Millwall Dock to Billingsgate Market

Route 6 was a toughie - in fact over the whole day (getting to and from the start/finish and to the station in Nuneaton) we actually walked over 7 miles !!

We've had a very busy week, it's taken me a while to recover this time and there were quite a few photos to edit, which is why I am a little later in writing up Route 6.

I was feeling quite well and so we walked from home to the station - big mistake and one I will not repeat. Virgin Trains again supported our journey - they have changed their ticket format and social interaction. It was lovely to received an email a few days before our journey reminding us of our train times and seat numbers. I also received a text whilst a Euston to say our train was boarding with the platform details, great customer service.

From Euston we took the tube to Bank, then the DLR to Westferry, than the bus to our starting point. We're getting used to tube/bus hopping - Transport for London do a great job.

Route 6 began where Route 5 finished, at Millwall Dock and the sailing school, there were quite a few yachts on the water. it was our first walk without a heavy coat too !

Millwall Dock - start of Route 6 

The route goes south down Westferry road to the end of the Isle of Dogs - not quite to Island Gardens where there is a foot tunnel under the Thames to Greenwich (on Marathon Day spectators watch their loved ones run through Greenwich, take the tunnel and see them again here).

It is surprising what you see walking along, lots of apartment blocks, Canary Wharf College, old dockyards, converted buildings, an old fire station - all mixed in together giving glimpses of times gone by.

The Space is a performing arts and community centre based in a converted church run by St Paul's Art Trust - the building was amazing. There was a small cafe but we didn't stop as we had only just begun, had I known there was no other rest stop until 2 miles later I would have had a cuppa here.

The Space's gates 

Colourful brickwork doorway of the original church 

A beautiful building dating back to 1859

 There is quite a lot about the history on The Space website - this snippet relates to one of our other observations

 'The foundation stone was laid by John Scott Russell, the Scottish builder of the ship “Great Eastern”, who ran the nearby shipyard at Burrells Wharf. The church was built by J.& F.J. Woods of Mile End for a cost of £750.' 

Just along a little and across the road was Burrell's Wharf - now a residential riverside development it was where Isamard Kingdom Brunel built the first great steam ship to transport goods from the Far East and Australia. Launched in 1858 The Great Eastern was the largest steamship in the world designed to carry over 4,000 passenger and costing over £725,000.

Burrell's Wharf

Burrell's Wharf with the original gates 

The Great Eastern's blue plaque 

Westferry Road curves slightly following the land line of the River Thames before Eastferry Road appears taking us north through the middle of the Isle of Dogs back to Canary Wharf. On the corner of this turn is an Millwall Old Fire Station, opened in 1905 it is now a restaurant.

Millwall Old Fire Station 

Foundation Stone 

Memorial plaque to two young female firefighters killed during World War II 

Turning into Eastferry Road changed the scenery slightly, instead of apartment blocks this road had rows of houses, terraced all in a row from times gone by. To our right was Millwall Park, a large expanse of green amongst the building, I was particularly taken the old railway arches running through. Looking at the signage as well as Millwall Park there is Mudchute Park and Farm . The area was to be more high rise apartments but in the late 1970s the local residence joined together to secure the area as a 'People's Park'. Mudchute Association was formed which now runs the farm and preserves the area. Unfortunately we did not have time to visit but is another place we'd like to return to (there have been many on our walk).

The arches no longer carry a railway line, they are not continuous but they were originally built for the Millwall Extension Railway when the area was a thriving industrial area with its working docks. There is so much history here and across the Thames at Woolwich, part of Route 2. So much to read and discover, one good source of information is the web page Isle of Dogs - Past Life.

Signage for Millwall Park and Mudchute Park and Farm 

A beautiful area with the old railway arches spanning the ground. 

A little more history, part of the area was the Millwall
Football Club's original ground.  

The other side of the arches - in the distance you can just see the chimneys at
Woolwich (left) and Greenwich domes (right) 

Back on the road we noticed a bare tree with a very large nest at the top - not like our birds nests. After a short moment we could hear the answer - paraquets! We had heard and spotted a few on our first few walks south of the Thames. This was a paraquets' nest - they did land but too far away to capture on my phone camera.

Paraquets' nest

Eastferry Road seemed to stretch for ever with the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf dangling in front of us like the proverbial carrot. They are by far the highest buildings around, all quite different in style and structure. As we made our way towards then we spotted a tall building of the past ...

I'm not sure which industry this was for for - it could
have been the rope works or the power station 

A great information board showing time in the past - the building on the left of the old photo is still there - The George 

The George - as seen in the photo above. 

This marked the end of history - as in we were now amongst the tall modern building with the DLR running alongside us on it's raised track. I was running nowhere as by now my legs were very tired and starting to be slow in responding. Dad's thumb stick has been such a help on these walks but this time I was needing Hubby's help too.

But I wasn't the slowest mover .....

