please empty your brain below
Good to see you back down south!

Malcolm of Kent | 20.03.21 - 7:49 a.m. | #

You've saved me a trip. I was going to check out the end of the Greenway today as there was a rumour that the path under the A406 was now open. I was hoping for a short cut to the Barking Creek nature reserve.

Paul Draper | 20.03.21 - 8:31 a.m. | #

Terence Donovan, photographer and Japanophile, made a film, Yellow Dog, in the 70s, partly set in the Savage Gardens area. I’d like to see it again but have so far failed to find a copy.

Keith | 20.03.21 - 8:58 a.m. | #

Generic comment No.5 concluding "..so we don't have to"

Frank F | 20.03.21 - 9:26 a.m. | #

I remember the time when Beckton had palm trees and a vaguely south east Asian air about it. It coincided with when Stanley Kubrick was making 'Full metal jacket' funnily enough. Mid 80's i think.

Milo | 20.03.21 - 10:15 a.m. | #

The Beckton Corridor was identified/reserved in the mid 1970s Doclkands Strategic Plan as the route for the Jubillee Line extension.

Boneyboy | 20.03.21 - 10:50 a.m. | #

At this point, may I congratulate DG on formally joining the ranks of 'The Men Who Like Buses' by having a photo of Bus Stop M included in the latest edition of the London Bus Magazine.

Ned | 20.03.21 - 1:14 p.m. | #

Thanks for the info and links about the Beckton branch. Over 40 miles of track within the gas works! Pretty impressive.

Malcolm of Kent | 20.03.21 - 1:56 p.m. | #

I like secluded footpaths. The more alone I can be in nature, the better.

But not so much now, given recent events.

Cornish Cockney | 20.03.21 - 2:13 p.m. | #

I remember when I walked the length of the Greenway back in August 2019 I had to use that wooded path up to Beckton Triangle as my route back to civilisation (i.e. to catch a bus into Barking). It was interesting to see just how different the last half mile was compared to the rest of it, clearly unloved and distinctly wild.

X-Plaistow | 20.03.21 - 3:51 p.m. | #

This is a half memory I am sure happened. When I was about 5 years old I am sure my mother told me that "this is a Roman road" as we stood on the Greenway near St Andrews on the Barking Rd. I was so excited I insisted that we walk a section.

Are there any prizes for "most deluded event of 1965?"

Simon | Homepage | 20.03.21 - 6:47 p.m. | #

CC, there's a big difference between a secluded path in the countryside and a secluded path in "urban" London.

Mikey C | 20.03.21 - 6:48 p.m. | #

It crossed my mind recently that the spiral path up to the slip road would be a good candidate for your Mild Urbex series! I enjoy walking to the top and looking out over the Bridge to Nowhere and imagining what the area would have been like if that had indeed become a river crossing.

BP | 20.03.21 - 10:34 p.m. | #

Knew the area well in the 1950’s / 60’s when the Gas Works were still going strong.

The Beckton Ski Slope was just a bare slag heap in those days. As you went south down Manor Way from the A13 to the top of the Royal Docks you went under the railway bridge for the Gas Works railway, and in front of you, you could see the funnels of the ships in the docks.

As you got closer to Cyprus Way you went past East Ham Football Club stadium, a typical non league stadium from the 1930’s I think. I had a friend who lived in one of the prefabs that had been built near the Ferndale Pub, close to the eastern gates of the Royal Albert Dock.

Went back there a few years ago and virtually all the places I remembered had gone to be replaced by the features that DG describes.

IanD | 20.03.21 - 11:17 p.m. | #

Shout out to Beckton Parkrun! When it returns .....

H SE18 | 20.03.21 - 11:26 p.m. | #

This is basically "my endz"... The spiral at the end of 'The path that shadows a dual carriageway' isn't the only choice there - the main and most used route branches off and leads to the roundabout and Ferndale St, signed to North Woolwich.

Another nearby route I like to take runs from behind the Showcase cinema at Jenkins Lane as a footpath all the way following the River Roding/Barking Creek to the Environment Agency's Barkin Creek Barrier at the confluence with the Thames, alongside the fence of the Sewerage Works. From the barrier it turns and follows the Thames west alongside the works until a point marked "Two Benches" on Gmaps. The path continues and officially ends at a big fence and gate next to the filtration tanks. The fence is to seal off a strip of brownfield land that hasn't been developed since the gasworks. There is a fairly well trodden route through here for the adventurous who don't mind a bit of mild trespass and a short stretch along the Thames foreshore if it's low/falling tide. There are sets of ladders over the sea wall - I use the one nearest the fence/gate and the next one west to get around the fence. On the for foreshore, stick close to the wall, wear appropriate footwear for mud! Then I follow the sea wall across the derelict site, past the various derelict pier piles until reaching another fence, which helpfully has a big hole in it. Eventually the path leads to another fence at Atlantis Avenue/Armada Point by the radar tower. Again, a way through is already provided and well used. Then one can follow the roads around to make a full loop. It's not as bad as it sounds, if you like this sort of thing!

Rob C | 21.03.21 - 5:39 p.m. | #











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