Sewage and Celebrity

On April 5th 2006 I walked 16 miles, 30,000 steps, in pursuit of completing one of the walks in Time Out's London Walks book, Volume 2. This is the story of that day and the parts of London I had no idea existed.

We start at Liverpool Station. 11am. Wednesday morning. I say 'we' as it was my Mum's choice to do this particular stomp, so the pair of us used the toilets at the station and set forth.

The weather was ideal for walking. Not bitterly cold and bright enough to make all the potentially grey buildings gleam. We decided not to catch the bus to our start point - instead preferring to walk Shoreditch High Street. Soon enough Dunston Road was within our sights.

Crossing the bridge we found the steps down to the canal and joined the towpath. As we descended and begun the day some jolly van driver yelled out if this was the way to Amarillo. We sang back la la-la la laa! Smiling. Jollity and sunshine. All on the doorstep.

Ten minutes along and all sounds of the city had dissipated. We were alone. Well not exactly - the weather had the cyclists out (minus their bells - so we needed eyes in the back of our heads), joggers, mothers and toddlers and the Easter holidaying teenagers who just wanted to mill around and look cool. The early section of canal we walked along was the Regent's Canal. Every effort has been made to keep the walk ways litter free and pleasant. Mosaics on the walls, signs to help you know where you are, and numerous warning signs to ask cyclists to dsimount under the low crossing bridges. They don't. In fact how some of the riders managed to squeeze under the arches I am not sure. Did make me wonder how many watery accidents had occured.

We missed the first noted land mark. Little Georgia. Clearly so small - we over looked it! We couldn't however miss the next landmark - Victoria Park. This nestles in the intersection of the Regent's Canal and the Hertford Union Canal. If we had followed the book to the letter we would have continued along the Regent stretch, but me, being, me decided to just follow my nose! So we wandered into the park in order to rejoin with the Hertford stretch. Maybe I get over whelmed by green spaces in our fair city - or maybe I didn't actually bother to read the accompanying text. I should say at this point that this walk was the choice of David Aaronvitch. Along with a map and photos of buildings he provides a commentary of his experience. Consequently for most of the walk I was reading his commentary backwards! So my apologies to David. But I do agree wholeheartedly with your observation - cyclists along the route - no matter which way you tackle it do not make you aware of their prescence...!

The park is quite spacious. A great pond and plenty of flora and fauna to keep the active eyes alert.

Along the route we passed several locks.. no further comment is necessary for this one. Although maybe...

We were gathering pace and heading towards the Top of the Morning pub. We missed that too... not very good at following the guide huh! But it sits by the canal near the M11. Yes we saw that - walking under was done at speed - too much weight above for my liking. The route then took us up to Carpenters Road so we could cross and begin the sojourn towards the Big Breakfast house. It was also at this stage that the canal meets the River Lea. At the junction there is in progress major development. Look down the Hertford Union and you can see the Swiss Re building - the Gherkin - in the distance. Looking down river you can see Canary Wharf and associated buildings. But we were in search of Celebrity and for once we didn't miss it!

The Big Breakfast house was unmissable - maybe it was the astro turf garden or the brightly painted flowers on the wall or the paddling pool and happy kids outside. In any event there is was - on the river and not quite as spacious as the TV would have you believe. To compliment the sight was well... sewage pipes.

Can we go home now? Well we have seen celebrity and sewage! I am glad we didn't. This was the closest we got to Stratford station. Passing underneath it we continued along a less salubrious piece of river side walk. Glad not to be alone for this part of the walk we encountered our first lake of water. No bridges to cross here in fact we were going under a bridge and the water had been festering for a while. We tip toed along the edge of the road way and turned up into Blaker Road. Crossed the High Street and found Greenway... not so inspiring when you look at it from the midway point. But in front of us was a sight worthy of the day...

Abbey Mills Pumping Station.

It is a truly fascinating site - disused, but in London terms covering a large spance of land. The building itself is has history and as one who loves to promenade the Embankment it was a wow moment to see what David A describes as 'Sir Joesph Bazalgette's baby'. I can see why. This place pumped the great stinking sewage of London out beyond the centre to Dagenham and beyond. Now idle it poses a great unseen monument to Sir Joseph's work.

As the walk suggests where there is shite there are flies or should that be starlets? We had had success with the Big Breakfast house but could we spot the infamous other BB house? Oh yes - get in! Here is therefore the Big Brother House!

This part of the walk was met at around 1pm. The sun was very warm and to be frank the section of river we were on was not exactly well populated. Driven by hunger (!) we pressed on and found the wall pictured in the book which we took to be the outer rim of the Three Mills Studio. From somewhere above a voice boomed out 'Over here we can see you'. Okay. We were unfazed. Intrepid. But the wall was not exactly as pictured. It was graffiti covered. The original was supposed to be a film strip. This wall was not. It was inner city out on the waterfront. And loud voices were perturbing. But following the wall round we hit a haven. Across the water in the distance was a Tesco. But wait...

Why go for a prefab sarnie when the Three Mills cafe was still open. A charming cockney made us a cuppa and a fresh tuna and sweetcorn sandwich. It was delicious. A real haven. We could have sat here for ages. As it was we made our arrangements for the evening which at this point in the walk seemed an age away. Here are a few more snaps from this point - an amazing vista. For those of you not so keen on long walks grab a tube to West Ham or Bromley by Bow.
The weeping willows. Their colours amazing in the sunshine. Yes this picture really was taken in the East End of London!

This shot reminded me of standing on a platform.. like all those commuters day in day out. This platform though as different. Sitting beyond the sign and on the actual lock was a heron. No briefcases here. No dot matrix expected train times.

Our next major line to follow was under the Blackwell Tunnel to join the Limehouse Cut. A word of warning to those of you planning a walk along a canal - it gets a bit linear! And at times you feel yourself veering towards the edge - so at times walking two abreast can be very entertaining or depending on your mood slightly scary! Well if you don't want to get wet! Also it perhaps not the walk to take with a argumentative friend - one push and its a Den Watts moment.... splash!

This leads down to the Limehouse basin. From the edge of the canal when you look up you can see all sorts of historcial buildings The Mission Building and St Anne's Church. Limehouse Basin is a like a millionaire's marina. New flats have sprung up on all sides of the tract of water. It was entralling for its new viewpoint of Canary Wharf. Close and yet still so far away.
The Limehouse Basin

Out onto Commercial Road you see the Catholic Church of Our Lady Immaculate - or should I say you see a red robed Jesus arms outstretched staring out over the route we had just walked. The reason for hitting tarmac was to find the Regent's Canal once more and get to wander back to where we were earlier in the day.

Here is the colourful view of Mile End Park's daffadils and the imposing Canary Wharf in the back ground...! Again!

This me at the end of a very pleasurable day with my certificate of completion. It was while we sat here and enjoyed the afternoon sun that we finally saw a barge - and one going through a lock at that. Ah a momentus occasion. There's only so much empty canal you can walk beside. The only pain I had on the Thursday was a red nose and the grief of disbelieving work colleagues.

We ended the day back at Liverpool Street - quick pint followed by possibly the most enjoyable curry I have ever had! As days in London go - it didn't actually feel as if I had been in the Capital at all.

My advice - go discover!