Sunday, January 26, 2025

Walking with family and friends: Aldgate to Canary Wharf... and beyond

Trinity Buoy Wharf

Saturday January 25, 2025.

Another Saturday and another trip to London was in order.

Up. Dressed. Keilyn and I take an Uber to the station. Meet Steve. Underground to Finchley Road. Underground to Aldgate.

Reaching the end of the line, Steve, Keilyn and I left Aldgate station and immediately grabbed a hot drink from the coffee shop outside the station. Then, with drinks in hand, we set off... heading east.

Heading along Aldgate High Street we crossed St Botolph Street and continued along Whitechapel High Street and onto Whitechapel Road, soon coming to Whitechapel Market, with its hustle and bustle and aromatic smells.

Whitechapel Bell Foundry

We passed the old Whitechapel Dell Foundry, the Royal London Hospital and the Blind Beggar pub, briefly toying with the idea of heading south, through Shadwell to the River Thames, but instead continued east along Mile End Road.

Trinity Green Almshouses

Statues, sculptures and fascinating architecture lined our route with Trinity Green and its Almshouses being a highlight, with stone ships mounted atop the ends of the Almshouses.

We continued our walk, passing Stepney Green station and the huge campus that is Queen Mary University of London, until we reached The Regent's Canal.

Regent's Canal looking toward Canary Wharf

Realising that we would soon end up on Stratford or Ilford, if Keilyn had her way, we decided to join the towpath and follow the canal to the River Thames.

Swans, coots, moorhens, ducks and geese were happily gliding along the still water surface, while Herons stood on the bank, or stood motionless in Mile End Park, oblivious to the joggers and families using the space.

Limehouse Basin

We passed the Ragged School Museum, with its cafe full of patrons, and continued alongside the canal until we reached Limehouse Basin, with its myriad barges, boats and yachts.

Limehouse Hole Stairs

From here it was a short walk through Ropemakers Fields to Narrow Street, using the bridge to cross Limekiln Dock, to reach Limehouse Hole Stairs. As the tide was out we dropped down onto the small beach and enjoyed the unseasonably warm heat of the sun.

Speaking of the River Bench

As we climbed back up to street level I could just make out a conversation between a young woman and a much older man, but there was no one around that matched the sounds. Joggers were plugged into their devices, while families were pointing out the sights. As I stood and listened I realised that the voices were coming from a silver bench. Sitting down I realised that it was a recorded interview about life on the docks, being played through speakers at either end of the bench. It is such a clever idea.

One Park Drive

We continued along Loverose Way before crossing onto Heron Quays Road, making our way around Middle Dock, heading for the Henry Addington pub, where we would have dinner.

Keilyn with a Double Chocolate Brownie

Steve tucked into Rabbit Pie (Pulled rabbit in a creamy mushroom & leek sauce, topped with buttery mash. With long-stem broccoli and thyme roasted carrots). while Keilyn and I had Sausage & Mash (British pork sausages on buttery mash, rich caramelised onion gravy & crispy onions. with buttered mash). Keilyn opted to have no gravy. This was followed by Keilyn having Double Chocolate Brownie with Bourbon Vanilla Ice Cream, while Steve and I had the Sticky Toffee Pudding with Bourbon Vanilla Ice Cream. Wonderful.

Canary Wharf

Suitably stocked up with energy we left the pub and continued our walk... ever eastward, passing through Jubilee Park and Montgomery Square, along Brannan Street and Lovegrove Walk until we reached Preston's Road, admiring the myriad styles of the buildings along the way.

Following Preston's Road brought us to Blackwall Way, where Keilyn popped into a shop for a drink and some sweets, before we joined the Lower Lea Crossing and made our way along Orchard Place to Trinity Buoy Wharf

Bow Creek Lighthouse

Despite being a shipbuilding site, maintenance yard, whale oil extraction point, iron works and much more, since the 1800s, it is more famous for being home to London's only lighthouse... the Bow Creek Lighthouse.

Nowadays, with all the businesses gone, Trinity Buoy Wharf is an arts and cultural centre, with studio spaces, a sculpture park, art gallery, exhibition spaces, art installations, home to architecturally important buildings and a few historic naval vessels.

Trinity Buoy Wharf

A black cab atop a cafe, with the lightship LV95 behind it, is the first thing you see, as you enter Trinity Buoy Wharf proper. Then you begin to notice the various sculptures, some of which move. The old Buoy Store is now an event space, which is currently showing the 7th Ruskin Prize Exhibition (January 16 - February 2), which was great to view. 

The lighthouse is now home to the 'Longplayer' installation, which is a piece of music that will play for 1,000 years before it repeats. Unfortunately, this was closing when we arrived, so we will have to visit the 'Longplayer' another time.

Michael Faraday's Workshop

Next to the lighthouse a wooden shed was set up as Michael Faraday would have had it, so Keilyn and I explored that, while a recycled sea container had screens inside of it, telling the history, or story, of Trinity Buoy Wharf.

SS Robin

We then looked at the 'Knocker White', a dutch barge, the 'SS Robin', the world's only complete Victorian steamship, and the Lightship LV95, which is now a studio space.

'After the Dance' sculpture

Suitably filled with culture we headed back along Orchard Place and out through City Island, passing the English National Ballet building and a sculpture of a pair of chrome ballet shoes, entitled 'After the Dance'. 

Crossing London City Island Bridge brought us to Canning Town station, from where we caught a train to Baker Street, while Steve alighted at Bermondsey, as he was meeting up with more friends later in the evening.

Sunset over the River Lea

Saying our 'goodbyes', on the train, Keilyn and I arrived at Baker Street and made our way to Platform 1, regardless of where or when our train was leaving from, as coffee was required. Our train was standing at Platform 1 and was due to leave in 6 minutes, so Keilyn disappeared off to get snacks, while I ordered our drinks. With 2 minutes to spare we took our seats and settled down for our journey home.

It was yet another great day out, with great company, seeing and learning new things and visiting different places and I am already looking forward to my next walk.

Distance travelled:

  • Bus - 0.0 miles
  • Cable Car - 0.0 miles
  • Car - 0.0 miles
  • DLR - 0.0 miles
  • Ferry - 0.0 miles
  • Overground - 0.0 miles
  • River Boat - 0.0 miles
  • Taxi - 0.8 miles
  • Train - 0.0 miles
  • Underground - 46 miles
  • Walking - 8 miles

2 comments:

  1. Some seriously interesting information in this Blog. I was amazed to find at the end that you'd only walked 8 miles. All that in such a relatively small area - or so it seems.

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    Replies
    1. I think because it was a straight route, pretty much, that we didn't walk as far. I will definitely be visiting Trinity Buoy Wharf, again, as there is so much to see.

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