(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.
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 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
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.