Greenway footpath, London

For 60km route of 2012 Olympic and Paralympic venues with parks and waterways, see Jubilee Greenway. For Greenway landscape feature, see Greenway (landscape).

The Greenway at Stratford Marsh

The Greenway is a 7-kilometre (4.3 mi) long[1][2][3] footpath[4] and cycleway[5] in London, mostly in the London Borough of Newham, on the embankment containing the Joseph Bazalgette[6] Northern Outfall Sewer.

Route

v t e Greenway footpath, London
Victoria Park East Cross Route  A12  Fish Island Hackney Wick 600m River Lea   Tower Hamlets Newham boundary Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park East Anglia Main Line Pudding Mill Lane DLR station 200m City Mill River Waterworks River Stratford High Street  A118  Abbey Mills Pumping Station Abbey Creek Abbey Road DLR station 200m Canning Road Jubilee line & DLR lines Manor Road  A1011  West Ham 250m Essex Thameside & District lines Plaistow 400m Memorial Recreation Ground Upper Road Balaam Street  B116  Barking Road  A124  Prince Regent Lane  A112  Newham University Hospital Boundary Lane Newham Way  A13  CS3 LCN13 Beckton DLR station 600m Royal Docks Road  A1020  NCR13

The western end of the Greenway is Victoria Park, London (London Borough of Tower Hamlets). The route runs alongside Wick Lane, under the East Cross Route to Fish Island.[7] It then crosses the River Lea into Newham, continuing to Stratford and West Ham.[8] The eastern end is at Royal Docks Road in Beckton.[9]

The Capital Ring Walk (section 14) follows the Greenway for most of its distance, and forms part 4[10] of the 2012 Jubilee Greenway[11]

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.[12]

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 (SINC) since 2016.[13][14][15]

In mid-2018, Transport for London designated the section of the Greenway between the A13 and A118 as Quietway 22.[16]

A similar path called the Ridgeway covers the Southern Outfall Sewer.

Renovation

London Greenway Sign with logo

Work has taken place to resurface and renovate the route—especially around the Olympic Park.[17][18]

A community group was set up in 2016 for Greenway users,[19][20] and Newham Council began piloting better lighting,[21] with a view to opening the Greenway 24 hours a day.[1] Greenway Users have subsequently set up a Greenway Action Group to improve the recording of incidents by logging crimes on the pathway.[22]

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 and the City Mill River.[23]

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'.[24][25][26][27]

The View Tube,[28] made from recycled shipping containers, is a viewing platform on the Greenway incorporating the Container Café.[29]

Bow Goods yard, a large plot of land situated between the Greenway and the railway tracks between Stratford and central London is set to become a rail freight campus and last-mile logistics hub. [30][31]

History

The older alternative name for the route is Sewerbank, with the name Greenway introduced after a renovation in the mid-1990s.[1]

In 1931 Mahatma Gandhi visited London for a period of 3 months for talks on the future of India, he based himself at Kingsley Hall in Bromley-by-Bow. His host there, the Christian Socialist Muriel Lester 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.[32]

Gallery

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

References

1. "The Newham Greenway: London's Answer To New York's High Line". Londonist. 26 April 2016.
2. "Relation: The Greenway (6740171)". OpenStreetMap. 5 August 2024.
3. "Greenway, London". www.wikidata.org.
4. Young, Nick (February 2017). "Weekend Walks: The Greenway (Beckton To Hackney)". Londonist. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
5. "The Greenway and canalside Olympic tour - Britain's best bike rides". The Guardian. 5 May 2012.
6. "SIR JOSEPH BAZALGETTE and LONDON'S INTERCEPTING SEWER SYSTEM" (PDF). Retrieved 28 May 2020.
7. "PDF of Greenway section of Jubilee Walkway" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
8. "The Northern Outfall Sewer east of Stratford. - Leisure, health and housing - Port Cities". Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
9. "The Greenway: Stratford to Beckton". AllTrails.com. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
10. "Victoria Park to Stokes Road - Transport for London". Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
11. "Jubilee Greenway - Transport for London". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
12. Shepheard, Paul. "East London's Greenway by Adams & Sutherland Architects". BDOnline. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
13. "Biodiversity | London City Hall". www.london.gov.uk.
14. "GiGL SINCs Open Data – London Datastore".
15. "Planning Data Map". apps.london.gov.uk.
16. Cyclist, Hackney (14 January 2019). "Hackney cyclist: The Greenway is now Quietway 22".
17. Engel, Matthew (2 January 2010). "Dispatch from Fish Island". Financial Times. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
18. Hill, Dave (7 December 2012). "A green way past the transforming Olympic park". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
19. Richard (7 February 2016). "A Greenway Users Group". Easternism. Archived from the original on 28 January 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
20. "Greenway Users" – via Facebook.
21. "London's cycle network overhaul has come to a standstill Environment The Guardian". TheGuardian.com. 25 February 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
22. "Crime Log". 8 March 2020.
23. "diamond geezer". Retrieved 28 May 2020.
24. "Mayor awards Rewild London Fund to support plans to rewild the capital | London City Hall". www.london.gov.uk.
25. https://www.nationalparkcity.london/blog/ranger-stories/greenway-pollinator-trail ^[bare URL]
26. "The Greenway Pollinator Trail is coming".
27. "Greenway Pollinator Trail".
28. "View Tube". Retrieved 28 May 2020.
29. "The Greenway and canalside Olympic tour | Britain's best bike rides". The Guardian. 5 May 2012. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
30. "Last piece of London 2012 Olympics legacy land to become a rail freight centre". ianVisits. 23 October 2024.
31. "Bow Goods Yard | Masterplan | London". Bow Goods Yard.
32. Gandhi's host at Kinsley Hall, Muriel Lester, described these walks in her account of his 3 month stay with her Lester, Muriel (1932). "Entertaining Gandhi - Muriel Lester - Google Books". Retrieved 28 May 2020.

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