Romford to Tower Bridge via Wapping 23rd February 2012

On Thursday 23rd February I set off to meet Richard at Romford Train Station to meet him as he was running late as he missed a train. We left Romford to cycle up town, going via the lovely picturesque Dagenham,Barking,A13 etc using the Super Cycle Highway 3 (CS3) from Barking. Richard fell off his bike and hurt himself enroute due to his first ride with clipless pedals and having not loosen off the release mechanism enough.

Richard at The East India Dock, which the CS3 passes through

 A bit further past East India Dock we stopped again to take a picture of Canary Wharf lit up.

Continuing we eventually got to Limehouse, where we thought we'd join The Thames Path. On entering the path a gang of about 7 Asian youths were coming out. One girl said" Did you say Move?" in an aggressive tone. I thought here we go, is this gonna all kick off. Anyway got past them only to find you cant get any further along the path at night due to locked gates.

View of Canary Wharf from The Thames Path at Limehouse.

 After that lovely experience we cycled along and came to Shadwell Basin.This is where the Only Fools and Horses episode of  "He ain't heavy,He's my Uncle" from series 7 was filmed and aired in 1991. Uncle had gone missing and Del and Rodney found him down by the Docks.
.Sorry about the photo really dark I know. Look back at January's blog where I was here in the day.

We left here and made our way through Wapping stopping off at The Prospect of Whitby, The oldest Riverside pub in London. Stopped for a pint of Carlsberg. Lovely maritime theme to the pub.

In the pub garden there was some nice views along the Thames and there was a stone marking the divide between Limehouse and Wapping.

We left here and cycled a little further to a pub I've been to recently on a walk The  Captain Kidd pub, named after the famous pirate executed at Execution Dock in 1701. A lovely pub that belongs to Samuel Smith Brewery, that only sells their own range of beers. Last time I had a lovely Taddy Lager at 4.8%, this time I thought I'd try the Alpine Lager. Not bad but tasted a bit weak I hadn't noticed when I ordered it was only 2.8% vol. Still lovely pub again with Riverside views.

Execution Dock was located by the Thames near to this pub and dealt with convicted pirates for over 400 years.
Pirates who operated on the seas and abroad would also be tried back in London.
The gallows were located by the Thames so that the tide could wash over the body three times.
More notorious pirates, including Kidd, were left to hang in a gibbet, a type of metal cage, to deter other would be criminals. A lovely pub that belongs to Samuel Smith Brewery, that only sells their own range of beers. Last time I had a lovely Taddy Lager at 4.8%, this time I thought I'd try the Alpine Lager. Not bad but tasted a bit weak I hadn't noticed when I ordered it was only 2.8% vol. Still lovely pub again with Riverside views.

We left the pub cycled along stopping to get views of Tower Bridge and The Shard.

We then cycle through St Katherines Dock and stopped for one last picture of Tower Bridge lit up before making our way to Fenchurch Street Station for Richard and Liverpool Street Station for me to make our way home.