28/09/13 - Celebrity Doodle

Distance - 2.8 Miles
Geocaches - 5
Walk Inspiration - Frommer's 24 Great Walks in London


The morning saw the capital ring completed, so there is time for another walk before my 16:43 train home.

DLR direct from Woolwich to Shadwell.  I have walked here before but I don't remember everybody being covered in Tattoos.

Not just your normal run of the mill tattoos..... the fella coming down the steps in front of me has his entire head inked.  And he is not the only one.  Faces, necks, arms and hands are all covered.  I bet someone here has a matching "W" on each buttock.

I am distinctly unadorned.  Maybe something needs to be done.  How about the geocaching symbol somewhere discreet.  Or Mrs Mappiman for ever in a love heart.

This walk promises a lot of history and I straight into it in Cable Street.  The scene of a famous riot in 1936, as neo nazi black shirts battled with the Jews, Catholics and lefties.  That's a proper riot... not just kicking in the Windows of JD Sports.  The location is celebrated with a fine mural that would not look too out of place on the Falls road.

I predict a Riot

There is a cache at GZ.  I think that I understand the clue but after a good 15 minutes (getting hungry and rained on), I give in.

Very quickly, I am in the grounds of St George in the East church.  Built in 1723 by Hawksmoor and destroyed by some black shirts in flying machines in the 1940s.  It's now a recreational park but it does have a interesting grave stone.

Pirate's Grave

Having been previously mocked for going out of my way to look at a Clown's grave, I can now add the Pirate Alex Wyllie.  From 1741.

Next destination is Tobacco Dock.  This even has some Pirate Ships.  Walking down, I am back with the Tattooed ones.  And then all becomes clear.

Check out the Ink on that

All of these rock and rollers makes getting the cache down by the canal a bit tricky.  But in London, no-one is really watching.

Continue down towards the river.  My guidebook has tales of people buried at cross roads with stakes through their heart and escaped tigers but its lunchtime and a man can only take so much history.

I know where I am off to - The town of Ramsgate - and just as I hit Wapping High Street, I see Father Noel Furlong from Father Ted, out walking his Labradoodle.

Now prefers to be known as Graham Norton

I shout after him that he needs that doodle clipped.  I should know, I have one the same colour.

Pub time.  The Town of Ramsgate.  History oozing out of the walls.  You can nip down Wapping Old Stairs side and at low tide, see Executioner's dock.  Here, they hung the pirates for three tides and then tarred and gibbeted them.

Its low tide, so I can have a mess around on the shore to see if I can get the cache.  But I need to be careful, as my lunch order is coming anytime soon.  Fail on the cache but a great experience.  And if you are ever down there - have a peak around the corner for an unexpected view of the Tower of London.

Proper Olden Days - Steak and Kidney Suet Pudding and a gravy boat

Wapping High Street next.  What a place to kill an afternoon.  First off there is the Captain Kidd pub.  He was one of the more famous Pirates that met his death in the Gibbet.

And is if two great pubs are not enough - we have the Prospect of Whitby - the oldest on the Thames, dating from 1520.  Lets put that into perspective.  Henry the VIII had not started killing his wives yet.

Superb.  Another cache around the corner lead me to the steps and you can get onto the shore again.  Got to be worth it.

A warning to Somalians with AKs

My scheduled walk ends now.  But I might as well grab the remaining caches around.  This is the joy of caching.  First off it reveals Shadwell Basin.  This looks a smashing place to live.  Then Wapping Woods - which in reality is a filled in basin made into a country park.

And finally, a bit of modern history.  A cache details the location where Alf Garnet's house was in "Till death do us part".  It was also the home of the script writer.  All knocked down now, but some evidence remains.

Alf and the Silly Moo's Gaff