Philobiblon

Tempted by a map I found in Stanfords, of the Garden of England Cycle Route , yesterday I set out from my front door in Regent’s Park to tackle the first bit. I was hoping for Rochester, about 50 miles, but didn’t get quite that far, due to a combination of late starting, slow going (cobblestones and blind corners on the Greenwich to Woolwich section), and threatening weather.

Still, it was an interesting ride, and flat: always a bonus.

The route to Greenwich, about 12 miles, is familiar, but after that it was new territory. I expected post-industrial ruin, and there was plenty of that – great timbered wharfs melting gently into the Thames, and also of course the post-post-modern of the Millennium Dome, which appears to be rusting gently into its carparks. (Great cycle path around it though!)

A little further downriver there was this stunningly detailed Victorian(?) warehouse complex – just look at the fancy coloured brickwork. Parts of it appear to have been used as an industrial museum, but it looked in a pretty bad way.

After the Dome the first “feature” is the Thames Barrier, a reminder of how fragile all of this is – how threatened by nature. (There’s a telling graph here and also a note that “SE England is tilting downwards at around 30 cm a century”.)

When I was at Greenwich the tide must have been near its height, and you’re reminded that there isn’t a lot of room for error. It was rushing towards the sea rather faster than I, however, so as I headed east the mudflats gradually become more and more exposed – usually dotted with seasgulls and a few ducks, some of which appeared to be under the misapprehension that they WERE seagulls. (I thought ducks were supposed to be freshwater birds: how do they cope with the salt?)

After the barrier, the settlements are on their own. Some sense is being displayed: I was pleased to see the new buildings at the big, bleak development of Woolwich Arsenal are built on stilts effectively, with only carparks on the lowest couple of levels.

One feature there is this powerful public sculpture…

I couldn’t find anything identifying the sculptor. Anyone know?

There’s a beautifully open, well-paved walkway along the river, with fancy seats and paving, and the lines of flats face over it, but somehow it is not working as a public space. I hardly saw a person along it, and only a couple of other cyclists. You get the feeling that the everyone is so totally focused on their cars, they don’t do outside space.

Yet there are fascinating, wide-open views. This is from Crossness, looking back at rain over Canary Wharf. That structure on the left is at Creekmouth. (I think, if I’m reading the map right!)

At Erith I stopped at the giant Morrisons (the cheapest, tackiest main supermarket chain) for the loo and to buy a drink, and this was definitely the culture shock of the day – a reminder that the giant mass of England that is “not-London” starts very near-by. It was incredibly over-lit, to the point of making your eyes ache, with wide aisles, huge trolleys (and matching people), and food notable for empty calories and heavy processing.

I bought some dates for the onward journey, but silly me, I didn’t read the package closely, and they were soaked in “glucose syrup”. Why would you take the sweetest dried fruit you could imagine and soak it in sugar?!

A quick zip through a nasty little industrial estate and suddenly you’re on the Crayford Marshes -a curiously little schizophrenic space. If you keep your gaze down you see birds, reeds, mudflats. The only sounds are the birds crying and the wind brushing over the top of the reeds. You could be in any century, even pre-Roman. Then look up, and towering above you is the Dartford Crossing.

The route here is also confusing – I tried both ways across the marsh and I think either works… The path is also pretty rough here – you wouldn’t want to be on a thin-wheeled racer, and my shoulders are reminding me today that it required some work to get across.

Emerging from the marsh there is a mass of roadworks on which little or no provision has been made for pedestrians or cyclists – in the end I bit the bullet and took to the A206 – not something I’d recommend. After that excitement, and with rain falling and dark approaching I decided to call it a day at Dartford, about 30 miles (48km) from the start. I’d done that in about four hours – reasonable going given that I’m no greyhound of the saddle. I took a quick look around Dartford – faded glories – such as the pub below, which must once have been a grand coaching inn.

Then the usual horror train journey back. Stations swarming with staff, “CSOs” etc, all just managing to add to the chaos. Some kids were running up and down the train and yelling – big deal – so they offloaded us all at some outer London station, while men in flourescent jackets did great imitations of being chooks with their heads chopped off. Then of course the train left without us … and the kids of course were long gone.

Nevertheless, despite the trains, I’m reckoning on making the project to do the whole route in stages – through Whitstable, Canterbury, Sandwich, Dover, and on to Rye. (I’ve already done the Rye to Hastings bit.) And then I can buy the London to Hastings one…