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The Line Modern Art Walk (Stratford to North Greenwich) walk

A modern and contemporary art walk via foot, light rail and cable car

Easy London Short

History

This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.

Date Option Post # Weather
Thu, 18-May-23 The Line "Modern Art" Walk 8 mild calm
Thu, 22-Dec-22 Evening Walk - The Line Modern Art Walk - largest tide mill in the world and all that (new routing now including City Island), with short options 12 dry
Thu, 30-Sep-21 Evening Walk - More artworks than ever, and a cable car ride in the gloaming: The Line - Stratford to North Greenwich 8 autumnal but dry
Thu, 15-Aug-19 The Slide and the The Line Evening Double Feature 16 pleasant if a bit cold
Thu, 08-Jun-17 Evening Walk - The Line Modern Art Walk: Stratford to North Greenwich [Swimming Walk] 11 overcast with some drizzle
Wed, 17-Aug-16 Evening Walk – Stratford to North Greenwich: The Line - London's first dedicated contemporary art walk 18 balmy
Wed, 29-Jul-15 Evening Walk 15 light cloud
Thu, 18-May-23 : The Line "Modern Art" Walk 8
Mike A
Mike A

Walk the Line

If you've not been tempted away to Bonnie Scotland. here's a Thursday evening stroll to consider.
The Beeb is promising reasonable weather for this event at the time of writing, so there should be good views from the Emirates (now IFS) Cable car (Sunset is just before nine)
Meeting Point: "Robert the tank engine" at 7pm which is just outside Stratford Station. You may find "Robert" at https://what3words.com/supper.monks.hardly.
Details of the artists and exhibits on route can be found at https://the-line.org/artist/anish-kapoor/ and include those by Tracey Emin, Eva Rothschild, Abigail Fallis, Rana Begum, Antony Gormley and many others.
The Walk ends at North Greenwich with its selection of eateries, but you can drop out just after Cody Dock at Star Lane DLR if you wish.
You'll need an Oyster card covering your start zone and including zones 2 and 3, cable car costs are at https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/find-fares/ifs-cloud-cable-car-fares.
You may find details of this walk at L=short.21
Enjoy!
T=short.21
  • 17-May-23

    What time does it start?

  • 17-May-23

    Hi Gavin it's 7pm to clear the rush hour a little and give those working plenty of time to get to Stratford....

    Meeting Point is "Robert the tank engine" at 7pm which is just outside Stratford Station

  • 18-May-23

    Gr8. I hope to be by Robert at 7.

    Im not sure how my head will be for the pod in the air. If Robert can take us across the Thames that might be easier.

  • 19-May-23

    8 walkers on this mild calm evening.

    We didn't see all of the artwork along the way but there's a wide range, from pictures drawn by local children to Anthony Gormley's/Damien Hirst's.

    We were dismayed to find Cody Lock closed when we arrived, our onward path blocked and our only other option being to retrace our steps. Thank you to the member of staff who was still there and listened to our pleas and let us through. Then a scenic ride across the Thames in the cable cars, just as it was getting dark.

    I plan to go back and and have another look (also around Cody Dock when it's open).

  • 12-Oct-23

    8

Thomas G
Length: (up to) 8.3 km walked distance
(plus 2 stops on the DLR and a Thames crossing on the ‘IFS Cloud’-cable car)

[Bailouts possible at Star Lane DLR/Canning Town tube stations (4.9 km walked distance) or North Greenwich tube station (before rounding the O2-Dome: 6.3 km walked distance)]

Meet 18.30 hours prompt outside Stratford Station, next to ‘Robert’ - a heritage locomotive displayed on the station forecourt on the Town Centre side (i.e.: not the Westfield side)!
[see the pdf directions for how to get there from your platform w/o fault]

As Cody Dock will be closed for the evening, we will have to walk the evening diversion (see the route map).

Repeat exploration of The Line – London’s first dedicated modern and contemporary art walk, which is fully waymarked and split into three parts, linked by a short DLR ride and the IFS Cloud cable car across the Thames. It is displaying a changing range of sculptures, all by prominent artists, while including some large artworks already in place. There are currently about twenty of them, although some of those were pre-existing artworks, in situ before The Line was launched.
The route starts in the Olympic Park and initially follows the Bow Back Rivers downstream, passing Three Mills Green & Water Mill (the largest tidal mill in the world) and Film and Television Studios (London's largest) and then follows the River Lea to Cody Dock, a community project on a former Gasworks site. After a short ride on the DLR you reach Royal Victoria Dock and take the cable car across the Thames. En route the DLR journey, a new artwork has been installed on the City Island development, accessible from Canning Town Underground DLR and Station.
The route then finishes with a stretch along the Thames Path rounding the O2-Dome, before turning to North Greenwich Underground Station and the neighbouring wide range of eateries and waterholes on the plaza and inside the Dome itself.
For a sketched map of the artworks en route click here.
The cable car fare is: £5.00 on Oyster Pay As You Go or online, or £6.00 cash.
For a detailed route map, gpx/kml file, photos and pdf directions click here. T=short.21
  • 22-Dec-22

