Dog Walks from East London

Four easy dog walks from East London

Hiya furiends. Over the last few weeks, mummy has been dragging me on some quite long (but easy) walks starting from, and around, East London. She mapped each route on her phone and took pics along the way.

This is going to be quite a long blog. Me can’t be bothered with all this typing and it’s a bit complicated, so me handing over this blog to mummy. I mights pop up along the way to add me thoughts. You better do a good job mummy, don’t go messing up me blog.

Dog walks from East London : From Royal Victoria to Tower Bridge and back to Shadwell (10.47km)

The weekend of July 30 and 31 saw us start early both mornings on two longish walks. On the Saturday we started from home at Royal Victoria Docks. Crossing over the River Lea we headed up into Canary Wharf, passing by the famous Billingsgate Market, thankfully not smelling of fish on a Saturday (“shame, me likes fish”). Canary Wharf was very quiet, with the banks closed on weekends. One thing I love about Canary Wharf is how clean and modern it is. Schlappohr is less keen because it means there is less to stop and sniff at! (“me likes lots of dirt”)

We passed through Canary Wharf and out the other side to the River Thames, where we had great views over to The Shard in the distance. We picked up the Thames Path here (“I can see water mummy, me go swimming yes?”) and took that through Limehouse and on to Wapping.

Here we walked along the Shadwell Basin and on to the Ornamental Canal to St Katherine Docks. Seeing all the water along the way Schlappohr was desperate to go in for a swim, but swimming was not on the agenda on this walk, so he was left disappointed. We passed by the Tobacco Dock ships on this very peaceful part of the walk along the Ornamental Canal. The weather was perfect. Must be lovely to live in some of these houses, right on the canal.

At St Katherine Docks we took in the sights – all the amazing looking boats, and of course the iconic Tower Bridge. We’d only walked about 8km by this point, and I wanted to get to at least 10km. So whilst Schlappohr would probably happily have hopped on the DLR at Tower Gateway to head home, I took him via the less glamorous A1203 to Shadwell. He seemed quite happy though, because there was more than enough for him to stop and sniff at here (“Yes me loves car fumes???”)

At Shadwell we got on the DLR and went the 7 stops back to Royal Victoria. Public transport can sometimes be hard with Schlappohr but at this time of the morning there weren’t too many people on it. Although he did take a dislike to the DLR driver (“Me gave him a good barking”).

Dog walks from East London : From Limehouse Basin to Stratford and back (12.58km)

Another early start on the Sunday (“Must we mummy?”). We first took the DLR from Royal Victoria to Westferry where we started our walk. We headed to Ropemaker’s Field next to the Limehouse Basin and from there picked up the Limehouse Cut canal. Apart from the occasional runner and cyclist, it was still fairly quiet at this time on a Sunday morning.

Schlappohr still seemed very keen to go in for a swim, not that I would have let him (“Mummy so mean”), especially with all the green algae on the surface. We headed up to Bow Creek and Three Mills Island which is where Masterchef is filmed (“I is forced to watch Masterchef with mummy”). We passed through Three Mills Park (“Me saw a giant woman”) and carried on along the canal where I found some wild blackberries growing. Schlappohr was very keen to try one but then spat it out on the ground (“Was yucky, made me wince”).

We continued along the WaterWorks River to the East of the Olympic Park, and now home to West Ham Football club. Schlappohr was fascinated by the large swan boats, I think he thought they were real…. We then picked up the River Lea to the West of the Olympic Park to start our journey southwards.

Schlappohr was trying to make friends with some wooden pigs and sheep (at least that’s what I think they were!), but they weren’t particularly interested in making friends with him (“They was rude”). By this point, we were both starting to get tired, especially after yesterday’s walk, but we still had a way to go. So we trudged along, stopping for the occasional sniff, Schlappohr not me… And after 2.5 hours we were back at Westferry where we were both happy to hop onto the DLR and return home.

