Royal Albert Dock to Hackney Wick

On a sunny Saturday 13th December, five of us met at Whitechapel Station to catch the Elizabeth Line to Custom House, where another member joined us. We then caught the bus to Connaught Bridge alongside Royal Albert Dock and London City Airport.

We then headed past Royal Albert DLR, where we saw half a dozen parakeets clinging to the brickwork of the Victorian Compressor House.

We carried on to follow the Capital Ring up through Beckton District Park, with quite a nice lake, albeit currently fenced off, then a footbridge over the A13 to join the Greenway heading for Stratford.

Along the Greenway was a small Community Orchard, not particularly well kept but there was one pink rose still in bloom in one of the boxed sections. Further on there was also the Pollinator Trail with boards about the bees etc. At a glance it looked as though the two linked up, but it was rather overgrown where the two should have met.

After a diversion off the Greenway due to works near West Ham Station (where one EFOGger took early departure) we went past Abbey Road DLR before rejoining the Greenway to go past the “Cathedral of Sewage” – Abbey Mills Pumping Station. This was one of the few places we saw benches along the Greenway so we stopped for lunch overlooking the grand Victorian edifice, currently undergoing some renovation so surrounded by scaffolding.

We then carried on to the View Tube Café (the main view being the ArcelorMittal Orbit and the Olympic Stadium) for a warming drink and food, with the intention of carrying on to Hackney Wick. However, Marian mentioned there was an issue with the Overground and on googling we realised it affected my planned transport back. We therefore omitted the walk up to the River Lea Navigation and Hackney Wick and instead headed straight into Stratford to catch trains and buses home.

The length of the walk was approximately 6.5 miles. 

Richard