Author Archives: rsmalley

The car park is free on Sundays, so that’s when we usually go. You can walk through the park/heritage area, along the river and behind the old warehouses. You can keep walking through the industrial area to meet up the canal. At this point turn left if you want to continue along the Saxon Shore Way. The Canal Tavern, back near the yachting area, has a pool table and allows dogs.

Park the car on the junction of Norfolk Rd, Wharf Rd and Mark Lane and just walk alongside the canal, with the rail tracks on the other side. There is very little traffic. The road turns into a cycle path. It smells sometimes as you pass the sewage works but that doesn’t last long. You can also walk down the road where the paddocks start and before the rifle range. This leads you to the Thames and you can walk for miles along the bank. I really like the industrial feel of this walk even though it leads into the marshes.

A lot was happening here when we first went on New Years Day 2013 – families, dogs, a pony, a kids motorbike, a model air plane and a small pony trap. Although it had been raining it was not too muddy but you’d want the right shoes to walk across the fields. There is a paved path through some areas. In summer dogs can swim south of the bridge and it seems shallow enough for small dogs.