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Mark Moxon's Travel Writing

Capital Ring: Day 14: Hackney Wick to Beckton District Park

Building works in Hackney Wick
Building works in Hackney Wick

Whereas the theme for day 13 is the canal walking of the Lee Navigation, day 14 is decidedly more urban, though in a rather detached manner. Before this kicks in, though, there's still one small stretch of the Navigation to enjoy as it heads south to the Thames.

The Greenway
The Greenway
Abbey Mills Pumping Station
Abbey Mills Pumping Station
The City from the Greenway
The City from the Greenway

The Greenway

Grates on the Greenway
Grates on the Greenway, which stink of sewage

I eventually tracked down the Greenway, unfortunately missing out the part of the Ring that the guidebook describes as 'currently the most forbidding part of the Capital Ring, among fly-tips and grim scrap yards.' I'd rather fancied exploring this grittier end of the Ring, but I think I'm too late, as the grit is already being bulldozed into manicured sports complexes and flashy high-rises, and the Greenway itself is a little too cut off from its surroundings to give a flavour of what life is really like out here in the regeneration zone. The Greenway is not unlike the Parkland Walk from day 12, in that it allows you to sneak through the suburbs in a detached manner, but there is one big difference: where the Parkland Walk is along a disused railway line, the Greenway follows a sewage pipe, and I'm afraid it feels like it.

Beckton District Park
Beckton District Park