20/06/15 - A River Runs Through it (Part 2)

Distance - 13 Miles
Geocaches - 12
Walk Inspiration - Time Out London Walks
Start - Vauxhall
End - Kew Bridge

In March, I completed the first leg of 29 mile walk along the Thames from Hampton Court to the Thames Barrier.  I'm going to break it down into at least 3 legs, but the current thinking is to explore further east than the Thames Barrier.  I am enjoying that much - the history, the interest, the flat walking and the easy navigation.

The fact there are some world class pubs has nothing to do with it.

I know that I am going upstream today.  I want to make purchases from the Fullers Griffin Brewery, which will only weigh me down if I buy them at the beginning.

But where to start?  I have walked the Thames through the centre of London so many times, that I decide to start at Vauxhall.  It's an easy no tube change on the Victoria Line from Euston.

Emerge from the station and take a detour onto the bridge.  It allows me to see James Bond's house and to grab a cache with more than 10 likes.  There is every chance I will have a new geocaching Souvenir on my caching profile as a result.

James Bond's House and the Day's First smiley

Whether to take the north or south bank is answered by the amount of smileys on route, so I head through Nine Elms.  It's a hive of activity, with Battersea Power Station being converted into residential living space and a whole host of identikit glass and steel tower blocks being erected.

I am most jealous.  Who could tire of the views?  One balcony even has a hot tub on it.  I rather fancy myself having a cold beer in a hot tub, watching the river traffic.

Construction Time Again

The path leaves the riverside and goes next to the canine jail that is Battersea Dogs Home.  I have only been past it on the train before and hadn't appreciated the scale of the operation.

Doggersea Bats Home

Skirt the edges of Battersea Park which is being converted into a Formula 4 race track.  Find a rarity in London, a cache big enough for a trackable - which I drop off.

Now I am onto a racetrack of a different sort containing two types of participants.  I'm sharing my route with Lycra clad female joggers or blokes with beards on bikes, with a small child dragged along in a tug along carriage.

Each to their own.  I'm entertaining myself by taking photos of bridges and finding tupperware.

Albert Bridge

Cache GZ opposite Chelsea Power Station

With the caches drying up (and the need to be on the North Bank for the Brewery), I cross over at Wandsworth Bridge.  Incorporating a fine retro bike into the picture is not going to save it from winner of ugliest bridge in London.

Still Grim

I've been looking forward to the next place of interest for a while.  Craven Cottage - home of Fulham. A proper old school football stadium on the banks of the Thames.  Record my first DNF, but I am suspicious.  After being found nearly every day, its gone 3 weeks without a log.  Are people afraid to log DNF's?  Am I a crappy cacher?  All with be revealed after I log my failure and see what this spawns.

Where's Michael Jackson?

The greenery of Hammersmith Bridge is coming up and I know a great place to stop for my first refreshment of the day - The Dove, Hammersmith.

Like the Golden Gate.  But Green.

This watering hole has been here for centuries and the don't let the fact that it's in the Guinness Book of Records as having the smallest bar in a pub put you off.  If you get in at 12:03, you can easily get a seat.

I take my pint of Fuller ESB out the back, up the metal stairs (only spilling a teaspoons worth on the people below) and enjoy my pint in the company of great views and a French Lady called Doris who is buying a flat around the corner.

The Dove from Below

Views I am sharing with Doris

It's a superb pint.  But you would expect this, as we are 20 minutes walk from where it is made - the Griffin Brewery at Chiswick.  And it's got a shop, an experience I can only liken as to when you come off a ride at Alton Towers and are dumped in the gift shop.  Wall to wall tat, but this is beer based tat.

So I buy a T-Shirt.  And a ceremonial ESB Chalice.

I would have bought 24 Bottles of ESB, but I only had my 18 litre rucksack on me.

My Spiritual Home

The Strand on the Green marks the end of the Walk.  Fittingly, there are three pubs within spitting distance of each other.  The Bull's Head is rammed, the City Barge has been previously visited, so I settle on the Bell and Crown to end a great day's walking.

Pub Tastic - Strand on the Green

Bulls Head - Packed

Bell and Crown - More Sedate

Fittingly, my Pint has the River on it.

All that remains is to see how many placard waving anti-austerity protesters will be sharing my train home with me.