We were asked by a film crew to take a lower path near Dartford Rifle Range so we would not be in their shot 🤣. The sound of gunfire was disconcerting! @riverthamessoc.bsky.social
Lack of a bridge when we needed to negotiate the Darent river where it meets the Thames meant we had to walk 5 miles just to end up 50 yards further down stream! The Crayford Marshes are very bleak as you would expect, but views of a Marsh Harrier were some consolation. @thamespathnt.bsky.social
Set off from Slade Green to walk back to our base near the Dartford Crossing on our #sourcetosea walk along the Thames. Storm Benjamin was forecast to give high winds and heavy rain but in the end it was fairly dry and just quite blustery - had much worse on the @southwestcoastpath.bsky.social
Today was from Woolwich to Slade Green near Erith which we chose purely to balance the distances with the next two days. Lovely autumn weather for walking. Met a nice chap who had just bought a carbon bike in Maidstone and was riding it back home to the South Bank. @riverthamessoc.bsky.social
Back again for the final part of our walk from #sourcetosea Definitely getting to the gritty end of the river. Lots of semi-derelict industry and certainly no gentrification once we left Woolwich Arsenal behind. @thamespathnt.bsky.social
When it first entered service the passport checks for the destination country were down once the train was en route. In case of problem passengers each train included two "lock-ups" complete with shackles to stop you escaping!
The driver's cab interior was designed in Manchester which is where I visited it in 1991. At that time it had the traditional French "steering wheel" type of power/brake controller which was later changed to the arrangement seen here being driven by me on the training simulator at Waterloo!
It was rumoured that because of the problems in Ireland at the time that the coaches had secret hatches in the bottom so that the SAS could storm the train in the event of a hijack!
A Eurostar parked up somewhere in France before the tunnel had opened - notice it is plugged in by a mains cable at the front! This might have been pre-series 2, the first full rake. Other photo is the original Business Class seating.
The Cab Radio for the TMST/Eurostar also had to automatically switch between the 4 different ground systems on the route, although the ET system was largely the same as in the UK. All used VHF radio in the same frequency band but were very different at a technical level.
Siemens in Poole in the UK designed and supplied the Cab Radio for the TMST/Eurostar. I was fortunate to be the lead engineer on the project for Siemens. Learnt the French for all sorts of technical things!
Slightly (but only just!) better photos of this morning's Osprey/Eagle encounter. Someone might be able to tell what sort of fish was the unfortunate third party! @harbourbirds.bsky.social@ukoi.bsky.social
Passed through lots of delightful areas of old warehousing before arriving opposite Canary Wharf. #cuttysark soon followed and then the college at Greenwich. Surprisingly we then reached another view of Canary Wharf but this time from the opposite side with all the buildings in the reverse order.
Our final day of our walk #sourcetosea of the River Thames. Set off from London Bridge and soon reached Tower Bridge - the final above ground crossing before the one at Dartford if you ignore the cable car at Greenwich, such a change from yesterday.
The boats on this part of the river are so different from up stream, in particular the fast Thames Clippers. So many bittersweet family memories on this stretch of the river. For example Putney Bridge where Liz had her collar bone broken by a London bus!
After a break of several months to concentrate on other things Lesley and I are back for one last push to complete our walk from #sourcetosea as far as the #thamesbarrier Picked up at Hammersmith Bridge and from then there were so many bridges! Totally lost count. The stand-out was Albert Bridge.
