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.

Tomorrow I'll be doing Route 6

It's been a very busy two weeks as I have baked nearly 30 cakes for MS Cake Bake. As well as having a small coffee and cake morning at home I make large cakes to sell - just two or three a day so it's manageable (mix one, bake it, mix next then sit until first is baked, repeat haha)

My friends and family are all so lovely to support this - the total I raised this year is £250 - thank you. Keep an eye on my Aimetu's Stitching blog for an update.

So back to walking - I have rested most of this week, only one swim and one gym session and today will be quite quiet too. Tomorrow Hubby and I will be tackling Route 6 which is from Millwall Dock down to the bottom of the Isle of Dogs and back up through Canary Wharf.

Route 6 

It doesn't look as far as the other straighter routes but I remember last time it was a long way from the island on the left to our finishing point (although I was quite tired by then).

As yet I have not spotted our midway break - we would like to pop into Nicolas in Canary Wharf shopping Centre but it and many other shops are closed on a Saturday, so we'll walk straight through.

Our finish point is right by the Ibis London Docklands hotel - this is very useful as our final trip to do Route 8 will be in September - actually on my birthday September 10th. We are all (Hubby, me, son, daughter, and their partners) staying in London at this hotel for the whole weekend.

We will be walking Route 8 together on Saturday morning (my birthday) to the big finish on The Mall. Afterwards we'll be celebrating somewhere but as yet we're undecided - I did want to go to the Dorchester but looking at their prices it's a dream I will miss as I cannot justify spending that amount of money when charities can do so much more with it. A real treat at night is Hubby has tickets for Party in the Park, Last Night of the Proms (with deckchairs as by then I will not be walking well at all never mind standing)

Anyway back to tomorrow and it will be good to see the hotel and work out the parking as we will drive down - huge THANK YOU again to Virgin Trains for their help with tomorrow's tickets.

Majestic Wine Docklands is also right by where we finish - it would be very rude not to pop in for a browse and although we can't purchase tomorrow we can be thinking ahead to September when we have the car !!

This is the route on a map so you can see the roads clearly.


This week I had a real surprise as a very good friend called round with a donation for Clare's Challenge 50 - it was a very large donation and given in memory of a loved one.

My friend and the family wish to remain anonymous but I wanted to add my thanks onto my blog and I was very very touched by their kindness.



The current total is £687.50 which is amazing and I really can't thank everyone enough.





Finger's crossed tomorrow is a sunny day and we will be able to walk without our coats for the first time. I'm not sure what we'll find history wise as the area has been rebuilt and much of the original dockland has gone but who knows what our slow pace will reveal.

Tower Bridge to Canary Wharf completed

The finish is even closer now as I've passed half way, although I actually feel further away than ever as Route 5 turned east to Canary Wharf. Looking on the map we are nearly level with our starting point at Blackheath - making The Mall seem a very long way away.

It was disappointing not to walk Saturday 23rd but my legs were not really up to it and the trains were full of football fans going to Wembley. I thought it would be nice to walk then as we'd be able to see some of the signs set up for the marathon, but there were still some barriers around on Saturday.

I did enjoy watching the London Marathon on tv last Sunday, what an amazing bunch of people - congratulations to everyone who completed the course and sincere condolences to David Seath's family. It is so heart warming how so many have donated since and walked their own 3.2 miles in his honour - Just Giving David Seath is the donations page set up by his comrades.

                            ...........................................................................................................

After the recent mixed weather it was great to see sun when we got up Saturday morning. Virgin Trains have been so kind yet again providing tickets for our journey. We had added interest this time as in Nuneaton Station was an old diesel train with old carriages ready to set off up north on a tour.

87002 ROYAL SOVEREIGN on the Pines Express
heading to Manchester

Arriving in Euston we took a stroll to Euston Square to take the Underground to Towerhill. That was easier than getting the Underground from Euston and making a change - each trip and route we complete we certainly cover more than the three miles.

An amazing view greeted us as we stepped out of Towerhill Station - the Tower of London - and a little further to the right was The Shard, it's becoming quite a symbol to me.

Tower of London

The Shard

Route 4 finished north side of Tower Bridge, it was certainly a better day this time although a little cloudy the bridge did look beautiful in the sun.

Starting Route 5 

As we set off along The Highway the Royal Mint Court was on our left. It's not such an impressive building but looks official with it's large solid closed gates. Coinage was struck here back in the 13th Century with many changes since, the Royal Mint is currently at Llantrisant South Wales.

