Wet and Windy In Woolwich
We were not as lucky with the weather as the the people who went to Warley Place yesterday – and we certainly couldn't compete with the daffodils – as Fred kept reminding us - but we had a good time despite the weather. However, the rain came and went and the wind varied.
Five of us hardy EFOGers walked from Woolwich to Greenwich on the last Sunday in March, braving the rain and the wind. It's amazing how much this area has changed in just a few hundred years. At the beginning of the 19th century 'free cerls' were raising pigs on what were marshlands; they were considered a 'race apart' from the ordinary people who lived on the other side of the New Woolwich Road in Charlton (new in 1790).
After the 1850s this area developed into a crammed, busy, closely knit, working-class community, fringed by wharfs, barge works, rope-walks – all the paraphernalia and trades associated with riverside life - most of the way to Greenwich.
At the end of the last leg of the Green London Way walk we had began looking at the impact of the army on Woolwich. Today we started at the ruins of the old (once very ornate) garrison church of St. George, bombed in 1944. Unfortunately, we couldn't get inside to see the walled garden hidden there, or the mosaics of St. George slaying the dragon. However this site is set to become into a memorial to Lee Rigby and all the men and women killed in service and to commemorate Woolwich's history as a garrison town.
After crossing the impressive front of the Royal Artillery Barracks we did a detour from the set route, walking through Gun Park and army communal areas to the Rotunda Artillery Museum, built in 1820. It was designed to copy the shape of the canvas bell tent which originally held the exhibition. Most of its exhibits were transferred to the Woolwich Firepower Exhibition in 2001, which some of us visited on the previous walk..
Then it was back 'up the hill' to Maryon-Wilson Park, the former 'Hanging Wood', and Happy Valley. Hard to believe this lovely park was once a place where the highwaymen who plagued Shooters Hill were hanged. Our tender-hearted EFOGers felt sorry for the people setting up Easter stalls near the animal enclosures, in the rain, as we made our way to Gilbert's Pit – to admire the way the former pits and gravel heaps are now being taken over by 'nature'.
The next stretch of the walk has seen the most dramatic changes of any of the walks in this series. In 1594 more than 40,000 people were already employed in this stretch of the Thames. By the 1870s it was not unusual to see 2,000 vessels in the 4 miles between London Bridge and Deptford. By the beginning of the 20th century this part of London had the largest dock complex in the world. Yet, within a few decades after the end of the Second World War it was all over – replaced by acres of dereliction.
Then came an era of massive re-development (still in process). Now office blocks, shopping malls, yachting marinas and miles of fashionable homes for the wealthy rub shoulders with the relatively few surviving industries, buildings and small strands of 'original' housing.
The Thames Barrier (opened in 1984) has to have been one of the most dramatic changes, built after the devastation and loss of life caused by the severe floods in 1953.
We had a welcome 'pit stop' in The View Café catching up with the most recent figures about the ever-more-frequent raising of the barrier. Two thirds of its use has been in the last 10 years – and it is likely to ineffective after 2060......
Afterwards we walked along the Riverside Walk, occasionally battling with the wind and the wet, until we reached the Ecology Park, with its many signs of Spring, despite the weather. A board-walk led us to a very large expanse of mainly ultra-modern high-rise flats, with views of The 02 on one side and the Spring-like Ecology Park on the other.
Fortunately, the rain gave us a break and even the wind seemed calmer, as we crossed the high footbridge in front of the Blackwall Tunnel Southern Approach. Looking at the queues of traffic it was a little hard to imagine that it had originally been designed for the use horse-drawn traffic (hence the gentle inclines) – bet the fumes inside where different then! Trevor pointed out the vent for the tunnel in the 02 canopy.
We rejoined the river on the other side at a point which was once the most polluted section of the Thames, where suicides were more likely to die from poisoning than drowning. In 1957 it was estimated that the 43 miles of the Thames between Kew Bridge and Gravesend were completely devoid of fish, bird or other significant aquatic life.
The recovery of the tidal Thames since then has to be one of the most successful 'success' stories of the river's modern history. This has been brought about by improvements in sewerage and better industrial processes but above all by the DETERMINATION of many, many people to make sure it happened. A determination which needs to be maintained – history has told us it is not irreversible. This has been a continuing theme in these walks – the need to maintain vigilance and a fighting-spirit to defend common rights and freedoms.
The river path took us in a loop to our final destination – we could view its masts well before we neared it. By then the rain had pretty much travelled on but the wind was still as strong and we were walking into it a lot of the time …. invigorating?
More housing estates and development were passed on the way, promising 'outstanding river views', portraying romanticised images of how the buildings would finally look, especially at sunset.
The banks were interspersed with a few remaining examples of 'older history', old wharfs, scattered remnants of rusting 'debris' and left-behind objects. We made our way past the thrusting bleakness of Greenwich Power Station, stark alongside the tranquil beauty of the16th century Trinity Hospital.
Finally we reached Trafalgar Tavern – and a stern faced Nelson. Time for a quick photograph with him before walking to the Cutty Sark via the Old Royal Naval College – and an end-of-walk coffee.
An unpromising day weather-wise turned out much better than might have been expected and as enjoyable as usual, thanks to my brave and determined EFOG pals.
Pam, 1st April 2015