoria Dock. (Needs a full day 10.30 – 3.30pm to do the area justice, but shorter sections can be explored in 3hr visit)

    THE ILLUMINATED RIVER AND CITY
    St. Paul’s->cross Millennium Bridge –> Bankside -> cross Tower Bridge -> Tower Hill
    An evening walk to see the City and Thames bridges in an unfamiliar light. Floodlighting enhances features of buildings you never notice in daylight.  St Paul’s seems to float above the City and the Tower is eerie when not thronged by visitors. Particularly enjoyable at Christmas time, but is still worth doing any winter evening. (Could end for supper in www.naturalkitchen.co.uk near Tower Hill tube)

    THE REGENTS CANAL
    1. From Paddington to Camden Lock or Islington
    2. From Camden Lock or Islington to Limehouse (or vice versa)
    3. Full length – 11 miles, full day with coffee stop and pub lunch www.thenarrowboatpub.com (not Suns)
    Built in 1820’s to link the Grand Union Canal to the booming docklands on the Thames, it now provides a varied canal-side walk.
    Part 1. Paddington Basin, Little Venice, elegant villas of Regents Park, Camden Lock and then on roads through to Islington. (could end with pub lunch www.thenarrowboatpub.com) (not Suns.)
    Part 2. More industrial but fast changing, past Victoria Park (East End’s Hyde Park) to the Limehouse Basin in Docklands.

    RIVERSIDE VISTAS – ROTHERHITHE to SOUTHWARK (more walk less talk)
    A 3+ mile walk along the Thames on the South side from the maritime village of Rotherhithe, which we will briefly explore.  The walk will then follow the river path past Jacobs island, immortalised in Oliver Twist continuing along Butlers Wharf (coffee stop). Crossing under Tower Bridge, it passes City Hall to end at Southwark Cathedral. (great café!)  Wide views across the river to Wapping waterfront and to the City.  This is a brisk walk with brief stops, ideal for winter or for those who want more walk and less talk or both!
    OR SOUTHWARK to ROTHERHITHE.
    Starting with coffee at Southwark Cathedral, following the route above in reverse, ending with meal in Mayflower Riverside Inn www.mayflowerpub.co.uk in Rotherhithe. Make a day of it by visiting the Brunel Museum – Thames Tunnel. www.thebrunelmuseum.com

    THE UNSUNG ENGINEERS OF RIVERSIDE LONDON  Brunel and Bazalgette to Arup and the Thames ‘Super Sewer’ (2 ½ hrs)
    A walk along the river from Westminster to St. Paul’s with an engineering focus.  It crosses both new London footbridges and takes a closer look at the London Eye, Festival Hall, National Theatre, Tate Modern and progress on the new Thames ‘Super Sewer’, It also features the unseen great Victorian engineering achievements of Bazalgette’s London sewers, and the first underground railway in the world.

    WELLS, SPAS AND HIDDEN RIVERS – Angel Islington to Clerkenwell
    A walk with a watery theme, tracing the route of  ‘New River’, from Islington to the New River Head in Finsbury.  From Sadlers Wells the walk traces the hidden Fleet River and ends by exploring Clerkenwell.  A varied walk through Georgian Squares, past Victorian warehouses and social housing, fragments of medieval monasteries, and a notorious prison.

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