    11 walkers met up at the agreed time and spot, initially in light spittle/drizzle, bumping into a 12 th walker as we left the Olympic Park. That dozen did not though include the person that had explicitly asked about the walk with the tidal mill needing to be posted. Anyway...

    The rest of the walk was done in dry weather.

    Nothing much to report about the route, other than that some of the artworks were difficult to spot in the darkness, and that - with Cody Dock closed for the evening, necessitating a diversion - all in it has quite a bit of industrial estates to walk through.

    At Star Lane DLR, the train was just pulling out as we arrived, so we walked to Canning Town instead, past some rather unglamorous industrial buildings, and then across the bridge to City Island. Interesting for most, I'd think, as they had never been.

    1 or other were dropping out at Canning Town, which left 10 to take the newly renamed IFS Cloud Cable Car (new sponsor = new name), and then on the other side 7 to go for dinner together. The independent outlets had their kitchens closed or closing already (and it wasn't even 21.00 yet), so chains were the only option. Wagamama it was to be, again.

Thomas G
Length: (up to) 7.3 km walked distance
(plus 2 stops on the DLR and a Thames crossing on the 'Emirates Air Line'-cable car)
[Bailouts possible at Star Lane DLR/Canning Town tube stations (4.9 km walked distance) or North Greenwich tube station (before rounding the O2-Dome: 5.3 km walked distance)]
Meet 18.15 hours prompt outside Stratford Station, next to ‘Robert’, a heritage locomotive displayed on the station forecourt on the Town Centre side (i.e.: not the Westfield side)!
[see the pdf directions for how to get there from your platform w/o fault]
Repeat exploration of The Line, a waymarked walk in East London (new as of 2015), which is split into three parts, and now has 20 Artworks displayed, all by prominent artists. The route initially follows the River Lea, passes Three Mills Green, Water Mill (the largest tidal mill in the world) and Film and Television Studios (London's largest) and then – a little further along The Lea – Cody Dock, an interesting community project on a former Gasworks site. After a short ride on the DLR (Star Lane to Custom House) we walk along Royal Victoria Dock and take the ‘Emirates Air Line’ cable car across the Thames (£4.00 on Oyster Pay As You Go, £5.00 cash fare, closes at 22.00 hours this month). The route then finishes with a stretch along the Thames Path rounding the O2-Dome, before turning to North Greenwich Underground Station and the neighbouring wide range of eateries and waterholes.
For a sketched map of the artworks en route click here.
For a detailed route map, gpx/kml file, photos and pdf directions click here. T=short.21
  • 30-Sep-21

    6 at the meeting point at the agreed time (kind of), plus 2 joining along the route straight from work from whatever DLR stop was closest to the route. 8

    Stratford was buzzing with West Ham supporters going to the game, 'buzzing' themselves with the prospect of their first proper European game in eons.

    Sharing the route initially with the people going to the game, we then turned left along the water for a more sedate experience. There are indeed several new art works along The Line, but a handful of them are by one (local) artist alone. The route worked quite well in the dusk I thought, as lots of buildings are lit and the paths are certainly well lit. Until one gets to Cody Dock. Which is shut in darkness.... Blame the walk poster for slack research.

    We had to turn back for 5 minutes and wiggle through an industrial estate to get back on route. No harm done. 1 then departed at Canning Town, the other 7 took the cable car, some of those for the first time ever!

    On account of the extra kilometres walked, we retired immediately to the nearest hospitality establishment for food and drink: the Greenwich Bar & Kitchen.

    autumnal but dry

  • Anonymous
    03-Oct-21

    Any takers for the Wiltshire walk yesterday? Would have gone if it wasn't so wet.

Stargazer
The Line Modern Art Walk (Stratford to Greenwich) with optional warm-up down The Orbit Slide (world's longest tunnel slide) T=Short.21

Meet: 18:45 hours prompt outside Stratford Station, next to ‘Robert’, a heritage locomotive displayed on the station forecourt (on the town side -- not the Westfield side) OR 18:00 hours (even more prompt) outside the ArcelorMittal Orbit Slide in the Olympic Park (for those interested in sliding down this piece of artwork).