Royal Mint Court 

The Highway cuts across from Tower Hill to Limehouses in a fairly straight line, where as the Thames curves away leaving docks in between. The first of these is St Katherine's Dock, a place we've visited many times to see the array of yachts. It was quite spectacular for the Queen's Jubilee; full of sails, masts and flags. These beautiful gates, with their symbolic elephants, lead down to the dock and Ivory House built in 1852 with its impressive clock tower.

Beautiful gates to St Katherine's Dock

There are old dock buildings all along The Highway, either having been or are being converted into apartments.


The buildings are quite beautiful with their distinctive windows and cranes used for loading and unloading cargo.

Small streets and old warehouses dominate most of this area, Wapping, between the Thames and The Highway. It's had a varied past, including being bombed during the war and latterly being associated with newspapers and the press.


The Highway is an ancient thoroughfare, its age and place in history being told in

the variety of buildings including St Paul's church where Captain James Cook was amongst the congregation and John Wesley a preacher.

St Paul's Shadwell built in 1656

Air shaft for Rotherhithe Tunnel (south)

Air shaft for Rotherhithe Tunnel (north)

The Rotherhithe Tunnel passes underneath although you would not know apart from two air shafts one either side the road.


We passed the tunnel entrance on Route 4 and it felt quite strange to be now walking over the top of it going the other way.



There has been so much history on our walks, so many things we didn't know and now want to find more about. I think we will be revisiting parts of our walks again, at a slower pace and with more time as there is so much more to see. One such area being Tobacco Dock with it's events, shops and restaurants.

The Highway ends where the new Limehouse Link tunnel starts. Here the marathon route turns south following the Thames Path along Narrow Street which looks like the original continuation of The Highway. It was almost like stepping back in time with rows of warehouses with their painted signs. It's now a road of apartments, some owned by the rich and famous. Sir Ian McKellen lives in this street and is the Landlord of The Grapes, our rest stop.

Limehouse Link tunnel

Our right turn clearly signposted. 

Narrow Street

Sir Ian McKellen's pub 

The pub dates back to 1583

A small, traditional pub with its
age on display all around.

It was really good to sit a while, definitely a slow walk this time with sharp pins and needles in my feet making some steps quite painful. We decided to have a lunch, sharing a triple sandwich and a bowl of superb chips. Along the wall ran a long bench seat, the original that had evidence of the pubs visitors over time - the seat cured with a dip made from the many posteriors having perched there. I wonder if Samuel Pepys or Charles Dickens had sat in my seat - I expect those benches could tell some stories.

The Grapes is quite a narrow pub with very steep stairs to the upper floors. It sits directly on the pavement out the front and directly on the water side at the rear. There is a small wooden area built on stilts which offers amazing views up and down river - views of Route 4 on the south bank, Route 5 as walked so far and the way to go.

On the wooden deck taking a rest. W

Looking west towards Tower Bridge (Route 4 was along the left bank)

Looking east towards Canary Wharf and the final part of Route 5 

Set in the shore close to The Grapes is a statue of man on a wooden plinth, entitled Another Time (or Old Father Time depending on what you read) it was sculpted by Antony Gormley and though to have been bought by Sir Ian. It was impressive at low tide and must be quite a sight when the tides high.

Another Time on the shore of the River Thames 

Rest over we set off on the final part, along to Westferry before turning down Westferry Road past Canary Canary Wharf to our finishing point at Millwall Outer Dock. Just outside the Grapes was a small park area with an unusual sculpture - a two foot high herring gull.

This area was a hive of activity in the past with many trades. Limehouse gets it's name from the lime kilns that were here as lime was used in plaster for making wattle and daub. The road names give clues as to the trades in the area - Ropemakers Fields, Barleycorn Way, Kiln Street and Three Colt Street.

Herring Gull statue

Warehouses along Narrow Street

Turning the corner we were suddenly in back in modern London, right next to Westferry DLR station. The Docklands Light Railway runs above the road at a busy road junction with red London buses appearing every few minutes, very different from the quiet back in time Narrow Road.

The next bit was a little tricky as on marathon day the roads are closed whereas we have to go by path and pavement. Our route now involved a long flight of steps to get up to the island at Westferry Circus, not the best sight for me at this stage but I made it to the top one step at a time.

