Canpla two

Verified Slow Way

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I walked this route from Plaistow to Canary Wharf. Be aware that the Plaistow start/end point is about a mile from Plaistow Underground Station.

A route through the East End that offers a mix of high street walking and docks, finishing in a business district. It was interesting to see the transition between the different areas, and it made for a varied walk. Good views of the Millennium Dome, and lots of interesting bits relating to London's naval and industrial past.

There were plenty of shops and cafes on route. There are toilets at Canary Wharf.

The areas around Canning Town Flyover, Canning Town Underground Station, Botanic Square/Lower Lea Crossing, and Blackwall were the trickiest to navigate.

There were dropped kerbs throughout the route, with possibly the main accessibility issue being a set of metal stairs leading up to Trafalgar Way from the Blackwall Basin. This can be avoided by staying on Trafalgar way instead of joining the Poplar Dock Marina footpath, going past Billingsgate Market and on to Canary Wharf from there.

Some notes on the route:
- The route down the back Barking Road was fine, but if you prefer a more lively route, then follow the main road instead. There's a pie & mash shop on Barking Road; proper London food!
- The park around East India Dock Basin was open from 8am to 5.30pm (summer timings may be different). When the park is closed you will need to divert by following the Lower Lea Crossing, Blackwall Way, and Pilgrim Mews, then follow a short cut-through to get back to the Thames Path (essential skirting around the edges of the park). It's an easy enough diversion.
- For ease of navigation, and for a more pleasant route, I would stay on the footpath around the Poplar Dock Marina and Blackwall Basin. Cutting though Broadwalk Place doesn't save much in the way of time or distance.

Fixes the problem at Canning Town and is walkable with lots to see. The parts alongside the water are the best, Blackwall Basin and the maxi-size houseboats, a brief bit of the Thames looking across at the Dome and hills towards Woolwich, birds in East India Dock, mudflats on Bow Creek.

A couple of technical niggles - if you zoom into the route in detail it sends you across roads etc at very particular positions. At Canning Town tube these are correct and very helpful, as long as you realise they involve going underground, but in other places they seem to be an inadvertent mistake. Find your safe crossing points in the traditional way! Also be warned that phone apps might not be giving you your correct position, again it's better to rely on old school methods. Until I was clear of the Docklands tower cluster my apparent position jumped around very improbably but only on apps which use phone or internet signal for positioning. A GPS based app (with inferior urban maps) did give a correct position.

Access wise the main obstacle is the steep and long steps at Blackwall Basin, the footbridge over to Canning Town has steps at both ends but also lifts. Near Plaistow along Fisher St there's some pavement parking which made it very narrow and not all kerbs here were dropped. If I do walk this route again I might not use that bit. I'd stay on Barking Road if the car / pedestrian traffic was light again, there's lots to see. But if either sort of traffic was heavy I'd probably make a more significant diversion not just this short part.

At some point in the next few years there'll be a new bit of the Thames Path opening which this route could use instead of Blackwall Way, which is the souless section between four lanes of traffic and fencing. As the route's writer said the area is changing fast, so maybe by then we could fit in other bits of the docks and rivers too.

I started walking from Plaistow underground station which is just over a kilometre from the start of the route along reasonably quiet streets.
From the start of the route you could just walk straight down the A124 which is lined with shops most of the way to Canning Town but the detour to a parallel side road offers a quieter alternative.
I must admit I was baffled by the route at Canning Town station until I realised I needed to go downstairs in the station (lift available) to access the subway that leads through to Bow Creek.
After that the route is straight forward.
I took a short detour to Trinity Buoy Wharf to see an exhibition and there are great views of the river plus places to get a drink.

Where the route heads towards East India Basin from Orchard Place there was a sign indicating that the way through is only open at certain times. I’m afraid I forgot to make a note of the exact details but I think it closes about 19.30 in the evenings. More great views along the river from here and a panorama of the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf and a close up view of the Millennium Dome.

As mentioned there is a big flight of stairs on the route from Blackwall Basin up to Trafalgar Way. If you want to avoid them you need to detour well before you get to them as they are at a dead end where there is no alternative but to retrace your steps. Possibly heading down the opposite side of Poplar Dock and Blackwall Basin – I’ll try and check this out.
Once at the end of Trafalgar Way you are walking among the tower blocks of the commercial district until the end of the route with various places to get food and drink (and a whole maze of shops if you venture underground).

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