Walking the Thames Path: Section 6.1: Culham to Dorchester

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Weather: Sunny, Very Warm
Section Length: 13.5Km
Fantastic Place: Dorchester Abbey Tea Room

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The Route

A very sunny day for this section of the Thames Path.Lots of wild flowers everywhere along with birds and insects - in particular mayflies and dragonflies. After being dropped off in the sleepy village of Culham the first stretch of the walk is beside wild flower strewn meadows alive with mayflies. Flying above red kites and buzzards circle looking for prey.

Shortly after passing under the railway bridge there is a WWII pillbox. Not sure what it would have been guarding. There is another at the end of the walk on the approach to Dorchester so I guess they were there to defend the river. Now this one would make a good bird hide as flocks of geese were grazing on the grass in front of it.

    

Pillbox.

In several sections, the main, winding path of the Thames are bypassed by cuts, and at the entry and exit of each there is a weir <shudder>. 

At the end of the Clifton Cut there is a fine lock keeper's cottage. The gardens are very well tended (and there is an option of purchasing an ice cream if you fancy it).

Clifton Lock

 

Shortly after the lock you come to one of the most attractive bridges on the river, this one was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott.

Clifton Hampton Bridge

Crossing the bridge for a short detour you I walked to the Barley Mow, a thatched pub built in the 14th Century and mentioned in Three Men in a Boat. 

The Barley Mow

Back to cross the busy bridge (busier than normal as there was a road closure that caused Liz to get diverted, ironically, past this spot) and back along the Thames. The houses on the far bank of the river are very large and look very expensive. Some of the boathouses probably cost more than our house.

Modern Boathouse

Modern Riverside Residence

 This stretch of the Thames has some environmental management programs in place. Side channels and pools to support wildlife include snipe and otters. The meadows were full of buttercups glowing in the sun. The long curve of the river bends round to the south giving great views of the hills south of Dorchester, one of which is capped with an Iron Age Hill Fort.

Wittenham Clumps

Cows modelling for a Cuyp Painting

Buttercup Meadows

 

One final weir leads to the final stretch and a return to Dorchester alongside the Thame. The gardens of Dorchester Abbey are worth a look at and if you are there in the afternoon the Abbey Tearooms provide a fine selection of cakes. I had a well deserved slice of Lemon Drizzle and one of Orange Fruitcake. Both were very tasty. There is also a small museum in the old abbey guest house that is worth a look.

Walking The Thames Path: Section 6.2: Dorchester to Wallingford

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Weather: Sunny, Heavy Showers
Section Length: 8.4Km
Fantastic Place: Shillingford

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The Route

This blog entry is a bit delayed (OK very delayed as I did the walk back in 2022!)

Outside of weeks away from home, or long weekends, most of the Thames path will be walked in short sections such as today. I get a lift to the starting point from Liz, who then goes for a mooch around a pretty town (in this case Dorchester and Wallingford).

Dorchester is a pretty little town/village with an ancient abbey at its heart and several pubs. The walk starts with a pleasant stroll along the River Thame to its confluence with the Thames. On the approach to Shillingford the path leaves the river for some tedious road walking into the village. The return to the river is via a pretty lane beside gorgeous gardens and at the end a thatched boathouse. 

Shillingford bridge is quite impressive (it has road signs warning of ducks). The river, once you return to it, is wide and peaceful at this spot until you approach Benson where there is a busy marina and my great fear - a weir.

The Dreaded Weir at Benson

I don't know what it is about weirs. They are crossed usually by sturdy bridges with high hand rails but there is something about the mix of still deep water and rushing water over the weir itself that gives me the heeby-jeebies! 

The river on the far side of the weir returns to a peaceful tree lined stretch on the run into Wallingford. Wallingford has another fine Thanes bridge. A great spot to stop, meet up with Liz and scoff a very good sausage roll while watching people swim in the river.

Rather Fancy Boathouse

Wallingford Bridge

Fine Tree on Wallingford High Street

Tracking the Tube: Victoria Line 2: Walthamstow Central to Kings Cross

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Weather: Blooming Scorching!
Distance Walked: 17.85 km
Distance By Tube: 11.4 km
Stations Visited: 7
Fantastic Place: Woodberry Wetlands

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Only 7 stations so I've added the old H&I station for fun.

 

 

My tube walks are sadly becoming annual events rather than monthly as they used to be. I need to take time out to do more a year, perhaps shorter legs rather than the long ones I've done in the past. 

Today saw the completion of the Victoria Line and I was pleasantly surprised by what I found on this hot sunny summer day. Those of you paying attention may have notice that this year has been one of the hottest and driest on record (a week or so ago we hit 40c which was rather too warm for my tastes!). So the 27c temperature and clear blue skies were not a surprise, I was thankful for the modern water fountains installed by our current London mayor so I could top up my water bottle at regular intervals. Patches of grass on roadsides and parks were a uniform khaki colour and trees, especially horse chestnuts, were already shedding leaves.

The walk started in Walthamstow, former home of William Morris, there is still a museum dedicated to him near the start of the walk. One striking feature of the area are bollards.Most of them seem to have been dressed in woolly jumpers to protect them from the cold - they must have been sweltering in the heat!

Bollards keeping warm

Walthamstow - proud of its heritage

Just past Blackhorse Road station, where there are a lot of new residential tower blocks being built the route continues along a level, straight causeway between two large reservoirs, part of the Lee Valley Reservoir chain. These provide drinking water for London and are also now a important site for water birds such as cormorants. I could see there were footpaths leading around the edges of the water which may make for an interesting visit for the future. On the west side of the reservoirs is the Walthamstow Wetlands. Even from the side of the road I could see that this would be a great place to visit if you like wetlands and wildlife (also a nice looking waterside pub!).

 

Heron on guard duty

 More building and development could be seen near Tottenham Hale station and much light industrial. At this point I should mention that the stations on this leg are nothing to write home about architecturally - the 60's eh!

 

The next leg along Seven Sisters Road was fairly grim, I may have gained a kilo from all the pollution I breathed in so I was quite glad to turn off the road and go rural for a bit . In fact the next section was one of the best bits of any of my tube walks so far. The Woodberry Wetlands is a little lung in this polluted and overcrowded part of London. Two large reservoirs and waterways with birds and plants providing a welcome respite. It also provided lunch at the Coal House Cafe.  I had a very nice cup of coffee and a cheese and fig chutney toastie that set me up nicely for the rest of the walk. The cafe and the wetlands are well worth a visit and are only a short walk from Manor House station (Piccadilly Line - hmm perhaps I will pop in again when I do that line!)

 

The wetlands have been built in conjunction with a housing development, lots of flats with balconies overlooking the water and a rather nice water feature.

 

 

 

It was back to the Seven Sisters Road for the next station Finsbury Park and the more suburbia before a detour to one of the temples of football the old Arsenal football ground at Highbury (the other is of course the magnificence that is Fratton Park home of the mighty Pompey). Now converted to flats the listed stands still tower above the streets. Down the hill the new Emirates stadium can be glimpsed awaiting a future walk. 

 

The path continues through Highbury Fields, very nice open space but looking very scorched and brown in the sun at the moment. I then got rather twizzled around at Highbury and Islington station, the heat getting to me at last! The last few kilometres were a bit of a grind at the end of a long hot walk but I did pass through a very pretty square surrounded by flats, possibly Edwardian in age which had very nice Gothic details around the windows and doors. 

So that brings to an end the Victoria Line. Now to decide which of the remaining lines to do next and how to break them up in a sensible way!

 

Tracking the Tube: Victoria Line 1: Brixton to King's Cross

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Weather: Warm, Overcast, Humid
Distance Walked: 15.40 km
Distance By Tube: 9.85 km
Stations Visited: 10
Fantastic Place: GPO Tower

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Another strange year, but things seem to be getting back into some sort of order. As before, working five and sometimes six days a week mean that I have less time for walking. Especially during the spring and summer where the garden takes priority. 

I briefly considered trying to do the whole line in one go but soon realised that this wasn't going to work with me being out of practise so instead a walk from Brixton to King's Cross was planned.

Brixton was sunny, busy and buzzing. We tend to visit Brixton before catching a bus to the Dulwich Picture Gallery so the streets around the station are familiar. I've also been reading a book on the old river Effra that was converted into a sewer in the 18th and 19th century but still runs beneath the main Brixton road.

This part of London south of the river is one of 'my London' areas. I spent a lot of time working out of an office in Vauxhall and occasionally I would pop down to Stockwell to use the post office as that was the nearest to the office. There are some nice streets and houses in this area especially Lansdowne Circus with a nice green space and attractive mid-19th century houses.  

One of the highlights of this walk is the number of examples of great 20th century architecture. The first of these is the Stockwell Bus Garage which when it was built in the 1950s was the largest unsupported roof span in Europe.

Vauxhall cross and the area around it has changed a lot since when I worked here some five or six years ago. Long gone are the Cap Gemini offices, replaced by tower blocks and building sites. The area is now close to the American embassy and the Northern Line Extension stations down to Nine Elms and Battersea.

 

The bus station here is under threat which is a shame as it is an example of early 21st century design that has some merit.

