🚲 London's riverside cycle route: Greenwich to Woolwich with no traffic
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- You can cycle from Greenwich in south east London to Woolwich, entirely on quiet streets and protected cycle lanes.
The route is 7.8km long (4.8 miles) and makes use of Cycleway 4, Cycleway 14 and the Thames Path, as well as quiet streets around the Royal Naval College.
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You can see a digital map of the route and download a GPS/GPX file to use on whatever device or app you want here:
www.komoot.com...
And you can find a viewer-created and maintained map of all the London Cycle Routes videos here:
www.google.com...
I also highly recommend the Safe Cycle London map for route planning, which is compiled by @SafeCycleLDN on twitter:
www.google.com...
Another great video! Thank you for mentioning the Thames Barrier. Any reference always makes me smile as it was invented & designed by my late uncle Charles Draper. 😊
That’s a very cool claim to fame! nice one. It’s essential!
@@heatherdraper26 Me too. My dad did the original switch gear for GEC. 😁
@@Redkite-nd8gc thats cool. Did he know my uncle? He sadly passed away before the queen officially opened it in 1984.
Nice route, I've never gone past that industrial area in greenwich towards Woolwich - always thought there wasn't a cycle path there, but you have shown me the way! Thank you, really good video
Thanks for watching, glad it contained some new info for you!
@7:51 That pub is such a good old school pub, it's not gastro, it's not trendy but it's a great place to have a pint looking up and down the Thames.
Oh nice I’ll have to stop and check it out next time, that’s my fav sort of pub
Thanks for covering this area, especially the Charlton section of the path. I used to live nearby and enjoyed the rare industrial feel combined with the big sky effect of being near the Thames. I know it's progress but I feel sad at the number of flats built in the area which takes away that feeling of space.
I know what you mean!
Anyone looking for an extension of this route or want to come from further east, you can get onto the Thames cycle path at Erith and follow the river all the way to Greenwich (and beyond if you want). It's my go to route if I just want to pedal out some miles to keep the he fitness up. I also recommend The Trafalgar tavern right next to the old naval college as a stopping pint for a cheeky one along the way :)
Good call! I’m meaning to record some routes over that way eventually, either to Erith or Thamesmead (or both)
If you get as far as Gravesend you can use the foot ferry to Tilbury and the fort. The round route back into London on the North side is mixed, but doable.
@@Redkite-nd8gc nice that sounds like a challenge!
@@Redkite-nd8gc Gravesend to Greenwich is pretty epic. Would be really interesting but some of the areas near the river don't seem accessible that way, e.g. the Swanscombe marshes - do you cycle away from the river there?
In that park with the no cycling/ cycling route, I usually turn left after crossing the road and go around the park the other way (it’s about the same distance). I think the route you went was blocked off for the building works until recently, which is why they’d put up the no cycling signs
Ahh that’s good to know - so it’s unblocked now? makes sense about the other way as well
One of my fave to routes south of the river.
It’s a great continuous route!
Great video and nice to see London in the summer sun again! Looks like the start of this journey could also make a really handy alternative route to North Greenwich if you turn left at 5:33 (onto W Parkside) or left at the waterfront (onto Olympian Way). Would like to try this out as the riverfront option going from Maritime Greenwich up to the Millennium Dome can be quite a challenging cycle sometimes! 🚲
Great shout! Thanks Merlin
Another excellent video and great route. I'd like to stitch about 50km worth of your gpx routes for a mega day of urban cycling!
That sounds fun, do let me know if you do it!
I'm moving from Sydney to London early next year and I will definitely be trying all these cycle routes!
Amazing, best of luck with the move!
Talking about Sydney, the Thames Barrier took its design que from the Sydney Opera House. I was very fortunate to be on one of the first tours of the workings of the barrier and the guide enthused about this.
Good video. I have cycled every section shown. 3:15 I have not cycled the Armitage Rd/Harriet Close in recent years, because I use different routes and tend to either stick to the Thames path around the O2, or stay on the cycle lane straight towards Charlton/Woolwich. 5:35 That park route is a valid cycle route, but as you say, the the owners of the estate are trying discourage cycle, if they can get away with it. But I take an alternate route via West Parkside/Peartree Way to re-join the Thames path by Greenwich Yacht Club. A lot of the vegetation and shrubs have been cut back since your ride. Nice to revisit my 'local' area.
