Fiona MacLeod on walking the river as a way of seeing the city that no bus tour can replicate
By Fiona MacLeod
The Thames Path is a National Trail that follows the River Thames for 184 miles from its source in the Cotswolds to the Thames Estuary in Essex, passing through central London in a continuous riverside walkway that connects Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge on the South Bank and provides equivalent access on the North Bank through Embankment, Blackfriars, and Bankside. The section through central London is free, accessible, and provides a view of the city that no bus tour, boat tour, or tube journey replicates, because it is at human pace, at water level, and moves through the city’s history from one century to the next as you walk.
I recommend the South Bank walk from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge as the single best introduction to London for a visitor who has a few hours and comfortable shoes. It takes approximately ninety minutes at a leisurely pace, covers approximately three miles, and passes: the London Eye, the South Bank arts complex (Tate Modern, the Globe Theatre, the Southbank Centre), Borough Market, the medieval remains visible at low tide near Bankside, and arrives at Tower Bridge with the Tower of London on the opposite bank. No single journey covers more ground in London’s history or presents it more legibly.
What You See That You Cannot See Otherwise
The Thames at low tide reveals a foreshore that Mudlarkers — people who legally search the riverbank for historical objects — find every day. Roman pottery, clay pipes, Tudor coins, Victorian ceramics: the river deposits history on its banks that centuries of tide have not completely buried. You do not need to be a Mudlarker to appreciate the foreshore; you need only to time your walk to low tide, look over the barrier at the appropriate points, and understand that the city’s entire history is literally underfoot.
The bridges themselves are worth attention: Waterloo Bridge, built between 1939 and 1945 largely by women workers while men were at war, provides the best view of the river from any bridge in London. Blackfriars Railway Bridge, adjacent to the road bridge, carries solar panels on its roof and opened in 2012 as the world’s largest solar bridge. The Thames Path National Trail guide covers the full route. The Visit London South Bank guide covers the attractions along it. Fiona MacLeod writes about London travel at prat.uk.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com
