The North to South London Trail is a new walking route launched in May 2024 by Walking Post. A 34 mile walk from Cockfosters to Carshalton in five sections. I have walked quite a lot of this before but there is also a lot of new territory.
Today I completed section 3 of the walk to Battersea Power Station and then continued with the first half of section 4 down to Earlsfield. This should allow me to finish all of the walk next time at Carshalton. Most of the day was spent walking along the Thames down to Wandsworth Bridge then a section of the Wandle to Earlsfield station.
Arriving at Waterloo I made my way to the south bank by the Jubilee gardens and the Golden Jubilee bridges. The area near the London Eye was very busy but it soon became quieter as I progressed along the Thames.
Westminster bridge, Lambeth bridge and Vauxhall bridge were passed and soon Battersea Power Station came into view.
Getting to the Power Station was easier said than done as many of the paths were blocked by construction work for the Thames Tideway and residential development. While trying to negotiate around here with limited signage I came across the Tideway Village houseboat development at Tideway Dock. When after several wrong turnings I finally reached it views of the big new skyscrapers dominated the scene. I paused at the Power Station but did not go inside.
Passing under Chelsea bridge Battersea Park is entered which is quite pleasant and offered good views of the magnificent Albert Bridge.
Inside the park is the Peace Pagoda built in 1985, a Buddist stupa, a gift of the Japanese Nipponzan-Myohoji Buddhist order. More pleasant woodland takes me across and out of the park.
Continuing along the Thames I passed under Battersea Bridge then the huge Lots Road power station dominated the view on the other bank, now dwarfed by adjacent tower blocks. Then St. Mary's church, the oldest church in Battersea.
The path skirts around the London Heliport and a helicopter kindly took off just as I was passing. Then Wandsworth bridge came into view and my walk along the Thames would soon be completed.
So I turned off the river and after a few streets in Wandsworth reached the River Wandle near where it flows into the Thames.
Now along the Wandle. The guide took me on a slightly different route than the Wandle Trail which allowed me to see a bit more of the river. This section is being re-worked then a pleasant section past the Southside Shopping Centre.
Into King George's Park. The instructions here were a bit sparse and although I was actually on the right path I got a little confused and found myself on another section of the river isolated from the trail. Pleasant, but no way through so another diversion back
A lengthy section, still in the park, following the Wandle which is largely hidden behind foliage. Then into Earlsfield with another variation from the official route which took me past more river. Reaching Earlsfield station I broke for the day and headed to Clapham Junction where I had a pleasant lunch at the Wetherspoons before heading home.
I had hoped to complete all the North to South London Trail today but it turned out better to finish at the end of section 4 at Colliers Wood and leave section 5 for the next trip.
So back to Earlsfield station where I arrived quite early around 10.15am but after making an initial navigation error wrongly passing Wandsworth Cemetery it was 10.30 by the time I reached the Wandle.
The path follows the Wandle through light woodland but with recycling plants and later Wimbledon Substation to somewhat dampen the view. Half way along they were repairing one of the bridges but the small diversion caused no problems.
The busy Plough Lane has to be crossed on the outskirts of Wimbledon then the path continues on the other side.
The Wandle appears from time to time and eventually the path goes underneath a railway line.
Wandle Meadow Nature Park is crossed.
Another stretch of the Wandle which goes under Byegrove Road in a tunnel.
Wandle Park, a pleasant area but very wet. The path I should have taken wasn't clear so I just made my way around its edge to exit via a short road to reach Colliers Wood tube station which marked the end of section 4. I started on section 5 but the instructions were a bit vague and I got lost trying to navigate round the big road junction on the A24 so after a while decided to call it a day and went back to Clapham Junction and another meal in the Wetherspoons. A shortish walk but probably better so I can do the last section of 6 miles easily in a day.