Ah cool- how is the Thames path around the O2 these days? I know some bits can get a bit narrow, or were at certain phases of construction. I figured going this way cuts the corner!
@@Londoncycleroutes The path around the actually O2 is fine. The construction was for cladding replacement of the flats along the path. Most of it has been completed, though there are some works, but not disruptive. 7:10 The aggregate works have been cleaning the path recently.
If you aren't in a rush you can follow the river all the way from Cutty Sark and don't have to deal with the roads and that bridge
Yes that works! I wanted to find a way to cut the corner haha
I worked for Greenwich up until a couple of years ago in the transport strategy team, good to see that some progress has been made, though the final sections of C4 at either end, especially to Woolwich, cannot come soon enough!
With the section through Warspite Rd industrial estate, I think there used to be time restrictions on the gates, around 6am - 9pm if I remember right. Has this changed now?
I’m not sure about Warspite actually, I’ll remember to keep a look out next time I go that way! Totally agree about the C4 bit especially Greenwich town centre which will also make a difference on the public realm if they close an arm of the gyratory
@01:15 I love Greenwich
@01:56 Absolulety gorgeous houses!
@02:35 Nice pavement extension to cut rat-running!
@03:54 Nice continuous pavement
@10:23 When I lived in London it was in Brentford, in an estate surrounding two locks, and the beginning of a canal, we'd get 'tidal water' every now and then and some streets became inaccessible due to partial flooding. That was over 10 years ago, I don"t if it's just going to get worse and more frequent with, you know, global warming and stuff.
@13:43 This pedestrian avenue is absolutely beautiful, it's so great that it's actually residences and not just high-end shops. I didn't know Woolwich, it looks lovely!
Great comments! I agree the avenue looks nice, they’ve done a really good job there (maybe less so with the affordability of the home but the layout is decent)
*Lovely route!*
⚡👌🏼👌🏼⚡
College Way etc looks so nice, I've seen fellow skaters skatin through this route.
Hadn't realised how much segregated/dedicated bike lanes there were along this route, really nice.
Those turns were really confusin 😂 I'm better with lots of straights.
Yeah the bit after we turn off at armitage is a bit confusing - I should have said that although the later bit with the Thames path has a few diversions away from the river there’s a rule of thumb which is basically just - hug the river and you’ll get there
Nice route.
My 1993 AZ shows the area north east of Beresford Square and Beresford Street as a big blank white space right up to the riverbank where it simply says 'Mud'.
Ha wow- I’d loved to have had a poke around then! Probably quite interesting
Both Woolwich Arsenal and the old Woolwich Dockyard (to the west) were highly secret, so were blanked out of all published maps from the 1800s onwards. In retrospect, it was a good way to identify secret sites -- the same applied to nuclear research and construction sites such as Aldermaston in Berkshire and nuclear bomber stations such as Finningley in Yorkshire
Ha! I was along that way just yesterday, but included the Thames Path around the O2 as well.
The situation with the made-up signs in Southern Park reminded me of when the company that manages the building just north of St. Mary's Church in Battersea decided to put up some 'no cycling' signs on 'their bit' of the Thames Path. These signs were a blue background, a white bicycle with a white line through it, surrounded by a white circle 🤣
Obviously no-one took a blind bit of notice of them, and they quietly disappeared after a month or so.
Edited to add: Had to take a short break just here - 7:47 - as the way was completely blocked by a crane lorry delivering a helicopter next to the pub 🤷♂
That sign sounds totally bizarre!
Excellent route, Jon. Thank you for filming it. Last time I did this route I ran out of cycle path just before the ferry approach. Good to know it’s been finally opened. Woolwich looks amazing.
Jon, a small suggestion. Would it be possible to mount the camera on the frame so it doesn’t move so much. Your videos are speeded up and I find I get a little sea sick watching. I have a spare mount if it helps. :-)
Thank you! Re: camera mounting - it is actually already mounted on the frame (as in the handlebars?) the swaying is the image stabilisation reacting to uneven service I think. I think it was particularly bad on this route as the camera was quite low and has quite a lot of the handlebars in it? I’ve changed the way I mount it since to try and get more out of shot. Sorry to hear it’s not agreeing with you and am open to other ideas! I know people react differently to it
Thanks for supplying the missing jigsaw piece. I already knew how to cycle to Woolwich from Erith using the Thames Path but it was the section beyond on to Greenwich which was the problem even with the cycle lane. That peters out as you reach historic Greenwich and it isn't as quiet and scenic as your route.