Continuing across the Thames via Vauxhall Bridge, a route I used to take when visiting one of the clients I worked for while at Vauxhall and also when the tubes were playing up!

The area around Pimlico is also well known from visits to Tate Britain and it has an underpass with some good painted tile murals depicting art from the gallery. Victoria and the streets around the station were busy, almost as busy as normal and with the sun shining Westminster Cathedral looked very attractive in all it's stripy glory. The crowds were also present around Buck House taking photos and I couldn't help but join them!

Green Park was a breath of fresh air, the shaded walks offering some respite from the hot polluted air of this part of central London before tackling the area around the Royal Academy and the posh shopping streets of Bond Street and the less posh streets around Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street.

Continuing north it took me a little while to find the foot of the Post Office Tower, the close you get the harder it is to spot the tower (which for a long time was left off maps as a security measure) in the canyons of ugly mid century office blocks and shops. Eventually I found it in a narrow street and was surprised that such a narrow foundation could support the tall tower.

 

On the way to King's Cross I walked through the back streets away from the throngs along Euston Road and passed the Welcome Collection where they had a display of poems on the subject of COVID and the lock-down.

This leg of the walk ended at King's Cross and I'm already looking forward to the next stretch up towards Walthamstow. 

The walk was also notable for some great streat art.

Tracking the Tube: Jubilee Line 04: Neasden to Stanmore

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Weather: Very Warm
Distance Walked: 17.01 km
Distance By Tube: 10.2 km
Stations Visited: 6
Fantastic Place: Canons Park

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Another year and finally I've completed the Jubilee line.

Guess who forgot to photograph Stanmore Station!

I wasn't looking forward to this leg. From the map it looked like a tough start finding a route next to the very busy North Circular Road and then on through a busy industrial area. This would be followed by lots of dull suburbia walking beside more roads. Now that I only do a few walks a year I'm getting more fussy about the ones I do do and in some ways I resented that this would be possibly one of my final walks of the year.

I wasn't wrong about the start! Grim walking by very busy roads with lots of pollution. At least I had scanned Google Streetview for the start and spotted the alley that took me alongside the A406. Then more walking through light and medium industrial areas, including cement works, and building site after building site. But even here there were moments of beauty, a trailing passionflower draped over a metal fence and a sculpture of a dandelion clock over the River Brent. 

Don't think I'll blow on this one!

The Brent looking rather pretty

I would have liked to get closer to Wembley Stadium but the whole area appears to be one large construction site where flats and apartments are being built in their hundreds if not thousands. I managed to glimpse the arch and had a view back along Olympic Way but that was about it. Some day I will go to a match at Wembley, I can see it from the windows of our loft bedroom and when lit up I can see it when I walk up the hill from Greenford Station, but despite living in London for 30 years I've 'not got round to it.'

The Arch

Olympic Way

New hotel going up alongside Olympic Way

Once past Wembley Park station things got a lot better, less building sites and nice front gardens. Even better was the open expanse of Fryent Country Park. A gentle climb to a ridge that overlooks this part of North London. 

Unlike Kate Bush I was not running up that hill

Damsons

This is London

Lots of mature trees and wide open spaces. At this time of year the hedgerows are full of blackberries, apples (probably from discarded cores) and damsons. Flitting round theme were lots of butterflies, moving to fast to photograph or identify though one might be a small brown. Several very happy dogs being taken for a walk seemed to be enjoying the summer sun and my spirit began to lift. After finding the way out of the park I dropped down into Kingsbury with it's busy row of shops where everyone appeared to be out. Lots of Asian and Caribbean shops with stacks of fresh fruit and vegetables, Asian sweetshops with their pyramids of golden delicacies and everything else you need on a high street. 

Continuing north towards Queensbury via the very attractive Queensbury Park where they have a set of outside exercise equipment. I think these are a good idea, shame they weren't in use. The park also had a nice wetland area with a pond nestling in the centre. The reeds and flowers were busy with dragonflies. with swifts flitting across the water hunting for insects.

Urban wetlands - a vital resource for wildlife

After Queensbury station, a smaller quieter version of Kingsbury, I continued north to Canons Park station and the park of the same name beyond it. This turned out to be the highlight of the walk even thiugh the walled George V memorial garden was closed.

Geoge V Memorial Garden

More building works around Stanmore station, this time for retirement flats, and then a handy bus home after what turned out to be a very pleasing walk.  

So another line has been completed so I'll need to give some thought to what I do next. Waterloo and City for a quick jaunt during the winter? The H&C line, most of which has been done as part of other lines? The Victoria Line which should be able to be knocked off in a couple of days? Or the more substantial PIccadilly Line where it doesn't run alongside the Met Line given that the Central line is being left last? Answers on a postcard to the usual address!