Thames Path: Chelsea to the Tower of London

Last Friday M had planned a trip to London to meet up with friends which fell through at the last minute, so we decided to do another stretch of the Thames. This leg was through Central London, and rather to our surprise we found it less enjoyable than the previous walks. We decided this was because the earlier sections had been through places that were new to us (or at least long forgotten), so it felt more of a journey of discovery, finding unexpected delights along the way. This central section was through areas we already knew well so didn't have the same joy of the unexpected. Lots of iconic London sights, but for us familiar ones. 

We started off at Albert Bridge and found the first section through Pimlico rather dull. Once we reached the Tate Britain art gallery it started to get more interesting. Tate Britain was the original Tate Gallery, which now has offshoots in different locations - St Ives in Cornwall, Liverpool, and the Tate Modern in a converted power station on the South Bank opposite the City of London. 

Next up was Victoria Tower Gardens in Westminster, just to the south of the Houses of Parliament. This rather splendid Gothic water fountain was built as a memorial following the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1834, and to commemorate the role of the Members of Parliament who worked to bring it about. Victoria Tower Gardens also gave us the best view of the Palace of Westminster - not hard as this iss the only side which is not currently covered in scaffolding! This tower is the Victoria Tower, which houses the Parliamentary Archive. When I was an archive student a tour of the archive was organised for us, but disappointingly I wasn't well and had to miss it. 

We walked past Westminster Abbey, round Parliament Square and up towards Horseguards as Google Maps told us there was a cafe and we wanted lunch. The lunch jinx struck again as we found the cafe was closed and undergoing building work. Plan B turned out to be Greggs as Westminster tube station - vegan "steak" bake for me and non-vegan steak bake for M. At least the failed lunch attempt gave us this view of the north door of the Abbey. M, who is far better at recognising faces than I am, also spotted the Education Minister, Gavin Williamson, walking past us. 

We sat and ate our lunch on the Embankment looking across to the London Eye. At this time of year this part of London would normally be packed with tourists and the emptiness was very noticeable; the number of former commuters who are still working wholly or partly at home also contributed to the quietness.. In one way it was good to be able to avoid the crowds, but also dispiriting to think of the difficulties suffered by all the people who rely on the tourist trade and commuters for their income. 

One new discovery was that the boundary of the City of London is marked by two of these silver dragons, one on either side of the road. 

At Blackfriars we were diverted away from the river for a short section, so decided to go in search of tea or coffee and cake and after M decided that the first couple of coffee shops we found did not have any cakes he liked we ended up in Starbucks. A bit further along we caught a glimpse of St Pauls peeking out from behind the Millennium foot bridge. 

As we walked along the southern edge of the City we had good views across to landmarks on the Southbank - the National Theatre, the Globe, Tate Modern and the Shard. 

Another discovery was Walbrook Wharf, a working freight wharf in the heart of the City. When we reached it a container was being moved onto a barge so the footpath was temporarily closed and we were able to watch the crane in operation. When we were able to walk across and get a closer view we guessed (rightly) that the containers were being used to shift refuse out of the City. 

We ended our walk at the Tower of London. The last time we were here was in 2018 to see the extraordinary art installation set up to commemorate the end of the 1st World War - a ceramic poppy was made for each British serviceman killed in the war, with some spilling over the walls of the Tower like blood and the rest planted in the moat. After the display was removed the 888,246 individual poppies were sold to the public - demand was so high they could have been sold several times over. 

This section was 6.5 miles long, but with detours and the walk to and from the local station we ended up walking 10 miles in total. Only one London section left to go now, from Tower Bridge through Docklands to the Greenwich foot tunnel.