Oh brilliant - yeah that’s C4 I mentioned and hopefully it’ll within a few years go all the way… but for now this works!
The section between 9:30 and 10:00 when you are talking about the Thames Barrier is also closed at night, and from memory different times in winter and summer. It's a relatively easy detour to go down to the main road and cycle along the footpath for the few hundred metres and I think that footpath might be a shared path but I'm not 100% sure.
Interesting, I didn’t know that
Thank you for this. I did a ride out from Blackfriars to Ebbsfleet following as much of the Thames path as I could, which is very variable indeed! I wish I'd used your more direct route from Greenwich. One nice featrue of my route was the very useful ferry from Canary Wharf to the other side of the Thames. You have to push your bike through a hotel foyer, a unique experience. You might do a video using that ferry as a link between cycle paths on both sides of the Thames. There has been a plan for a bridge, but there never seems to be the money.
That’s fascinating, I wasn’t aware- and yes it’s a shame how variable the Thames path is! They really should have protected the foreshore
After crossing the Woolwich ferry approach 12:15 there's that odd circular building on the right 12:35 - at the rear of that is the entrance to the Woolwich foot tunnel the counterparty to the one at Greenwich. There are lifts down and it is called a foot tunnel for a reason.
Oh yes good fact! I missed the entrance. There’s also a similar entrance to the Greenwich foot tunnel near the start of the video behind the Cutty Sark
The Woolwich tunnel is quite often deserted and it's even longer than its Greenwich counterpart, you can't really criticise those that cycle through it.
As you passed Woolwich ferry after you crossed the entry road to it, the street you went down (which leads to Woolwich foot tunnel) often had a barrier across the road which meant you had to bump up the kerb.
Useful info thank you!
Another nice route! The Thames Barrier looked cool.
It’s a cool structure!
During my apprenticeship I needed to spend a month in the office, to see if I had any acumen. Didn't, but the Thames Barrier Reef Project was completed in that office and I saw the signing off papers and all the plans as drawn, by hand, by draughtsmen.
That’s very cool!
Really enjoying your videos. This route is very interesting as well as quiet.
Would be interested if you know of a quiet route from Canary Wharf to North Woolwich or from Canary Wharf to the north entrance of the Greenwich tunnel on the Isle of Dogs.
Thank you! That’s a good call- I think there might be a quieter way through the middle of the isle, as you probably know the Thames path has been disrupted and had holes in it anyway. I’ve been reticent to do routes to the Greenwich foot tunnel as I know you’re not meant to cycle in it itself but a few people have requested it so I guess there must be demand!
@@Londoncycleroutes Oh I didn’t know the Thames path had been disrupted. I have cycled a few times through the Isle of Dogs to get to the tunnel and found it quite intimidating from a traffic point of view so any new quiet routes would be most welcome!
Good to see the path just before the ferry is open again, I'd been avoiding going that way, that new barrier on the blind corner at 12:53 is terrible.
Yeah there are a few blind bits on there, quite poorly done. Glad the path is open tho!
I like the videos you make! However this is part of one main training route, I turn left out of the Naval College and run parallel with the river. A few narrow parts after the new flats near the Cutty Sark pub but there a huge cycle highway behind the O2 and out continues out East
yes that's one alternative! it's a big longer I think as the river curves quite sharply around there, this cuts the corner
Nice route, a bit of a mess with some sections with lots of weaving and inconsistencies. Red paths are standard in Europe, Green in the USA and Canada, and blue is what London just decided to do. A consistent colour would be better and more obvious to drivers and pedestrians.
Yeah totally agree about a consistent colour. London doesn’t even bother with blue anymore
Another brilliant video - I was just trying to figure out this route last week and was really hoping you'd done it - and ta-da here it is! Really enjoy your commentary too.
Oh brilliant, I hope it wasn’t too late to be helpful!
@@Londoncycleroutes not at all, the climbing centre I go to (The Reach) is just after the Thames Barrier so this is really useful for next time I try and cycle there. I'd tried to follow Q14 from Greenwich and got really lost so your one on the half-finished main cycle way looks much quicker so that'll really help for next time.