Distance: Up to 5 miles or 8.2 km, including a few stops on the DLR and ride over the Emirates Air Line Cable Car.

This walk walks "the Line" -- London's first modern art walk. It seems to have missed an outing last summer and although I do not believe that there are any new pieces of art work this year, it makes for a very pleasant evening walk with lots to enjoy. As an added twist this year for anyone interested, we will have a pre-walk warm-up slide down the Orbit Slide (advancing booking required (18:00-18:15 slot)). The sliders will then either meet the main group at Robert (or, if we are delayed, catch the group along the way with a slightly alternate start from the Orbit).

The walk initially follows the River Lea, takes a DLR journey, a flight on the Air Line and ends along the Thames with about a dozen pieces of art speckled along the way...More information and the instruction for the walk can be found here.

Enjoy the walk (and the slide)!

  • 16-Aug-19

    13 at the alloted time (about a handful of those MeetUp-ies), with 1 other catching up soon. 2 later caught us having slid down The Slide, i.e. 16 in pleasant if a bit cold weather. No new sculptures compared to past years (but plenty of new buildings), although someone reported that The Line's website states there will be new ones later in 2019. 1 bailed out at Star Lane DLR, the rest got to the 'Emirates Airline' in time for a ride in the early dusk (they have now slowed the speed for evening rides, so it's actually pretty good value for the £3,50 on Oyster PAYG), then we rounded the Dome at the Peninsula top to finish at just past 9 o'clock. 9 walkers went for a meal and a drink.

Thomas G
Length: (up to) 8.2 km
(plus 3 stops on the DLR and a Thames crossing on the 'Emirates Air Line'-cable car)
[Bailout possible at Star Lane DLR/Canning Town tube stations (5.2 km walked distance) or North Greenwich tube station (before rounding the O2-Dome: 6.8 km walked distance)]

Meet 18.30 hours prompt outside Stratford Station, next to ‘Robert’, a heritage locomotive displayed on the station forecourt on the Town Centre side (i.e.: not the Westfield side) !
[see the pdf directions for how to get there from your platform w/o fault]

Repeat exploration of The Line, a waymarked walk in East London (new as of 2015), which is split into three parts, and has about a dozen Sculptures displayed, all by prominent artists. The route initially follows the River Lea, passes Three Mills Green, Water Mill (the largest tidal mill in the world) and Film and Television Studios (London's largest) and then – a little further along The Lea – Cody Dock, an interesting community project on a former Gasworks site. After a short ride on the DLR (Star Lane to Custom House) we walk along Royal Victoria Dock and take the ‘Emirates Air Line’ cable car across the Thames (£3.50 on Oyster Pay As You Go, £4.50 cash fare, closes at 22.00 hours this month). The route then finishes with a stretch along the Thames Path rounding the O2-Dome, before turning to North Greenwich Underground Station and the neighbouring wide range of eateries and waterholes.
Swimming Walk !: there is a sandy beach at Royal Victoria Docks (all 50 meters of it) as well as an Open Water Swimming business hiring out wetsuits.

For a sketched map of the artworks en route click here.
For a detailed route map, gpx/kml file, photos and pdf directions click here.
T=short.21
  • 09-Jun-17

    11 walkers in overcast with some drizzle conditions.

    1 bailed out at Canning Town tube, 5 at North Greenwich tube (b4 rounding the Dome), 4 of the remaining 5 had a convivial dinner at a Mexican resto.

    Disappointingly, The Line has not added any new sculptures to the line-up since or last outing(even to the contrary: one has been taken down compared to last year), but this is still an interesting outing, what with seeing lots of building sites signifying the accelerated regeneration of East London along the route, as well as the magnificent cable car run across the Thames.

    Emirates Air Line's 'flight' over the Thames now comes with optional snazzy dining carriages (4 round trips for 4 courses, apparently, 4 diners per car), and most of those were occupied, so they're getting that one right.

    Custom House DLR is shut until end of year for Crossrail works, so we had to improvise a little bit, but with the walk author on board, that was no problem at all.

