Sunday 20 March 2016

Early Morning Thames Path Spin with 25mm lens

My instructions were quite clear this morning. You can go out but be back for 12:30. Understanding this fully I ventured out quite early with a 25mm lens I was testing. On my camera a 25mm becomes a standard 50mm, which is a classic focal length and almost matches the view of ones eyes. All of the photos to follow were taking with this one focal length.

I have to say that you might have seen some of these photos before as I cycled along my familiar and favourite of routes. Slightly different this time insofar as I went from Barbican to the Thames Barrier and back.

When I arrived at the Millennium Bridge there were only a few people about. Joggers, tourists and photographers with meaty tripods, huge lenses and nightly expensive looking cameras. I like travelling light and felt more than a little smug that I would not only cover more ground on my bicycle but that I would be travelling a great deal lighter.






At the Tower Bridge view some sort of naval vessel was docked. It was not large but I did wonder what it was. One of the security guards nearby stopped to say hello. Every so often we bump into each other at this location and we always chew the fat for a short while.






The weather forecast foretold of overcast but dry conditions. The reality was that there was a very light rain for certainly the first 40 minutes or so of the ride. Thereafter things started to gradually brighten up.








Riverside accommodation along the Thames is always of interest. Every so often you can spot one or two that are a little out of the ordinary and better for it.




On one of the little spiral bridges there were some wool ornaments. Normally these crop up in the summer months and range from what you can see below to near blankets of different colours.






When I arrived at the foot tunnel there were an alarm sounding. Ignoring this I made my way to the lift. A pedestrian was waiting by the lift down. When we got in he said that he hoped that the lift was working and would not plummet to the ground! They often say who would you not like to get in a lift with. It got worse. He then started jumping up and down and informed me he was doing this in case his theory about the lift was right. He did this until the lift safely arrived at the bottom. Nothing in lift had really prepared me for this and for once I was rendered speechless.




The foot tunnel was very quiet so I took the opportunity to take some photos of my bike. The walker you can see in the photo was very much amused by my antics.




Out on the other side Greenwich was quiet with almost no-one around. This would of course change dramatically on my return. 








As I neared the O2 I could not face the section of mud, craters and gravel so I deiced to bypass it and head for the road. On the main road was a former gas works. Many of these structures are now listed and therefore protected against being bulldozed to make way for developments.




The Skyline looked to do doing a roaring trade as almost every car I saw while taking some photographs looked to be filled.




The Thames Path had lots of public artwork. One I have paid little attention to was the lorry container embedded in the ground. I even liked the colour.










Reaching the Thames Flood Barrier and its I know that it would not be open by the time I arrived so I took in the view and ate a snack I had brought with me. With that does I headed back.










It does seem as though any parcel of land along the Thames is developed. Fences shoot up quite often, behind which building work progresses at a pace.




Near Greenwich I saw a cyclist come off their bike on a small section of cobbles. I think Anne did the same in the past. Luckily only their pride was dented and they carried on their way.




Also along the Thames you occasionally find old accommodation sitting nearby the ultra modern. The little row of terraced houses just before the old Naval College still look pretty fine to my eyes.








Along the Thames are numerous step leading down to the foreshore. When the tide is out you can often see people searching for fragments of history. You aren't allowed to dig and have to inform the powers that be if you found something of historical importance but you stand a good chance of finding a fragment of pottery or part of an old clay pipe perhaps.




As I cycled closer and closer back to Tower Bridge the weather started to improve and it was turning out to be a really lovely day.




Back on the Millennium Bridge things were busy and took a long time to get from one side to the other.








I did make it back in time and as for the 25mm. It was a nice lens and pretty sharp but I am not sure I would keep it. For my travels I do like having the 35mm equivalent of 24mm / 28mm.

All in all I cycled just over 29 miles today. This will tide me over nicely until Thursday night when I embark on the overnight London to Southend ride which I look forward to greatly!


Map and ride data

1 comment:

  1. You would have ridden past the mouth of The Neckinger, Wallbrook and Earl's Sluice on this ride - secret rivers entering The Thames.

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