Surrey Docklands and Rotherhith Tunnel

This afternoon we visited the Surrey docklands, on the South side of the Thames. A few decades ago it was an area where no sensible tourist would dare venture; now it is the location of the London Hilton.

We walked around the two remaining docks, which are closed to shipping and home to numerous water birds. Google helped us identify some cormorants living on an artificial floating island.

The area used to be where logs floated from as far as Russia were delivered to London. By keeping them wet, they didn’t split, and presumably the salt helped preserve the timber. Flash apartments have been built where the docks have been filled in, and all the streets are named after trees.

We wanted to check out Stave Hill Ecological Park, which clearly offers many educational opportunities for local school kids. As you can see from the photos, there is quite a large area of bush on what was an industrial wasteland up until the late 20th century.

We made our way down to the Thames path and followed it around to the west, except for a detour inland where the Hilton has managed to block access to the river edge. We found a rare set of steps down to the river, and as the tide was out we climbed down to the sandy shore. I fossicked around briefly in the hope of finding a Roman artefact, but the best I could manage was a rusty headlight that might have come from a 1950’s Morris Minor.

Our plan was to walk through the Rotherhith Tunnel under the Thames. There used to be a spiral staircase on each bank, but the vehicle traffic made walking unpopular so they have been closed off. The footpath is still there for stubborn people like us, so we found the vehicle entrance and set off. We had to breath a lot more carbon monoxide than I would have liked, so I wouldn’t recommend this walk unless you are really keen on tunnels. We stopped in the middle to contemplate how long it would take to run more than 800 yards if it sprung a leak.

We were feeling rather dizzy by the time we completed the 1.5 km walk, so the fresh air was very welcome. We watched a yacht passing through the mechanised lock leading to Limehouse Basin, then walked around the edge admiring the numerous boats before catching the docklands light railway home.

2 thoughts on “Surrey Docklands and Rotherhith Tunnel”

  1. g’day you kiwis in the far away country ,
    gee I am enjoying your travels and keyboard efforts . tis a bit like travelling but with out all the hassles .
    id rather use old fashioned pen and paper , seldom get writers block , but oh how hard it is to get
    get started . and then ive got to stick a stamp on it and get it to a pre-ordained pick up point .

    do have all the fun youse fellas can , jayemm .

  2. Hi John,
    I’m delighted to see you’re having such a good time exploring parts of my old country.
    Your posts are interesting as they teach me a lot about England, it’s culture architecture and topography. Keep them coming and enjoy the rest of your stay.
    To see some of what I’ve been up to of late click the link below.

    https://www.facebook.com/DarkStarDisco

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *