Wapping to Canary Wharf.

On 22nd November 2025, ten of us met at Wapping Station on a rather cold and damp day. After refreshment at the café a couple of doors down, we set off at 11am. My book said to go left at the station, which I assumed was as you exited the station, but rather than being the Thames Path, this would have taken us to the river, or mudlarking if the tide was out.

We therefore went back past the café and carried on to the Prospect of Whitby pub, which has been around since around 1520 and overlooks gallows set in the mud of the Thames as a deterrent/warning to pirates. The wood and rope looked relatively new, so although it’s been there a few hundred years I suspect it’s like Trigger's brush in Only Fools & Horses. The pub was apparently frequented by Samuel Pepys, Charles Dickens and J. M. W. Turner.

Carrying on, we turned alongside Shadwell Basin and up to St Paul’s Church – the church of sea captains (with 75 buried in the cemetery and Captain James Cook as a Parishioner). The church was open, but for a Christmas Fair, so we just popped in briefly to warm up and browse. We then circled round back to the Thames Path, through King Edward Gardens and on to Limehouse Basin, where the Regent's Canal meets the Thames. We followed the Limehouse Cut - which connects the Basin with the Lee Navigation at Bow Locks - a short way to visit St Anne's Church, built by Nicholas Hawksmoor and with an unusual pyramid in the grounds. There was an exhibition in the gallery, plus the bonus of an organist playing whilst we were there.

We retraced our steps a short way along the cut to then go through Ropemakers Park and come out near The Grapes Pub (another link with Dickens). From there we went down Narrow Street to rejoin the Thames Path and carry on to West Ferry Circus and Canary Wharf. We finished at Leon in Cabot Place for a warming drink and food for those that wanted.

The walk was approximately 2.75 miles. 

Richard  27th November 2025

The gibbet at the back of the Prospect of Whitby pub.Wet and Windy

Photos by Madeleine