Day: 172 20/4/97 Erith to Woolwich

Weather:  Cool, breezy but fine

Distance: 12.5 km (  miles)    Total Distance:           miles

I packed up at the Youth Hostel, battled with the road system to get onto the motorway and got walking by 8.00 having left the car outside the swimming pool in Erith. 

I would not recommend today’s walk to anyone. The only good thing I suppose is that it could have been worse – it could have been raining. The first hour was along the bank of the Thames with a lot of dilapidated industry.  The only people around were the occasional hardy fishermen and occasional crew of a boat being loaded at the wharves plus an odd person whose hobby seemed to be taking photos of boats and tugs – a sort of a boat-spotter I suppose. 

I kept by the Thames until I was forced to go inland by a large sewage works belonging to Thames Water.  Why is it that water companies are the worst people for not allowing access to the waterside.  A path led alongside the main road but about 10 yards away from it and hemmed in by scrub – much better than walking along the road itself I must say. 

I was not looking forward to the Thamesmead housing estate because I had a picture of rough high rise flats in mind and indeed from afar there were such flats visible.  They however turned out to belong to another housing estate and Thamesmead was surprisingly OK.  The only problem was getting onto the estate.  I ended up going over the dual carriageway and then along a number of dead-end path and almost onto a golf course at one time but eventually found my way onto the estate.  The first half had a reasonable road with paths but the latter had a dual carriageway with no real path followed shortly by the A2016, also a busy road with no path. 

I wandered through the town of Woolwich and eventually down to where the ferry left. Taking a ferry wasn't in my rules so I heading further upstream.  My map indicated that there was a foot tunnel but there appeared to be no evidence of any tunnel that I could find.  I ended up asking a passing man who directed be behind some buildings and there hidden away was the tunnel.  I was trying to figure out how to operate the lift when it opened to reveal a wood paneled structure with a uniformed lift attendant straight out of Driving Miss Daisy.  This took me down to the tunnel and trying to put the worries that lifts were not within my rules behind me I set off to walk along the 300 yards white tilled tunnel occasionally passing other pedestrians.  There was no lift at the other end only a spiral staircase.

I went back over the Thames by the ferry and then got a train back to Erith and collected the car to drive home.