Total Distance: 5.5 Miles
I initially wanted to create a walk from the O2 on Greenwich Peninsular to Tower Bridge but it proved to be too long when I included some fantastic pubs. So, this walk is from the O2 to Greenwich taking in some brilliant views of London along the way.
You can download this walk from bartrek here: https://www.bar-trek.com/crawl/707
We start at the O2, built for the millennium and now hosts an outlet centre, concert venue and much more. At the bus terminus, head to the small roundabout on your right and walk down Waterview Drive towards the Thames. Ahead of you, you will see on your left what looks like an electricity pylon that has fallen over.
This is a sculpture by Alex Chinneck called ‘A Bullet from a Shooting Star’ and was part of the 2015 London Design Festival. There is a small notice board here which describes it in more detail.
Ahead of you is Blackwall Point Draw Dock and below you are the two road traffic tunnels for the Blackwall Tunnel. It was used by barges to land and off/load their goods when the tide went out. Built by the Gas Company in the 1880s, it now provides stunning views of Canary Wharf and is often used as a filming location. From this point turn left and following the Olympian Way, a riverside footpath which was originally called ‘The Thames Path’ but got renamed back in 2012.
Following this path pass a Driving Range and lots of industrial units from cement works to a bus garage. Just keep walking and looking at the view back to London because we will soon arrive at our first pub.
1. Enderby House
23 Telegraph Ave, London SE10 0TH
This pub is new to the area and opened in 2021 by Young’s which saved the building from being knocked down. The Grade II listed building dates from the mid-19th century and was originally owned by the firm of Samuel Enderby, once Britain’s largest whaling company and pioneers of Arctic exploration. Following the demise of the whaling industry the building was acquired by Glass Elliott & Company who manufactured part of the first transatlantic telegraph cable.
It actually serves a good pint of Original (I still call it Ordinary).
We leave here and head away from the Thames and down Telegraph Avenue and Telcon Way. Turn right at the end onto Blackwall Lane and walk pass the now closed Meantime Brewery site. Cross over the road and walk down the next left, Tunnel Avenue. Continue walking turning right into Fingal Street, follow this right to the end and turn left on the A206 to our next pub.
2. The River Ale House
131 Woolwich Rd, London SE10 0RJ
Opened in 2017 in a former lingerie and hosiery business. It is quite large as micro pubs go with two rooms; both are bare board floored. There is an extensive range of both cask ales and ciders served on gravity dispense from a temperature-controlled room behind the bar counter. They are listed on blackboards above the bar counter (cask ales) and to the right of it (ciders) and in addition a daily detailed cask ale tasting notes list is readily available, placed on every table. It has won many CAMRA awards over the past 7 years which are proudly displayed.
Now backtrack a little way to Chevening Road along the A206 Woolwich Road. Turn left into this road and just before it swings left, there is the entrance to East Greenwich Pleasaunce, a wonderful park with an historic naval cemetery. The park, opened in 1857, was originally the graveyard of Greenwich Hospital.
Due to construction of a railway tunnel as part of the London and Greenwich Railway, the remains of around 3000 sailors and officers, including those who fought in the Battle of Trafalgar and the Crimean War were removed from the hospital site in 1875 and re-interred in the Pleasaunce (named after the former Royal Palace of Placentia or Palace of Pleasaunce).In 1926 the Pleasaunce was sold to the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich, the Admiralty reserving rights of further burials.
Our exit is top left from our entrance, so head diagonally across the park making time to visit the cemetery. If you got the right exit you should be on Pleasaunce Mansions or Halstow Road depending on what map you look at. Anyway, turn right walking across the railway bridge over the Greenwich Line. It was built between 1836 and 1838 and was the first steam railway in the capital, the first to be built specifically for passengers, and the first entirely elevated railway.
