Route 2 completed

What a windy day!! Saturday was our planned day for the next 3 miles of my Marathon Walk but oh what weather and blowing the wrong way too.

This time we drove to the station as my legs have not been 100% for a while and parked the car nearby as a day's parking was cheaper than two taxis, a little more reliable too as taxis can be late. Virgin Trains have been very generous again providing our tickets to Euston and back - I'm very very grateful, thank you.

Hubby and me on the train

Retracing our return underground journey from Route 1 we travelled on the Northern Line to Bank where we changed to the DLR all the way to Woolwich Arsenal. I enjoy travelling on the 'driver-less train and as we've stayed near City Airport many times we knew many of the passing sights.

We left Nuneaton at 9 and arrived in Woolwich at 11.30, not bad and in time to enjoy a second breakfast at The Great Harry - our welcome finish last time and our energy boost this time. 

Our end stop last time and our beginning this.

Breakfast for Nick - Fruit & yogurt for me 

And so refreshed it was a stroll up Wellington Street to the 'junction' - End of Route 1. It is quite a rise to the junction but all downhill then as the route began. It really was a windy day as my start photo shows hee hee.

Blown away

We had not walked far before to our joy and surprise the parakeets flew over - we had seen quite a few on our first walk and it was lovely to see them again. They flew into the tree right above us and I managed to take a couple of photos. I don't take a camera on our walks, just my mobile phone. The photos have turned out quite good considering.

Parakeet in the tree above us

We were heading directly towards the River Thames and the Woolwich Ferry, and so was all the traffic. It was a very different style of route this time being dual carriageway most of the way with a constant flow of cars, lorries and big red London buses.

The buildings seemed to be mainly 20th century style, quite a few blocks of flats but also some old cinemas, two of which are now churches, one is even a Cathedral. The Granada Woolwich was built in 1937 in the cinema heyday and is now the Christ Faith Tabernacle.

Originally the Granada Woolwich  

On the opposite corner was another old theatre building, now the New Wine Church. They had a life size Nativity on the lower roof, one of the few festive decorations we saw, and we were Christmas Tree spotting. After a little research I was amazed to find that this theatre was opened on 25th October (our son's birth date) in 1937 by Ralph Reader with The Gang Show - amazing as I have been in scouting since I was 16. Although a church, and even as a Christian, I did have a rye chuckle at it being a wine church as wine tasting is our hobby - and again doing a bit of research another co-incidence came to light - they speak french !! Anyone who knows me will be laughing now as I love France, my online name is french for 'your friend' - Aimetu - amazing isn't it.

So many links to this building 

Back to walking. turning left to continue our route along the A206, our continuous road all the way to the end of Route 2, we were lucky enough to see the Woolwich Ferry just arriving on the north side of the Thames. I was quite surprised how narrow the Thames was - not a long ferry journey at all.

The Woolwich Ferry

Having turned to walk westward we discovered how strong the wind was, we did have to stop a few times to catch our breath. Initially we thought there was not a great deal to see as we walked along but we discovered quite a few interesting items - you'd never know they were there if you drove by or ran past on the actual Marathon. 

The area on our right, riverside, used to be the Woolwich Dockyard, There were hints of the old buildings amongst modern replacements. Using Google maps you can see the old ship building docks and other distinctive buildings that still remain. We did pass impressive stone gates with knot emblems, behind which was a building with a Wren like spire.

Knot gates with Wren spire 

As we walked along we also noticed this great mosaic, it was part of the subway and I've no idea what it's for or why it's there but it's a great piece of art depicting the ship building trade.

Mosaic entrance to a subway

Further along still stood a huge chimney towering above the road. It was built between 1837 and 1843 for the blacksmith's fires in the foundry. It is said to be 10 feet higher than The Monument which is 202 feet high. It was an amazing structure having 8 sides. 

Some of the original Woolwich Dockyard buildings

We did  notice quite a lot of regeneration, many new business sites and retail parks, some old industrial areas too. Our route was following the river although we couldn't see it, so it wasn't a surprise to see a sign for the Thames Barrier. We've seen this from the other side of the river on a previous stay in London, it's an amazing sight stretching across the water. 

Thames Barrier 

Our next noticeable modern building was very very much welcomed - Costa Coffee. My legs were in great need of a rest, and what better rest than to sit enjoying a coffee. It was a nice chance too to think about where we'd been and how far we had to go, including a quick check on the route.

Staying on the same road we continued along passing under the Blackwall Tunnel Southern Approach. This is the road we passed over on our first walk and I took a photo of the city, it seemed odd to be now walking under the same road but nearer the river.

The section after the flyover changed to be less industrial and more retail, one of the first buildings we passed was an old building that was the original East Greenwich Library. We had been looking for blue plaques, we didn't see any this time but the Library building did have this plaque. The Grade II listed building was donated by the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1905. Unfortunately the building's future is uncertain - there's an interesting article in South London Press.

East Greenwich Library plaque

As we slowly ambled along we came across a small park area, nothing much we thought until we noticed this - another little surprise hidden away.

Left hand panel

Centre panel

Right hand panel

I'm so glad it was saved - great piece of art work

Nearly there, for which my legs were very thankful. At the beginning I had said to Nick we could do maybe a little more and finish in actual Greenwich but the last mile was quite tough ... and slow. We were aiming to finish on the corner of Maze Hill and catch the train back into London. Nearly there we passed a lovely church, it seems now to be two churches used in the same building. I presume it was once the parish church with it's beautiful clock tower.

East Greenwich Church

Hurrah the finish - we decided to take the bus back into the City instead of the train as I was quite tired and there are many steps and tunnels when using the tube. The 188 bus arrived and provided a much needed sit down - however an hour's journey later we were very pleased to hop off in Holborn as we'd started to cease up from sitting too long. It was a very interesting tour of London south of the river, some of which I think we may be walking next time.

Blown about a bit but happy to be at the finish of Route 2 

Route 2 completed - tracked by MapMyWalk

I feels really good to have completed another 3 miles - just over in fact and means now I have under 20 miles to go. I am so grateful to everyone who has supported me in my Challenge - especially Virgin Trains, but there is no way I could do Clare's Challenge 50 without the massive support from my lovely Hubby Nick.

To celebrate we dined at Nando's in Holborn, such a relaxing place with great food and of course a lovely glass of sauvignon blanc - perfect treat.

Cheers !!

I am overwhelmed with everyone's support too - it is a personal challenge but I have been very touched by everyone's donations. The total so far is £295 donated online and with Gift Aid it is actually £353.75 - amazing.

I do appreciate everyone sharing, retweeting and liking to help spread the word - every £1 donation is a bonus and it does help when I'm walking, especially when I'm getting tired.