Walking with Keilyn: Westminster Bridge to Battersea Park... and beyond

Keilyn with the heart for our friend and colleague Khalid Jamil.

Sunday July 30, 2023.

Keilyn loves walking through and around London, almost as much as I do, so we decided to walk through a different part of the city, on this visit.

On our way to London for another epic walk.

The day began with our usual walk to the Watford underground station, changing at Finchley Road and then exiting at Westminster.

Our starting point.

We began by crossing Westminster bridge, with its tourists from a myriad countries, before descending the stone steps to the Albert Embankment. and the National Covid Memorial Wall and looked across at the Palace of Westminster.

We decided to follow the Albert Embankment, which stretches for a mile from Westminster Bridge to Vauxhall Bridge, passing St Thomas' Hospital and Lambeth Palace before grabbing a coffee and a hot chocolate from a street vendor near Lambeth Bridge.

Lambeth Fire Station.

We then continued along the Albert Embankment, passing the Lambeth Fire Station, until we were near Vauxhall Bridge, where we had to make a slight detour due to the still ongoing construction of the Thames Tideway Tunnel. This did, however, give us a chance to see the main entrance to the SIS (MI6) building, which is a side of the building that I had not really seen.

Keilyn with some riverside chairs.

Soon we were back walking along the Riverside Walk, where Keilyn found some wooden chairs that spun round. A few steps further and we could see the Embassy of the United States of America, which is the largest American Embassy in Western Europe, and looks like a glass cube with small 'sails' covering three sides. 

Embassy of the United States of America.

We continued along Riverside Walk before having to make another short detour before finding ourselves in the Tideway Village, with its converted trawlers and house boats. 

'St Michael' is a converted trawler that you can stay on.

One final detour and we arrived at Battersea Power Station, which we entered so that Keilyn could get a sense of the scale of the building. With her suitably awestruck and with us both having made use of the facilities, we headed out of the south entrance and continued our walk.

Battersea Power Station interior.

We passed beneath a railway bridge, passed by Battersea Dogs and Cats home before stopping at a Tesco Express for some extra provisions, before passing beneath another railway bridge and heading into Battersea Park.

It was still quite warm, although the clouds were threatening rain, as we sat in the Rosery Gardens and ate our lunch, while joggers and dog walkers busied there way through the gardens.

The Rosery Gardens.

Suitably rested we headed ever westward along the south of the Boating Lake, before turning north and entered the Sub-Tropical Garden, with its ferns and palms. These were interspersed with colourful bedding plants.

The Sub-Tropical Garden.

The Sub-Tropical Garden.

We then continued along the tree-lined path, passing the Bowling Green Pavilion, the Bandstand, the Tea Terrace and formal gardens, until we reached the London Peace Pagoda, where stopped for another short break alongside the River Thames. 

The London Peace Pagoda.

Next to us, in the small car park, the UK Bungee Club were using a crane with a basket attached to jump from. Their screams echoed as they plummeted earthward.

A few spots of rain began to fall as Keilyn and I made our way to Battersea Park Children's Zoo, which neither of us had visited before.

After paying the entrance fee we spent the next few hours looking at the various small animals, birds and reptiles. For a small zoo there was much to see: otters, coati, tamarin, rats, guinea pigs, pigs, rabbits, lemur, armadillo, polecats, goats, capuchin, mice, ponies, Wallaby, snakes, meerkats and much more.

After seeing everything we could, in the zoo, Keilyn went to explore a full-size helicopter, fire engine and tractor that were in various play areas around the site.

Keilyn on a red tractor.

Keilyn takes control of a fire engine.

Keilyn is ready to board the helicopter.

Leaving the zoo we made our way to Chelsea Bridge, with Keilyn deciding, as we crossed, which route we would be taking. Her options were to head through Belgravia to Hyde Park and on to Baker Street, head through Victoria to Buckingham Palace and on to Green Park or follow the River Thames back towards Westminster and then on to Green Park. It was the latter that she chose as we reached Grosvenor Road.

So, with the clouds growing darker, we set off along the north bank. 

Walking along the north bank afforded us some great views of Battersea Power Station and the new high-rise buildings of Nine Elms and Vauxhall. 

Looking across to the Embassy of the United States of America.

We also discovered where the River Tyburn flows into the River Thames.

The route of the River Tyburn.

Approaching Riverside Walk Gardens we had a great opportunity to photograph the SIS building, which I think is an architectural marvel, along with the monumental artwork 'Khadine' by Bruno Catalano.

'Khadine' by Bruno Catalano.

We then passed by Tate Britain and Millbank Tower which brought us to Thames House, home of MI5. We then dropped down to Horseferry Playground, so that Keilyn could have a run around before the rain set in. Which it did moments later. Thankfully it was only a light drizzle.

Tate Britain: Free For All.

We then continued along Abingdon Street passing between Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster, before heading around Parliament Square and on to Little Sanctuary, where we spotted the last surviving gateway from Tothill Fields Bridewell.

A 17th century prison gateway.

Moving along Great George Street we made our way towards St James's Park, when sirens began wailing as a Fire engine made its way to Horse Guards Road. As we rounded the corner we could hear evacuation notices coming from within HM Treasury and crowds of people were being ushered to the St James's Park side of the road. A fire alarm had been triggered in the Churchill War Rooms, resulting in its evacuation.

Evacuation. 

Making our way through the crowds we joined a queue at an ice cream van, only to find out that he had run out of ice cream, so we headed off, passing the Horse Guards Parade ground, in search of a different ice cream vendor. Luckily, this one had what Keilyn wanted... a white chocolate Magnum.

We walked down The Mall, towards Buckingham Palace, with Keilyn's face smeared with white chocolate around her mouth and on her nose, I was glad that I had picked up some extra napkins earlier in the day.

From here it was a simple walk up through Green Park to the station, just as the rain started to really come down. Two stops later we were at Baker Street with our train departing two minutes after our arrival. Perfect. 

The ride back to Watford seemed quicker than usual as we looked at each others photos taken of the day. Keilyn decided that we should walk home from the station, as this would add at least another mile to our total for the day.

Distance travelled:

• Car - 0.0 miles
• Taxi - 0.0 miles
• Train - 0.0 miles
• Underground - 37 miles
• Walking - 11 miles