The official opening of the England Coast Path section from Grain to Woolwich in January 2022 coincided with a short extension to the Thames Path National Trail. The trail was extended by just over 1 mile to start/end at Woolwich Foot Tunnel rather than the Thames Barrier. This is what officially created the fully signposted 'Source to Sea' walking route.

 

I chose a lovely sunny spring Saturday for my walk. I caught the DLR from Bank to Woolwich Arsenal and did the short walk to the Woolwich Foot Tunnel, just by the Woolwich Ferry, arriving at about 09:15. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky but it was still cool enough to warrant a fleece. It may have only been 1 mile to the Thames Barrier but there was still plenty to see, including better views of the landmark Tate & Lyle factory across the river and the Canary Wharf skyscrapers as viewed between the Thames Barrier piers.

 

Continuing along the Thames Path from the barrier, as ever I kept stopping to take photos and spend time looking at landmarks and this meant it took me until midday to reach Greenwich and the Cutty Sark. I stopped here for a sandwich break before continuing up through Deptford and Rotherhithe. When I reached Surrey Docks Farm I decided it was high time that I should pay a visit to see what livestock they have. I fully expected to have to pay to get in but that wasn’t the case. The farm has quite a variety of livestock and the sheep and goats in particular were very friendly. It’s a lovely place to visit in the shadows of Canary Wharf across the river - https://www.surreydocksfarm.org.uk/ I encourage everyone to stop there even if only for a cup of tea!

 

Carrying on, the remainder of the walk was drama free all the way to the end at Vauxhall. The sunny Saturday weather had brought out loads of people, especially from Tower Bridge and all along the South Bank. It was a really lovely walk. Official distance covered – 14 miles.

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Please click or tap Flickr button for many more photos of this walk.

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