The 47 mile England Coast Path (ECP) between Woolwich Foot Tunnel and Grain was formally opened in January 2022. At the same time the Thames Path was extended from the Thames Barrier to the Woolwich Foot Tunnel. This created for the first time a fully signed ‘Source to Sea’ walking route – 232 miles in total. The England Coast Path section mainly comprises existing footpaths and knits them together with new paths where they didn’t previously exist.
When I walked the ECP section last year, albeit from Grain to Woolwich, I broke it down into 3 walks and this worked really well for me.
The ECP section has a completely different feel to the Thames Path. It’s very hard for me to put into words but the one word that keeps springing to my mind is ‘edgy’. The river is really wide and much of the section crosses wide, open and exposed marshes. You get muddy beaches that go out for huge distances and attract lots of birds. Industrial installations are huge. Ships are huge. For 12 miles between Cliffe and Allhallows you’re completely on your own – no cafés, no buses and the only company you’re likely to have is the odd inquisitive cow.
This stage from Woolwich to Greenhithe breaks you in gently to the new landscape I’ve described above. I chose Greenhithe as an end point because it has a good railway service – SouthEastern and Thameslink trains. It’s the longest of the 3 ECP stages at just over 18 miles but the reality is that I walked closer to 20 miles.
Getting to and from Woolwich has become so much easier since the full opening of the Elizabeth Line in May 2022. I can now get the Thameslink from Huntingdon to Farringdon and change there for the Elizabeth Line to Woolwich. I arrived at Woolwich by 08:45 and popped into the M&S Food Hall next door to buy my lunch sandwich. What shall I have today? I settled on chicken salad.
It was very grey and overcast as I walked down to the river. There were a lot of people in running gear assembling here. I surmised that as it was a Saturday, they would be taking part in a parkrun. I asked one of the runners and he confirmed that it was the weekly Woolwich Thames Path 5k parkrun. I had to smile that a number of the cast iron male statues that form the work of art named “Assembly” were wearing hi-vis marshall’s jackets. I don’t have the foggiest idea what the statues are meant to represent!
The runners set off at 9 o’clock and I thought it best to wait until they had all departed before setting off myself. For the first ½ mile I had modern apartment blocks to my right and to my left it was a bit difficult to see because the river is so wide. However, looking at a map, I had London City Airport and the huge Royal Docks on the other side of the river.
The runners turned off the Thames Path at Gallions Reach Park and that was the last I saw of them. Apart from a few dog walkers and solo runners, I pretty much had the path to myself. I was now walking towards Crossness.
The one thing I could clearly see on the other side of the river was the Barking Creek Barrier. Barking Creek is where the River Roding flows into the Thames. The barrier is there to protect Barking from flooding as well as to support the work of the Thames Barrier. It’s nowhere near as pretty as the Thames Barrier, just pretty brutalist I’d say. If you look carefully you'll see there are actually 3 extra barriers - 2 tiddlers on the right and 1 on the left.
Crossness Pumping Station came next. Unlike the Barking Creek Barrier which is totally utilitarian, the buildings are pure Victorian extravagance – and that’s just the outside! The sewage pumping station was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette who was the chief engineer for the Metropolitan Board of Works. It was opened in 1865 and was decommissioned in the 1950s. Thankfully the buildings were Grade 1 listed in 1970.
Restoration has been taking place for many years and the station is open to the public on certain days during the year. Even if you don’t like engineering, I recommend you try to go on a visit and I can guarantee you will have at least one “Wow!” moment when you see the engine room AND you get to wear a hard hat! It’s utterly amazing and beautiful at the same time. In the last few months, the Trust in charge of the restoration has raised sufficient funds to enable them to complete work to be able to restart the safe running of one of the steam engines – the Prince Consort Engine. I’m looking forward to seeing this in late September. The web site gives details of open days –
Next door to the former sewage pumping station are the actual Crossness sewage treatment works. Needless to say, I walked past as quickly as I could! As if my nose hadn’t had enough of rather unpleasant smells, next to the sewage works was a huge waste incineration site. Much of the waste is delivered by barge and burned to generate electricity.
By now the clouds were breaking up and the sun was breaking through. Unfortunately, this didn’t make the landscape look much better so I moved into top gear and before I knew it I was in Erith.
Erith has a pier - a very long pier and at 360 metres and shaped like a boomerang, it is the longest pier in London. It was used by ships to unload their cargo but as Erith’s industry declined it was eventually abandoned until the late 1990s. Morrisons built a supermarket on the site of the former deep wharf and I’m guessing that as a sweetener to get their planning, they may have paid to restore the pier as a public amenity?
It was nearly 11 o’clock and with over 7 miles under my belt, it was time for a coffee. I found a bench overlooking the pier on what had now turned into a lovely Saturday morning.
Duly refreshed and mentally prepared for the “River Darent bit” coming up soon, I carried on along the streets of Erith until the path rejoined the river at the start of Crayford marshes. The QEII Bridge looks tantalisingly close from here but if you’ve not done your homework, you’re in for a bit of a shock.
At Crayford Ness the River Darent flows into the Thames. The problem here is that there is no bridge across the mouth of the Darent. What there is here is a mini-Barking Creek Barrier called the Dartford Creek Barrier. It too is part of the overall Thames flood defence infrastructure but its particular purpose is to protect Dartford and Crayford from flooding.
The only way to get from one side of the Darent to the other is to walk 5.6 miles across Crayford and Dartford marshes –
· down the River Darent,
· down its tributary the River Cray,
· into Crayford,
· back up the Cray,
· down the Darent,
· across the Darent at the A206 bridge
· and then finally back up the Darent!
It’s a little disheartening when you’re walking the Thames. As if that wasn’t enough, you share part of the path with a dirt bike club.
Anyway, I followed the official path up to “into Crayford” and cut out “back up the Cray, down the Darent”; instead I saved my self nearly ½ mile by walking on the pavement by the side of A206. It’s a busy road but there is a crash barrier between the pavement and the road.
After what seemed like an eternity I was finally back on the other side of the Darent estuary and now I really was close to the QEII Bridge; just 2 miles to reach it. I stopped here to eat the sandwich I’d bought earlier in Woolwich and then set off again for the final push.
What was immediately disconcerting was the sound of gunfire. Fortunately I knew from last year that as well as hosting a dirt bike club, Dartford marshes also have pistol and rifle ranges. I assumed (or rather hoped) that no stray bullets would come my way but in any case I put on a bit of a spurt to get out of range (pun intended!).
Having survived the “River Darent bit”, the QEII Bridge got ever closer ( I think I keep saying this). Getting to walk under the bridge is the highlight of this stage. Needless to say I took loads of photos and when I emerged on the other side I was officially outside the M25 ring for the first time since the end of stage 8 near Runnymede.
Greenhithe was just over 1 mile from the Dartford Crossing. I left the path at Greenhithe Asda and walked the short distance to the station. It was only 15:30 so I’d made really good time today; the stink from the Crossness sewage works and the gunfire at Dartford marshes certainly helped my pace. My left foot was hurting as it had been by the end of every stage I’d walked but I was used to this.
This stage was definitely unlike any stage on the Thames Path!
I now had to get home and pack for my 2 night stay away in Strood, which would be my base for completing stages 13 and 14 on Monday and Tuesday.
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