@@mogwaay nice! enjoy
should of mentioned the gate at 10.01 is locked about 10pm so u cant do the Bowater rd bit through the estate u have to turn right after the barrier security post up to the end turn left then left at the roundabout to bring u to the ramp
Thanks useful info!
at 6.37 the bike path sign has been ripped out and is blocking the path!
I wanted to mention this but was still ranting about the other signs haha!
Dutch people looking at the Thames barrier and thinking, "meh, we could knock that up in a weekend..."
Haha yes probably
It's not a route designed for me, especially going up & over the bridge 🤢 I do want to see the stairwell at Greenwich tho, the Thames barrier and the pumping house gawd knows where that is. I attempt it every open house, one time cycling past tower hill, DLR to Woolwich arsenal and there to the pumping station 😅omg... Raised paths and motorway roundabouts. I couldn't cope with that at all are you even allowed to cycle on those motorways 😂 luckily it was Sunday and quiet and I was still too late x
The bridge isn’t that bad I promise! One of the better ones of its sort
Maybe I ended up cycling along the motorway you went over 😅 I couldn't see anything else it felt like an industrial wasteland - not in Chelsea anymore! We now have a painted line on Fulham road!!! x
You didn’t mention the very controversial “cyclists dismount” barriers right next to the Woolwich Ferry. Also, the bridge over the Blackwall Tunnel approach is being replaced by one further North, for the even more controversial Silvertown Tunnel, as a result of which your route will need altering.
Do you know if they've managed to connect the small Charlton bit of Cycleway 4 to the main Greenwich to London Bridge route? I assume it'd make this route a bit simpler with that bit included
It’s not officially connected yet, that’ll be done even they sort out Greenwich town centre - but you can go via Norway Street and the college, then old Woolwich Road - will do a video featuring it soon!
All cycle lanes in the country need to be standardised going forward. Preferably all Dutch red!
I agree they should be using a standard colour and that’s probably the best one! It’s the smartest looking I think
There's just no comparison In Dutch cycle lanes to U.K ones other than the colour. Cycle lanes in the U.K are a joke in comparison and far more dangerous.
At 9.48 there’s a decent cafe to the right there should anyone wish to partake….
Good recommendation thanks!
You need to get a helmet cam for these views
That would be one way of capturing them for sure! I could have a multi camera setup
Wich map are you using?
Safe Cycle London (linked in description) is my fav but I use own knowledge/research and also a bit of help from Open Cycle Map for official routes
Is there a decent pub at the Woolwich end that would make this worth the ride - anyone?
Depends what you’re after - I sat outside the guard house in the sun one and it was nice enough, bit generic. A couple of the pubs on Beresford Square look very lively but I’ve not checked them out myself
LCR do you know when the new cycleway between peckham and greenwich opens
Do you mean the quiet way Southwark consulted on recently? Itll be a while yet I think, no date - but Cycleway 4 past Surrey Quays should be open in the next couple of months
@@Londoncycleroutes yeah sorry I meant c4
What I find exasperating is the lack of cyclists using such amazing facilities for cyclists you have in London. A lot of the space for other forms of traffic (bus, delivery vans, taxis) is taken up with cycling infrastructure that is often completely unused.
I don’t think that’s the case really- it all gets really busy at commuter times but this was shot in the middle of the day
Fast
It’s pretty speedy!
Err. 40 minutes by public transport? It’s 13 minutes on Southeastern from Greenwich to Woolwich Arsenal.
I always use the citymapper time from the actual starting point of the video to the actual end point to give a realistic idea of the full travel time (which I always set to 9am on a weekday to be consistent) - Greenwich station is a decent walk from the Cutty Sark, and citymapper factors in the wait time as well
@@Londoncycleroutes In that case, it’s wrong.
@@infocuslearningI don’t think so - the train ride itself is 13 mins. Google maps has another 12 min walk from the cutty sark to Greenwich station and 5 mins walk from Woolwich Arsenal station to the road by Beresford square where we ended, which makes 30 minutes. 10 minutes isn’t an unrealistic wait for the train given there are only a few an hour on that line. Citymapper will calculate the latter based on the actual timetable. Seems like it stacks up
@@Londoncycleroutes Google gives me 10 minutes plus 3 minutes walking times, but whatever.
Why don’t you go check it out now in the cold and pissing rain and leave the man alone?