Walking with Keilyn: Victoria to Chelsea... and beyond

Tuesday February 17, 2026: Sunny with winds at 2 mph, 7°C (44.6°F)

Another day and another trip to London with Keilyn. This time Keilyn wanted our trip and what we would visit to be a surprise, so I planned a route in secrecy,

A taxi dropped Emma, Keilyn and myself at Watford Metropolitan station, while Erin remained at home as she was going out with her friends, later in the day. Emma, meanwhile, was off to see her parents in Chesham, so left the train at Moor Park, leaving Keilyn and I travelling onward.

We boarded a Jubilee line train, at Finchley Road, and took it to Green Park, where we changed to a Victoria line train to Victoria.

On exiting the station we headed southwest, along Buckingham Palace Road, passing Victoria coach station, the National Audit Office and the offices of the British Transport Police, before turning up Pimlico Road. 

A beautiful drinking fountain, a sculpture of St George and the Dragon and a wonderful statue of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were spotted as we made our way ever westward. 

Pimlico Road brought us onto Royal Hospital Road, with the Margaret Thatcher Infirmary and Cemetery to our left, followed by the Royal Hospital Chelsea. As Keilyn is now a fully fledged Army cadet I had decided that I would take her to the building next to the Royal Hospital... The National Army Museum.

After the obligatory photo with the Challenger 2 tank, which stands outside of the museum, we headed inside to begin our exploration. 

We began by visiting the 'Foundation' gallery, where we discovered the origins of the Army and how it has evolved over the last 350 years. We then moved onto the 'Soldier' gallery where we learnt what it is like to serve as a soldier, from signing up to coming home. An interactive display allowed Keilyn to strip and reassemble a SA80 (L85A3) rifle. 

Next we entered the 'Global Role' gallery, where we followed the deployment of the British Army around the world since the age of Empire. The 'Conflict in Europe' gallery, was next, where we examined the Army's role in maintaining the balance of power in Europe. 'Army at Home' was the final gallery to visit, where we explored the Army's home service from the 1600s to the present day.

We then visited the 'Myth and Reality: Military Art in the Age of Queen Victoria' exhibition. This exhibition showed rarely seen artworks that explored the changing attitudes towards soldiers and the Army during Queen Victoria's reign of 1837-1901.

The amount of uniforms, medals, weapons, historical artefacts and more, on display, is truly impressive. The various volunteers and staff are knowledgeable, friendly and easily approachable, answering any questions.

Suitably informed and filled with new knowledge we left the museum and turned south along Tite Street, heading towards the River Thames and a place to eat our packed lunches. Keilyn spotted a bench, but I suggested a different place along the Embankment. The newly opened Chelsea Quay. After grabbing a seat on the deserted open space we ate our lunch, while taking in the view along the River Thames and across at Battersea Park. We then explored the various parts of this new open space.

With energy levels up again we continued along Chelsea Embankment, following the meandering river, stopping to take some photos of the trains at the London Victoria Depot and Battersea Power Station, across the river. Grosvenor Road brought us to Pimlico Gardens, where we stopped to refill Keilyn's water bottle and checked out the Memorial to William Huskisson. 

We then joined the Thames Path, which we followed to Vauxhall Bridge, which we crossed so that we could visit two more of the newly opened public realms above the Thames Tideway Tunnel. The first of which, Isle of Effra, is situated directly outside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) building. This is the simplest of the new realms, being circular in design with four curved benches set in a circle at the centre.

The River Thames was at full tide, almost covering the lion heads that adorn the Embankment walls, while spraying water up the side of the Isle of Effra. A plaque on the floor is written backwards, apart from the artist's name and date, and is a note to passers-by. This was quite interesting as we struggled to read it, before we noticed another plaque, affixed to the wall, which was the mirror image.

We then made our way to Effra Quay. Now, this public open space has wooden benches and public art in the shape of toilets. Unique, quirky and probably not for everyone. Of course I had to take a photo of Keilyn sitting on the loo, with the SIS building behind her.

We then continued our walk along the Albert Embankment and passed Lambeth Bridge, the Garden Museum and the Monument to the Special Operations Executive Agents. before stopping for a hot chocolate and a coffee at '2 Love Tea and Coffee House'.

A Peregrine Falcon on the Palace of Westminster © Keilyn J. A. Morrissey. 

With hot drinks in hand we continued along the Embankment, beside the National Covid Memorial Wall, stopping to take some photos of the Palace of Westminster. This was by far the busiest area of London that we had seen, with the rest of our walk being unhindered by pedestrians, with the exception of the occasional jogger. Keilyn managed to get a slightly blurry photo of a Peregrine Falcon, roosting in one of the ventilation towers, which we were both happy to see.

We then climbed the steps to Westminster Bridge and headed towards Parliament Square, getting caught in the throng of visitors all trying to take the perfect selfie with the Palace of Westminster. We then crossed onto Great George Street and turned up Horse Guards Road, where we stopped to watch four, of the six, Eastern White Pelicans who were happily standing on the grass bank. Above us a Chinook helicopter whirred its way through the sky above Whitehall.

We then continued along Horse Guards Road to The Mall, stopping to take some photos of the Royal Artillery Memorial, which is Keilyn's attachment, before continuing on to Marlborough Road, where we stopped to watch the guard changing in the Friary Court of St James's Palace. Once the guards had marched inside the building we made our way to Pall Mall and Cleveland Row, passing Stable Yard, and on into Green Park.

We entered Green Park station, passed through the ticket barriers and descended the escalator to the Jubilee platforms, where we caught a train for the two stops to Baker Street. Escalators and then stairs brought us up to Platform 1, where a Watford-bound train was almost ready to depart. So, we climbed aboard, grabbed a seat and relaxed during the ride home.

Arriving at Watford we made the short walk home, before finally sitting down and relaxing.

It was yet another great day out, exploring old and new places.

Distance travelled:

• Bus - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Cable Car - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Car - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• DLR - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Ferry - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Overground - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• River Boat - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Taxi - 1 mile (1.6 kms)
• Train - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Tram - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Underground - 36.4 miles (58.6 kms)
• Walking - 6.7 miles (10.8 kms)