It would run from close to London Bridge, convenient for journeys to the City. The construction would be some 4 miles (6.0 km) long, on a viaduct of 878 brick arches, some of them skew to avoid level crossings over the many streets which were already appearing in the south of London. This was the first railway line in London and was electrified with the other SE&CR local routes to Dartford on 6 June 1926 by Southern Railway.
At the end of Halstow Road, turn left on Humber Road then right up Mycenae Road turning left into Kirkside Road. Here we pass St. George’s Church, consecrated in 1892. Due to shortage of funds, the church was built in two halves, the first up to the 4th arch of the nave and completed when money became available. The Silvertown explosion in 1917 shook the church severely and it is recorded that the north arcade and east wall were affected. One pillar was broken and a wall stripped of plaster. During the Second World War the roof was lifted and returned four inches out of place. This was put right when war damage repairs were carried out in 1947-50.
At the end and the mini-roundabout, turn right up Westcombe Hill to the Royal Standard roundabout and our next pub.
3. The Green Goddess
43a Vanbrugh Park, London SE3 7AA
This was a former Barclays Bank but it closed in 2021 and then reopened in 2022 as a microbrewery and taproom. The microbrewery is being planned but no firm date for its commissioning has yet been announced. It has 2 hand pumps and with 20 wall keg taps on a white tiled bar back. The large TV screen displays today’s cask ales and keg beers and cider offerings.
When you leave the pub, turn to your right and walk down Vanbrugh Park past Blackheath High School keeping to the right hand side of the road. It soon splits but keep right with park of Blackheath common on your left. This part of the common as locally known at ‘The Dips’ and was a former gravel workings site. This area of the common is named after Sir John Vanbrugh, architect of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard, who had a house with very large grounds adjoining the heath and its continuation Greenwich Park. The house which was originally built around 1720 remains, remodelled slightly, Vanbrugh Castle.
There is an unsubstantiated rumour that Blackheath common was named after the Black Death plague but there is no evidence to support it. There is a lot of history associated with the common and you can read more here – Blackheath Common History. Enter Greenwich Park at Vanbrugh gate where a new cafe has opened. Grab a cake and a coffee here if you so wish.
Follow the path alongside the park wall (on your right) down the hill and exit at Maze Gate. Walk across the road into Westcombe Park Road turning left down Ulundi Road. At its end, turn left on Vanbrugh Hill and back across the railway line. Just as you cross the railway line, turn left into Woodlands Park Road and our next pub.
4. The Duke of Greenwich
91 Colomb St, London SE10 9EZ
This pub used to be called ‘The Vanbrugh’ but it shut in 2022 when the licensee of 18 years retired, the pub reopened in mid-July 2023 with a new name and management, now a sister pub to the Jolly Gardeners in Kennington. The 3 handpumps and 10 keg taps offer regularly changing beers focusing on south London breweries. The keg taps dispense a mixture of keg and membrane keg beers, some of the latter meeting CAMRA’s definition of real ale.
However, check opening and closing time before you arrive to ensure they are open as it can be rather fickle. Now turn right down Colomb Street and back across the Woolwich Road. Turn left into Pelton Road and keep walking to our next pub.
5. The Pelton Arms
The Pelton Arms, 23-25 Pelton Rd, London SE10 9PQ
This pub looks fabulous from the outside and was built in 1844, named after the Pelton colliery, Chester-le-Street, near Durham, hence the pub sign design. It has 10 hand pumps and was local CAMRA branch Pub of the Year 2016. It’s the sister pub to the Shortlands Tavern in Bromley.
Head straight across the road and walk down Banning Street to the end. In front of you is a building with four chimneys. This is Greenwich Power Station, a standby gas and formerly oil and coal-fired power station by the River Thames at Greenwich in south-east London. Originally constructed to supply power for London’s tram system, since 1988 it has been London Underground’s central emergency power supply, providing power if there is partial or total loss of National Grid supplies.
At the end of Banning Street, turn left down Lassell Street and at the crossroads, turn right down Old Woolwich Road crossing over Hoskins Street to our next pub on Greenwich Park Street.