Go East, young man

OK, so I'm pushing it with the 'young' part.

It was a quiet Sunday in mid-September. Blue sky was visible between scattered white clouds on a slightly cooler day with an autumnal feel. The intense heat of summer had passed and a firm wind was blowing. 

Winds of change were very much in the air with a new Prime Minister in place and the country mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth II. I sensed the sombre atmosphere outside as I left my house and passed through the quieter than usual streets of Lewisham. It was the day before the funeral when it seemed that the entire country stopped and took time to remember and give thanks for the monarch's 96 years of life and 70 years on the throne.

Why east? I often ran west, towards the city, towards the sights. Today I fancied a change, plus the wind was coming from the west. I'd check out some of the less well known parts of the River Thames.

My route took me up to Blackheath before descending into Greenwich. A nice steep hill to warm up the quads and a leg stretch to loosen up the hamstrings. Back on the flat beside the river I turned into the University of Greenwich grounds. I ran past the Royal Naval College and cut down onto the Thames Path. The statue of Admiral Lord Nelson greeted me beside the Trafalgar Tavern. Hundreds of union jack flags formed a fluttering canopy above me as I took the narrow alley along Crane Street. In the window there was a photo of the late queen as a girl with the dates of her life 1926 - 2022.

Another famous public house - The Cutty Sark - was on my right as the beautiful Thames flowed slowly by on my left. Across the water the Isle of Dogs with its mighty towers of glass sparkled in the sunlight. The modern architecture on the north bank dwarfing the Georgian buildings on the south bank.

The path here is called Olympian Way. It is wide and clean and shared with cyclists and walkers all taking in the late summer sunshine. Morden Wharf is advertised with large colourful block letters on the wall beside the Brew by Numbers Brewery. Several people are seated outside enjoying a pint of locally produced beer.

I push on past the Golf Range where dozens of players are practising their swing. Skaters and skateboarders spin and leap across the wide area beside me, the concrete decorated with their swirling skid markings. 

Here I spot another runner who looks familiar. As I approach I recognise him as Ben Parkes. Ben has an excellent YouTube channel about running which I have been following for the last year or so. He films events, reviews kit and gives advice on many different aspects of running. He epitomises the positive attitude of so many in the running community. We chatted and he was equally cheerful and optimistic in person, although he was still struggling with a knee injury he picked up on the UTMB.

My hip, which had been giving me significant pain recently, seemed to be holding up ok so far. I was aware that it normally takes until around mile eight for it to start troubling me and I was still a few miles short of that point. I worried that it wouldn't allow me to continue past that point. Should I be resting? Is it serious? What would I do if I could no longer run? I pushed these thoughts from my mind and determined to enjoy the moment. I wasn't in pain, so get on with it.

Boosted by the interaction with Ben, I even had a spring in my step as I rounded the Greenwich peninsula. I love this area which has so many fascinating things to see; the Greenwich Meridian line, incredible art pieces, the Millennium Dome, and the cable cars crossing to Royal Victoria Dock.

The natural world was also on full display. The tide was low and vast sandbanks/mudflats lined the banks on the south side below me. Cormorants were seated there with black wings spread drying in the sunlight as though pegged out on a clothes line. Seagulls scavenged in the sediment along with Shelducks by the dozen. Below my shadow self looked up at me from the beach. Jagged patterns were scored across the surface by rivulets of salty water giving the impression of being in a plane looking down on a desert scene scored with dunes and rivers.

The tail wind was helping me to make good time with little effort. I passed the Ecology Park before entering an industrial zone that takes you behind the giant tarmac plant with the huge conveyers and piles of aggregate. Even here plants grow through the asphalt and along the walls leading to the Thames Barrier. Mainly it is the hardy Buddleia casting its stems of purple, pink and white flowers across the path, but also blackberry, dandelion and thistle.

One of the giant barrier gates was raised above the water. The silver piers glistened like shark fins breaking the surface as they spanned the 1/3 mile to the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery on the north bank. I wondered at the skill involved in building the structure that protects over 1 million Londoners and 4000 properties from destruction every high tide.

The Thames Path continued into Woolwich Dockyard which is now a housing estate. I paused by an art installation called Assembly by Peter Burke. Sixteen Gormley-esque metallic partial body moulds stood facing one another. Only three of four moulds made up each figure meaning you could see inside them. Two canons pointed across the water as if poised to repel invading armies heading down from Barking.

At this point the paved path gives way to trail. I felt as though I was leaving London behind now. On the verges flowers still bloomed making the most of the late summer sunshine. Yellow compass, purple sea aster and a beautiful five petalled white flower I couldn't identify were sprinkled amidst the grasses and sprays of aptly named travellers joy.

A friend of mine from the local running club had recently posted a run on Strava that contained a snail spiral. Intrigued, I had looked up the location and seen it was a hill in Gallion's Park just outside Woolwich. I turned off the trail straight into the park and headed for a small man made mound with a path corkscrewing up the sides. From the top I noticed another, large hill and whorled my way up and back down that one too. The views from the top reached to the City one way and Dartford Bridge the other.

Planes approaching to land at London City Airport passed low overhead with a roar as I continued eastward. This was a far as I had run in this direction having predominantly gone the other way as far as Hampton Court. This was a very different view of London. 

West of Greenwich is a tourist delight with the many historic bridges, famous buildings, south bank attractions, parks and rowing clubs. Heading east takes you to industrial London. This is a far as the Uber boat goes and working boats and barges take over, although I did spy a couple of sail boats fighting the current. 

Ford's Dagenham plant on the north side and the Crossness sewage works on the south dominate the landscape. Reed beds spring up between the industrial carbuncles but there was little bird life to be seen. They were probably in the Crossness Nature Reserve just inland or on Rainham Marshes which stretched out over the river as I followed the bend.

Crossness Sewage Works

Mills, silos, cranes and chutes provide the scenery heading in to Erith. A group of men and boys on quad bikes and scramblers came racing past. Relaxing it was not. The path detoured away from the river at this point and into the town. I picked my way through the streets before picking up a dusty path. The words industrial blight came to mind as I left Erith behind and traversed a dyke with endless junkyards sprawling their man made waste across the land.

In front of me I now had a clear view of the Queen Elizabeth II bridge marking the Dartford Crossing where the M25 held London within it's asphalt ring like a tourniquet. Unfortunately my plan to run towards, and under the iconic bridge fell fowl of a large diversion. 

Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, Dartford

The Dartford Creek Barrier crosses the River Darent at this point but is locked. The Thames Path / English Coast Path route follows the river south until it meets the River Cray about a mile and a half further on. Here you can retrace your steps on the other side of the Darent back to the Thames and on to Dartford.

By now my hip was getting sore and I was closing in on marathon distance. I really wasn't enjoying the post industrial landscape up to that point and had felt as though I was running through a scene from Mad Max. The river lifted my spirits slightly but I was already planning an alternative route to a cafe and a train station. 

Bexley seemed the best place to bring my run to an end and I followed the traffic in that direction. The fun part was over and now I had to endure rather than enjoy the final few miles. The road followed the course of the River Cray but there was only one sighting under a bridge at Cray Gardens. A slight detour at Hall Place and Gardens allowed me to follow it's flow a little further before running up against the A2 with six lanes of heavy traffic.

Hall Place and gardens

Eventually I arrived in Bexley. A run to St Mary the Virgin Church and through the orchards by Bexley Cricket Grounds brought me to 26.2 miles. From Bexley there was a direct train back to Lewisham.