Wednesday August 19, 2026.
Cloudy start, turning sunny 25°C (77°F)
Thames Path (south side)
Uncle Martin picked Keilyn and I up, just after 09:20, and drove us to Croxley station. After parking the car we headed into the station and made our way to the southbound platform, from where we caught a Metropolitan line train to Harrow-on-the-Hill. Here we changed to an Aldgate-bound train that whisked us off to Finchley Road, where we boarded a West Ham-bound Jubilee line train to Canada Water.
Martin and I had visited this part of London back in July, when we had walked around the world, by walking through the old Surrey Commercial Docks. Today, we would be heading south along the River Thames, through Deptford towards Greenwich and onward from there.
We began by buying hot drinks from a coffee van in Deal Porter Square, before heading around Canada Water, via Maritime Street, to Surrey Quays Road. This brought us to Redriff Road and the Greenland Dock Bascule Bridge, from where our exploration would begin.
Walking along the western edge of Greenland Dock we spotted a heron, swans, a cormorant, moorhens, coots, and more that were not concerned with the children practising their sailing skills in yachts and boats of varying size close by. We followed the path and continued along the docks southern edge, heading towards the South Dock Marina. This is London's largest working marina.
After looking at some of the boats we spotted a wire-mesh fish sculpture. This serves as a dedicated environmental art bin and has been deployed to encourage boat owners, residents, and visitors along the Thames path to responsibly recycle single-use plastic bottles, keeping the local waterways clear of litter. We then crossed the lock gates and joined the Thames Path, leaving Rotherhithe, to begin our journey through this historic part of Deptford.
As we passed the boatyard, with its various businesses ensuring that those using the marina, along with other customers, had access to boat repairs, we noticed a stone marker. This informed us that we were moving from St Mary's parish, Rotherhithe, into St Paul's parish, Deptford. This was also, up until 1899, the Surrey-Kent boundary.