Dog walks from East London : From Blackwall around the Isle of Dogs and back to Canning Town (11.05km)

The third of our four walks took place a month or so later, at a slightly more respectable time! Schlappohr was delighted to be going on this walk because we were joined by one his favourite hoomans, the lovely Rita (“Me loves Rita, gives her lots of kisses”). We took the DLR from Royal Victoria to Blackwall. We weren’t quite sure when we set off how long we would walk for, but ended up walking all the way round the edge of the Isle of Dogs, through Canary Wharf and back home to Royal Victoria via Canning Town.

The walk around the Isle of Dogs takes you along the Thames Path which, in most parts, is directly next to the Thames (“Mummy so cruel – me keeps seeing water but she won’t let me swim”). In some places you have to cut up through residential areas. The path affords great views over South London, in particular Greenwich. We often saw Uber Boats ferrying passengers along the Thames at seemingly quite high speeds!

Schlappohr was in another of his “wanting to swim” moods. And kept stopping and trying to drag me down to the river so he could go in. There are a few places along the path that would have been suitable for him to take a little dip. But unfortunately the tide was out so it would have meant a trudge through lots of mud to reach the river. (“Next time mummy, make sure you check the tides…”)

At the southern most point of the Isle of Dogs we took a brief pause in Island Gardens to take in the views of Greenwich; including the National Maritime Museum, the Old Royal Naval College, and the Cutty Sark. We then started the northbound walk on the Western side of the Isle of Dogs, up to Canary Wharf. At that point, there was much debate as to how tired we were. Schlappohr seemed happy to continue, so we cut back through Canary Wharf and Jubilee Park. We were all in need of sustenance by this point so we took a slight detour before home, up to Caxton Works at Canning Town, where we went to the newly opened Well Bean Cafe, for a puppacino for Schlappohr, doughnut and smoothie for me, and cake and coffee for Rita.

Dog walks from East London : From Woolwich Arsenal east along the Thames Path (13.16km)

The last of our four dog walks from East London was our longest yet, at just over 13km. This one started from Woolwich Arsenal. We took the recently opened Elizabeth Line from Custom House one stop to Woolwich. It was Schlappohr’s first time on the Elizabeth Line (aka Crossrail) so he gave a good howl when we boarded (“Me likes to embarrass mummy by howling in public”). Just 3 minutes later and we were in Woolwich.

Similar to the last walk, I didn’t really know how long this walk would be. We started at Woolwich Arsenal, got onto the Thames Path, and basically just kept going and going, until I thought we should turn around and start heading back. I’m not sure entirely how long the Thames Path is in this direction, but I think we could have walked all day and longer if we’d wanted to! But it was quite a hot day so 13km was long enough (“1km would have been long enough mummy…”).

The path was fairly empty but when we did encounter dogs, there were some very good dog owners around who observed Schlappohr’s “I need space” vest from Yellow Dog UK and his new “Keep Dogs Away” lead from My Anxious Dog. So we had a pleasant walk with no reactivity from Schlappohr (“me was so good I got a yummy beef tendon from JR Pet Products when we got home”).

We passed through an area of woodland which had clearly suffered a fire not so long ago, perhaps a wild fire during the heatwave we had. It still smelt of smoke and was sad to see so many trees destroyed (“It stinks mummy”).

The path is right next to the Thames so you have great views, albeit with not an awful lot to see on this stretch of the Thames. We passed by Thamesmead, where we had a view of the Barking Creek Barrier on the other side of the river, and on to the Crossness Pumping Station, where I made the executive decision to turn round and start our walk all the way back to Woolwich Arsenal. I think the Pumping Station is a sewage works; there was a slightly strange smell around the area. Schlappohr was in his element! (“Me would love to run around a sewage works!”)

Final words from Schlappohr

Me has walked a lot over these four walks furiends, don’t know how me little legs keep up with mummy. But me had fun, look at me smiling in some of the pics! Love being outdoors with mummy, exploring new places with different smells for me to stop and sniff. And if me is a good boy me gets a nice treat when we get home, before I pass out asleep and give mummy some peace for a few hours…

No doubt mummy has more walks planned in the future so keep an eye out for more posts about our adventures. Till next time furiends. Happy walking.