Training session route (Woolwich and the Isle of Dogs)

A circular walk with two foot tunnels

Woolwich - Greenwich - Isle of Dogs - Silvertown - Woolwich

Training route

Starting at the top of Shooters Hill Road it's a nice downhill stretch for a couple of miles through Greenwich Park and into Greenwich.

Next to the renovated Cutty Sark we found the entrance to the Greenwich Foot Tunnel.

The Cutty Sark

Walking through the tunnel, the acoustics down there are a little confusing - you can easily find yourself having a phantom conversation with someone many metres ahead or behind you as if they were standing right next to you.

On the other side of the river we headed north towards Canary Wharf and got a bit lost around some new hotel/housing developments and ended up following the main road for quite a time.

This was a fairly unscenic part of the walk, mostly following the concrete sky train structure that is the Docklands Light Railway along North Woolwich Road. When we came to Thames Barrier Park after a couple of miles the sight of greenery and the prospect of being able to walk next to the Thames drew us in. Strangely topiaried lines of hedges led us towards the view of the Thames Barrier.

Thames Barrier from Barrier Park

Unfortunately there was no way to continue alongside the river from Thames Barrier Park, so back to the main road and continue east aiming to find the Woolwich foot tunnel.

Passing the second of the Tate & Lyle factories the smell of Golden Syrup was in the air. Before we knew it we'd reached the entrance to the foot tunnel to take us back to Woolwich and to complete our circuit with the climb back to the top of Shooters Hill.