What it was all about

Hello everyone.  I just remembered that I said I would give you a final figure for sponsorship.  We have two figures to report from our efforts:

1. Catherine and I received sponsorship of £1698.40
2. We made £326 on the BBQ we held at St. Edmund Campion when we completed the walk

This gives us a grand total of £2024.40

This is equivalent to 1 year's schooling for 67 children like the ones shown here.

After the Nineteenth and Last Leg

Walk complete.

At the Barrier

So here we are at the end of our Thames Path Walk almost to the day 5 months since we started on 27th March. It has been a tremendous experience which we have thoroughly enjoyed.

Just time for a celebratory toasted sandwich before walking/running a further nearly two miles to Woolwich pier to catch a boat back to Tower Bridge.

It was a lot quicker going back by boat!

Thank you to everyone who provided support - our sponsors, our drivers, people who walked with us, T-shirt organisers, display coordinators, spa-break providers and anyone who listened to us going on about our wonderful experience.  We will let you know how much we raised for Help a Child Africa to provide an education for some of the poorest children in the world. 

The Last Lap

Time to be on our way.

Time for a Break

We thought we would have a rest before the last push to the finish. Luckily we came across this fantastic seat made of flotsam and jetsam on a "beach" just by Greenwich Yacht Club.

The End is in Sight!

Our first view of the Thames Barrier.

Some More Landmarks

The Observatory.

No prizes for getting this one.

And here is Admiral Lord Nelson.

This was Chris' favourite "landmark".

Crossing the Thames

We are about to cross the Thames.

Rather than going over the Thames on a bridge we are actually crossing it by going through a tunnel - this is a first! We have now been on, over, alongside and under the Thames.

Greenwich

We are about halfway through our walk and we have nearly reached Greenwich where we will switch back to the South Bank.

Some Humour En Route

Perhaps we could consider this to protect the church.

As our namesake in Millwall has!

Docklands

We have reached Canary Wharf.

Not sure who's on stop here. This turned out to be a sculpture in the middle of a roundabout but it still looked a tad confusing (and dangerous to us!)

We got use to the height of the buildings but then we came across this pub and realised just how high some of the buildings are!

More Trips Down Memory Lane

Clive had worked in some developments in this part of town so today turned out to be a trip down memory lane for him.

This pub is on the site of the oldest riverside tavern. We decided against calling in for a drink just in case we had trouble paying as they seem to have their own ways of dealing with debtors!

Canary Wharf

You must all have seen the beginning of Eastenders showing the map of the Thames and how it meanders. We were about to see that for ourselves as, from this photo it looks like Canary Wharf is on the opposite bank of the river to us, but we actually walked past it later (before we crossed over to the south bank).

Striding Onwards

Some more lovely riverside properties.

Making good progress - but wait a minute isn't that Tower Bridge again?

Ready to Start for the Last Time

That can't be right I'm sure Angela isn't that tall.

As I thought she's cheating again!

Our support team are joining us today for the last leg and they've got special shirts as well!

We've also got Chris and Clive joining us today which is great. Clive is the driving force behind HelpaChild Africa and he visits Grandcess regularly to monitor progress. He took Chris with him on one of his visits, then they had temperatures in excess of 40 degrees - nowhere near that today not much more than 20 degrees despite being "summer" still at least it isn't raining again today.

After the Eighteenth Leg

Only 10 miles left now.

More Tower Bridge

We were lucky enough to see the bridge being raised and lowered for a boat at the end of the evening.

We enjoyed our penultimate walk today.  There is so much to see in and around London and it is good to see the river well-used,  plenty of boats going along it making use of the many piers, there is even a rib boat (a large power boat) which goes along the river.  There is plenty of opportunity to walk or run alongside the Thames and a lot of the famous London landmarks are alongside it.  The runners can sometimes be a bit of an issue as they are often business people who run in their lunchtimes in groups and tend to take up a lot of room on the path!  

Relaxation

With only one walk left we thought we had earned a bit of relaxation (and obviously food and drink!)

Sent to the Tower!

Here are Catherine and Angela trying to hold onto their heads at Traitors Gate at the end of today's walk.

Our Destination

We were approaching our destination - Tower Bridge.  That would make a good photo of the bridge.

No that would be a better one.

This one would be even better!

Or how about one with us on it as well?  Brendan came to meet us and took this one.

Or how about one with Brendan on and a close-up of the bridge?