Snail's pace 

We turned left into Marsh Walk with is just south side of Canary Wharf business area. The buildings started to tower above us with new ones being constructed all around. Each one had a unique design, some quite unusual. I have no idea which building is which or for which company but here's a few that caught my eye.

Under construction - this reminded me of the
curved tubs of Celebration chocolates

This one took me by surprise !! 

Amazing vortex of water outside The Landmark

Marsh Road crosses Millwall Inner Dock and then West India Dock. There are many waterways in the Isle of Dogs that are hidden away amongst the tall buildings. There was once a City Canal that joined the docks and cut across the large loop in the Thames but it didn't save much time due the river tides. 

Looking south from the top of Millwall Inner Dock

A glimpse of my walking icon The Shard

More construction in West India Dock

Canary Wharf towering over West India Dock.

We were on the bridge over the small inlet at the bottom of the photo -
originally the City Canal

And so we were back to Westferry Circus, the huge island at the west end of Canary Wharf. This was about the 2 miles stage of Route 5 and it was the same point of Route 6 - how can this be so - well the end of Route 5 and today's part of Route 6 has been a large loop (another point at which I could have cheated and not actually walked the loop)

Route 5 went down the road on the right and today we've
returned up the road on the left after walking to the tip
of the Isle of Dogs and back. 

Nearly there and I was ready for a rest. We know Canary Wharf fairly well as we have visited many restaurants here when away for weekends in London. It's a maze of buildings, all different, all hosting business in a global field. It's a mix of expensive, corporate, reasonable, everyday. When you look around there are many quirky things to see especially as Canary Wharf has one of the UK's largest public art collections:

Giles Penny - Man with Arms Open 1995

Looking across to North Dock

Lynn Chadwick - Couple on a Seat 1984

Beautiful knotwork on the buildings

More knotwork on the tiled walkways

It was certainly rest time as I was really struggling to keep going. Crossrail Place is the new station on the north side with a few shops and on the top floor Big Easy restaurant. We had seen this on previous trips so decided to move slightly off route for a chance to sit down and refuel. Crossrail Place looks very exciting and again somewhere I'd like to revisit, especially the roof top garden which we did walk through but didn't have time to stop to enjoy.

Big Easy bar with so much choice - all very tempting 

My little treat 

I was so glad to sit down a while 

After our pit stop we had just a little way to go - but it felt like the longest part. Through Canary Wharf and under the DLR rail line our route was to Trafalgar Way, the east side. Here we discovered a swing bridge with a very unusual crane, a great view of the O2, Billingsgate Market, an old dock tower and the most unusual sight of our whole journey so far!

Swing bridge controls that look like
something from Star Wars

The O2 Arena 

Old dock tower

Famous London fish  market 

Traffic Light Tree by Pierre Vivant

And so the end of Route 6 at Aspen Way island - a busy roundabout with a dual carriageway flyover but one of the best sights ever... the finish line. It was certainly a long walk this time but it does mean only 6 miles to the real finish.

End of Route 6 

I am so grateful to my lovely Hubby who walks with me and is so patient as I make my way slowly up and down the stairs, finds lifts if possible and always finds a little treat along the way. We are actually really enjoying this Challenge if only I didn't have to walk so far .....

Just by the finish point was one of our favourite shops, Majestic Wine. We have seen this shop many time when passing on the DLR with it's old dock tower standing tall. It would seem rude not to pop in so our final walk before getting the tube back to Euston was a little visit.

What a lovely welcome - I must have looked exhausted as one of the chaps came over to ask if we were ok and Hubby explained that we had just finished our 3+ mile walk, to which the chap replied 'you'll need some bubbly then' and poured us a tasting of a very nice Cava.

Majestic Docklands seemed a much bigger store than our usual shop in Leicester with a few more wines, some of which were new to us and looked very inviting. Thank you Majestic Docklands for a much needed rest and extra treat at the end of Route 6 - we will be back in September.

Majestic's old dock tower.

Back at Euston we had a little time to spare so rested in the Virgin Lounge - I really like how they have now indicated on the train information board which carriages have unreserved seats. I was also impressed this time to receive a text message to say our train was boarding and which platform it was on - great service Virgin Trains, thank you

Only two more to go - Route 7 will be from Aspen Way back to Tower Hill and I think we'll be doing that sometime mid July or early August.

Route 8 will be the Grande Finale - without a doubt a real celebration as we, our son and his girlfriend, our daughter and possibly her boyfriend are staying in London for the whole weekend. The reason is I will be doing the final 3 miles on my 51st birthday - a year on from announcing my Challenge at my 50th birthday party.

We'll be staying Friday to Sunday and walking the route together on Saturday 10th September, starting from Tower Hill at 11am. If the day is free you are very very welcome to join us to walk along the Embankment, past Big Ben, along to Buckingham Palace to finish on The Mall.

It's been an amazing year and an amazing challenge, thank you to everyone who has supported me and donated to my four charities.