The Greenway at Stratford Marsh - geograph

The Greenway is a long

footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

and cycleway in London, mostly in the

London Borough of Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the s ...

, on the embankment containing the

Joseph Bazalgette Sir Joseph William Bazalgette CB (; 28 March 181915 March 1891) was a 19th-century English civil engineer. As chief engineer of London's Metropolitan Board of Works, his major achievement was the creation (in response to the Great Stink of 1 ...

Northern Outfall Sewer.

Route

The western end of the Greenway is Victoria Park, London (

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, London borough covering much of the traditional East End of London, East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropol ...

). The route runs alongside Wick Lane, under the

East Cross Route East Cross Route (ECR) is a dual-carriageway road constructed in east London as part of the uncompleted Ringway 1 as part of the London Ringways plan drawn up the 1960s to create a series of high speed roads circling and radiating out from cen ...

to Fish Island. It then crosses the River Lea into Newham, continuing to Stratford and West Ham. The eastern end is at Royal Docks Road in Beckton. The

Capital Ring The Capital Ring is a strategic walking route promoted by London's 33 local councils, led by the City of London Corporation in partnership with the Greater London Authority and its functional body for regional transport, Transport for London, ...

Walk (section 14) follows the Greenway for most of its distance, and forms part 4 of the 2012

Jubilee Greenway The Jubilee Greenway is a walking and cycling route in London, England. It was completed in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The route of continuous paths links 2012 Olympic and Paralympic venues with parks, waterways and other ...

The western half of the Greenway embankment is roughly at house eaves height giving a view over the surrounding flat area (see gallery pictures). Between Stratford High Street and Beckton the route is flat. There is a renewed tarmac surface along its full length, with grass kept short on either side and bushes/trees on the embankment sides. The tarmac area is the width of a narrow two way road allowing easy passing of pedestrians and cyclists, with approx the same width of grass on either side. The Greenway and several surrounding areas have been recognised by the Mayor of London and the London boroughs as a

site of importance for nature conservation Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI), Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) and regionally important geological site (RIGS) are designations used by local authorities in the United Kingdom for sites of substantive local nature ...

(SINC) since 2016. In mid-2018, Transport for London designated the section of the Greenway between the A13 and A118 as Quietway 22. A similar path called the Ridgeway covers the

Southern Outfall Sewer The Southern Outfall Sewer is a major sewer taking sewage from the southern area of central London to Crossness in south-east London. Flows from three interceptory sewers combine at a pumping station in Deptford and then run under Greenwich, ...

Renovation

Work has taken place to resurface and renovate the route—especially around the Olympic Park. A community group was set up in 2016 for Greenway users, and Newham Council began piloting better lighting, with a view to opening the Greenway 24 hours a day. Greenway Users have subsequently set up a Greenway Action Group to improve the recording of incidents by logging crimes on the pathway. The renovation of the Greenway was finished in July 2019, after the completion of major water supply works by Thames Water along the western half and the opening of the bridges over the

Waterworks River Waterworks River is a river, at one time a tidal river, in the London Borough of Newham, one of the Bow Back Rivers that flow into the Bow Creek part of the River Lea, which in turn flows into the River Thames. The river is an artificial chann ...

and the

City Mill River City Mill River is part of the Bow Back Rivers in London, England. It formerly fed City Mill, used for the production of chemicals in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In the 1930s, the mill was removed and the river was isolate ...

. In 2022, the Greenway was the site of one of 19 projects selected by the Mayor of London's Rewild London Fund to help 'rewild the city and recover nature'. The View Tube, made from recycled shipping containers, is a viewing platform on the Greenway incorporating the Container Café.

History

The older alternative name for the route is ''Sewerbank'', with the name Greenway introduced after a renovation in the mid-1990s. In 1931 Mahatma Gandhi visited London for a period of 3 months for

talks Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

on the future of India, he based himself at

Kingsley Hall Kingsley Hall is a community centre, in Powis Road, Bromley-by-Bow in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, East End of London. It dates back to the work of Doris and Muriel Lester, who had a nursery school in nearby Bruce Road. Their brother, ...

in Bromley-by-Bow. His host there, the Christian Socialist

Muriel Lester Muriel Lester (9 December 1883 – 11 February 1968) was born in Leytonstone (now in east London, but then a prosperous Essex suburb) and grew up at Loughton, where she was a member of the Union Church. She was a social reformer, pacifist and n ...

described his long early morning walks, beginning before sunrise, and which often took in the Sewerbank through Stratford to Plaistow. Gandhi enjoyed the elevated view the bank offered, and on these walks he would always gather a collection of well-wishers eager to speak to him.Gandhi's host at Kinsley Hall, Muriel Lester, described these walks in her account of his 3 month stay with her

Gallery

Greenway bridge over the River Lea looking north.jpg, Greenway bridge over the

River Lea The River Lea ( ) is in South East England. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Creek. It is one of t ...

looking north Greenway junction with Stratford High Street (A118) looking west.jpg, Greenway junction with Stratford High Street (A118) looking west Northern Outfall Sewer (Greenway) over Manor Road A1011.jpg, Northern Outfall Sewer (Greenway) over Manor Road A1011 London Greenway footpath looking towards Canary Wharf.jpg, London Greenway footpath looking towards Canary Wharf Greenway footpath, London looking south east.jpg, Greenway footpath, London looking south east Greenway footpath, London looking at Abbey Mills pumping station.jpg, Greenway footpath, London looking at Abbey Mills pumping station Greenway overlooking Brampton Manor Academy.jpg, Greenway overlooking Brampton Manor Academy Greenway overlooking Newham University Hospital.jpg, Greenway overlooking Newham University Hospital Greenway entrance at Newham Way (A13) looking east.jpg, Greenway entrance at Newham Way (A13) looking east

References

Map

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenway Transport in the London Borough of Newham Cycleways in London Greenways London water infrastructure Elevated parks Stratford, London Footpaths in London