  • 09-Jun-17

    ...so the dining service on the cable cars was a one-day pop-up, I hear. disappointing

Thomas G
Length: (up to) 8.4 km
(plus 3 stops on the DLR and a Thames crossing on the 'Emirates Air Line'-cable car)
[Bailout possible at Star Lane DLR/Canning Town tube stations (5.2 km walked distance) or North Greenwich tube station (before rounding the O2-Dome: 6.8 km walked distance)]
Meet 19.00 hours prompt outside Stratford Station, next to ‘Robert’, a heritage locomotive displayed on the station forecourt on the Town Centre side (i.e.: not the Westfield side)! [see the pdf directions for how to get there from your platform w/o fault]

Repeat exploration of The Line, a waymarked walk in East London (new as of 2015), which is split into three parts, and has about a dozen Sculptures displayed – 2 of which are new compared to last year - all by prominent artists. The – slightly amended – route initially follows the River Lea, passes Three Mills Green, Water Mill (the largest tidal mill in the world) and Film and Television Studios (London's largest) and then – a little further along The Lea – Cody Dock, an interesting community project on a former Gasworks site. After a short ride on the DLR (Star Lane to Custom House) we walk along Royal Victoria Dock and take the ‘Emirates Air Line’-cable car across the Thames (£3.50 on Oyster Pay As You Go, £4.50 cash fare, closes at 22.00 hours this summer). The route then finishes with a stretch along the Thames Path rounding the O2-Dome, before turning to North Greenwich Underground Station and the neighbouring wide range of eateries and waterholes.

Swimming Walk !: there is a sandy beach at Royal Victoria Docks (all 50 meters of it) as well as an Open Water Swimming business hiring out wetsuits.

For a sketched map of the artworks en route click here.
For a detailed route map, gpx/kml file, photos and directions click here.
T=short.21
  • 18-Aug-16

    18 walkers today in balmy conditions, only a few of them being repeaters from last year. 3 bailed out at the two chances to do so, the rest finshed the newly revised route, with 2 new sculptures compared to last year.

    Probably a bit late in the year for this walk (at least with a 19.00 start), as dusk was already well developed by the time we got onto the cable car, but the O2-dome and Canary Wharf arguably look better in the dark than during the day...

    At the end, drinks for some, a meal at Wagamama for others...

Wed, 29-Jul-15 : Evening Walk 15
DAC
DAC
The Line: London's first dedicated modern and contemporary art walk
Stratford to North Greenwich t=short.21
Length: 7.2 km (plus 2 stops on the DLR and a Thames crossing on the 'Emirates Air Line'-cable car) Meet 19.00 hours prompt outside Stratford Station, at the bottom of the footbridge to the Bus Station. Exploration of this new waymarked walk in East London, which is split into three parts, and by now should have 14 Sculptures displayed, all by prominent artists. The route initially follows the River Lea, passes Three Mills Green & Water Mill (the largest tidal mill in the world) and the Film and Television Studios (London's largest) and then – a little further along The Lea – Cody Dock, an interesting community project on a former Gasworks site. After a short ride on the DLR (Star Lane to Royal Victoria) we walk along Royal Victoria Dock and take the cable car across the Thames (£3.40 on Oyster Pay As You Go, £4.50 cash fare, closes at 21.00 hours). The route then finishes with a stretch along the Thames Path rounding the O2-Dome, before turning to North Greenwich Underground Station and the neighbouring wide range of eateries and waterholes. The Line's website Map of the route Info on Three Mills Green and Mill Info on Cody Dock
  • 23-Jul-15

    Intend going.

  • Carol
    24-Jul-15

    Looking forward to this one, can you confirm that it's Wednesday evening please? not Thursday?

  • 24-Jul-15

    Yes it's Wednesday evening.

  • 26-Jul-15

    This is a little bit off topic, but I thought those of you who like to walk sections of the Thames path to the east of Tower bridge might be interested in the following article:

    http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/feb/24/private-london-exposed-thames-path-riverside-walking-route

    .. and perhaps get involved in some lobbying?

  • Pia
    29-Jul-15

    intend coming

  • Anonymous
    29-Jul-15

    15 light cloud The Walks poster was conspicuous by his absence (some say he was seen having a pint at a Pub in Mile End). Undaunted,the 15 made their way though the bustling thoroughfare at Stratford and headed south west along the high street AKA A118 for about a kilometre before swinging left onto the path by the Three Mills Wall river to view the first piece of art. Onwards to Three Mills to join the River Lea with a brief incursion onto the A12 and then Cody Dock, a great social enterprise and well worth a visit.

    With some concern about the closing time of the Emirates Air Line, the group hastened to the DLR station at Star Lane caught a train to Royal Victoria in plenty of time to catch a "flight" to the 02 at dusk with the impressive London skyline below. A final stroll around the Dome to North Greenwich underground where some folks stopped to eat and others set of home. An interesting and varied walk well worth the effort.

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