From Stratford to Limehouse
Join the walk at Stratford Station or at Hackney Wick Station
Summer had arrived when I set off from Stratford to explore the waterways that lead down to the River Thames. The canal path from Carpenters Lock on the Bow Back Waters was quiet and the waters were still.
Beside still waters. A Heron stood to attention on the side of the canal.
A Heron
The banks are now more verdant than they have ever been, with trees and plants spreading all around. It was some time before the rural sights and sounds became urban and industrial - but I continued along the path until I reached Bow.
I distracted myself by thinking of the folklore that surrounds this part of the river. It was Queen Matilda who tried to cross the river by boat and fell in - and so insisted that a bridge be built. The bridge was bow shaped, giving this part of East London its name.
And then I arrived at Three Mills and left the canal side to walk down the cobbled street to visit. Behind the watermill there is open land, with waterways flowing on both sides. This is an island - and there is something romantic about being on an island.
Three Mills
There also something so evocative about a mill. I think of a nursery rhyme about a Jolly Miller and nearby Pudding Mill Lane where I picture rosy cheeked bakers with white aprons and floury hands.
All very silly, of course, because the reality of the harshness of the past is so very different - this mill distilled gin which was sold to poverty stricken Londoners who drank it to escape from their hopeless lives and which led to even greater misery.
I set off from the mill and stopped for a moment to look back through the branches of the weeping willows further down the canal path.
Weeping willows
After a little while I came to a lock and crossed the bridge so that I could turn off from the Lea Navigation and continue along The Limehouse Cut - a very straight canal which the Romans would have been proud of.
And finally after a long, straight walk along the tow path I arrived at the Limehouse Basin, beside The River Thames.
Join or leave the walk here at Limehouse DLR station
From here it was a short walk to Stepney City Farm.
The farm is full of animals and local people come here to grow fruit and vegetables - and hops. There is a great tradition in the East End of London of families travelling to hop fields in the summer to help with the harvest and to escape to the countryside. Those days are long gone now but the memories of being children and going hop picking remain.
There are story book scenes to see - here is one of them, with three geese in a row.
A gaggle of geese
There is much to learn by discovering nature in these rural spots. A sign points to the Forest Garden - a living lesson in permaculture where the natural forest ecology system self regulates.
And there is the simple joy of seeing the animals - goats and geese, donkeys and hens. From the farm I could see the tower of nearby St Dunstans and I walked across from the farm to the churchyard.
St Dunstan's in the distance
In St Dunstan's Churchyard all was still - only the sound of birdsong and the quiet chatter of some tourists who had strayed over to Stepney from the Tower of London.
Here they could visit an English village setting so close to to centre of the capital and yet so rural. The churchyard spreads out, with paths across the wide grassed spaces and trees around the edge.
It would appear to be something of a miracle that no buildings have encroached on this land - yet there is a tragic reason for this - there are plague pits beneath this hallowed ground.
I walked back down to Limehouse and decided to visit another farm - but this time I would need to leave the byways to reach it. I had travelled many miles through the countryside of East London along paths but now I would need to hop on the Docklands Light Railway.
Join or leave the walk at Limehouse DLR Station
I decided to stop off along the way and visit the futuristic city of Canary Wharf, which rose from the abandoned docklands of East London's peninsular, all gleaming towers of glass and steel and concrete, with straight lines and sharp corners, precise and immaculate.
Join or leave the walk at Canary Wharf DLR station
Only the sky above and the water below, along with a compact forest of trees outside belonged to the natural world, along with some carpets of grass and flower beds that are pretty but of little ecological value.
But all that is changing now. Here are the beginnings of the greening of the space around the high rise buildings.
There are green walls.
Green Walls
And homes to attract insects - which in turn will encourage more birds to fly in.
Insect House
Bee friendly plants twist around each other, and tumble over the edges.
Bee friendly plants
Around the edges of the old dock walls there is now vegetation.
Greening the dock walls
And across the water there are floating ecology islands.
Green islands
More wildlife will be attracted to Canary Wharf. And people can swim here in the Summer months. Dipping into the water, we are returning to nature - from the artificial environment inside the shopping malls, where there is light and heat all year round and the seasons may come and go without us even noticing.
This transformation is said to encourage the relationship between people and the natural world. And humans are part of the natural world.
Canary Wharf - once a sterile and barren place, the Antithesis of Arcadia - is becoming a welcoming place for nature in all its forms.
Join or leave the walk at Mudchute Farm DLR station
Now I would return to a place and go back to a time when the peninsular was open land. At Mudchute Farm I headed up and over the hill and noticed a hand written sign simply saying BEEHIVES - a contrast to the digital signs at Canary Wharf and pointing me in the direction of stepping back into the past.
The way in to Mudchute Farm
As I walked around the farm I stopped to watch the horses, cattle, sheep and goats in the fields.
Horses grazing
I made my way along paths and bridleways, the leaves of the silver birches glistening in the sunshine and I could hear the metallic sound as they moved gently in the breeze.
A bridleway through Mudchute Farm
And I admired a group of llamas, standing haughtily in their pen.
The Llamas - so proud and dignified
From Mud Chute Farm I would make my way back to Limehouse where the next - and final stretch of the walk through the countryside of East London would start.
Join or leave the walk at Mud Chute Farm DLR station
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