Beautiful views on what was a very sunny day. From here we could see up the Thames with Rotherhithe (Route 4) on the left and our mornings route on the right - it certainly looked a long way. Such a skyline too with The Shard dominating the left and many distinctive skyscrapers in the centre.

Looking towards Central London from Canary Wharf

Having gone up to Westferry Circus, after walking round we of course had to come down .... but there was a lift which certainly made me smile. It felt a long way down Westferry Road to our finish. Millwall Outer Dock is another example of how life used to be in this area of London, huge expanses of water that would have been busy with ships importing and exporting goods. Two large cranes still stand next to the dock but it is now mainly a residential area with Docklands Sailing and Watersports Centre using the inland water.

Millwall Outer Dock looking towards Canary Wharf

Docklands Sailing and Watersports Centre based at the dock

 It was lovely to get to the finish as I really was tired this time. We had planned to have a sit down and drink at Canary Wharf but the DLR station was quite a walk so we decided to hop on a bus, well slowly walk on really.

Finish of Route 5 having just walked down the
very long Westferry Road

As I was feeling tired we stopped at a pub for a drink, just sparkling water for me, no celebration wine this time. We decided to return home so I could rest and caught the train from Euston just after 5pm. A lovely day, a hard walk with so much to see.

Huge thanks to my Hubby Nick whose support in doing this has been amazing - I'm sure he'd rather walk a little faster and go a little further. Without his support, especially his arm, I certainly would not be able to do this Challenge.

Route 6 is from the Docklands Sailing and Watersports Centre to the tip of the Isle of Dogs, back up to and around Canary Wharf, finishing at Aspen Way - as yet I'm unsure on a date, I need to see how my legs are - maybe end of May before our holiday or early July once we're home.

Thank you to everyone who has donated - the current total is £457.50 which is an amazing amount.

A bit of a delay

We had a busy time last weekend and busy Monday which has slowed my legs even more, however my plans to do Route 5 had not changed.

I was quite looking forward to seeing some of the route in its set up for the actual Marathon on Sunday, however it's not to be :-(

I hadn't realised that there is a big football match on at Wembley. Our station is a stop between Liverpool and London and all reservations have been taken - the train will be very busy and it would be impossible for me to stand all the way.

Virgin Trains have been so helpful in all my journeys - amazingly so and they have helped again with tickets for Saturday 30th :-)

I believe in things happening for a reason; I'm not a footie fan but in this instance I am actually grateful to the game as my legs still hurt today and the sensible option is to rest a little more.

Everyone running Sunday is amazing to have worked and trained so hard - I'll be watching - good luck to everyone in the London Marathon.

And good luck with all the fundraising - it's a huge event for many charities, big and small. I'm so pleased to be able to help my four - thank you to all who have donated - the pot is growing and is now at an amazing £457.50 !!

My four charities
Click image for donation page

Soon be walking time again

I'm so pleased to have reached half way - even if we were soaked ! All the news about Route 4 is in my previous post Over Half Way! 

April is Marathon Month - the actual London Marathon is on Sunday 24th April. We're not going down as it's a day for true athletes and people with far far more energy and drive than me.

Good luck 

to everyone taking part both in running and any fundraising you are doing 

All being well - my legs do feel strong at the moment although overall I'm still so slow - I'm hoping to do Route 5 the day before (April 23rd). We may see some of the setting up and marking for the main event and as it's St George's Day I'll be looking out for knights and dragons too. 

We'll be starting at Tower Hill / Tower Bridge junction then turning east along A1203 towards Canary Wharf - we're actually staying there next weekend as we've a mini break to see Les Mis. Visiting London always involves walking but our theatre break will certainly not be 3 miles!

Looking at the map I could have skipped a bit - it would have taken just one trip to walk through Greenwich Park to the Cutty Sark and under the Thames Tunnel to Canary Wharf which is where Route 5 finishes - of course that defeats the object and additionally we've seen so much along the way. 

Route 5 marked in red 

Start and Finish of Route 5 

I am so grateful to everyone who has donated, there are so many good causes for us to help so thank you to those who've helped me support my four chosen charities.

 

Such an amazing amount

 - thank you :)

If you'd like to donate you can click the link below 

As always I'll be taking photos along the way, looking out for my walking icon The Shard, and having that much deserved glass of something at the end, all with the amazing support of my Hubby.