kytelly wrote:

Mizter T wrote:

(snip)

Alternatively you could take him on the DLR's new City Airport
extension, possibly getting off to explore the Thames Barrier Park at
Pontoon Dock station.

http://www.thamesbarrierpark.org.uk/

Incidentally nothing moves at the airport between 12:30pm saturday to
12:30pm sunday. This 24 hours of quiet is one of the restrictions
placed on the airport.

Plus if you're in the area you could travel on the North London Line
between North Woolwich and Canning Town, which is due to close soon.
North Woolwich is just around the corner from King George V DLR
station, the terminus of the extension - at least for now - a tunnel is
being dug from there to take the DLR to Woolwich. I think you can see
some of the construction work from the King George V station (but don't
hold me to that!).

Year I was thinking of this actually, think he might have gone on the
NLL but not the DLR. And the Thames Barrier itself is probably worth a
visit.

The Barrier is indeed worth a visit, it's impressive even if it's not
closed.

You could also experience the Woolwich free ferry [1] and/or the
Woolwich foot tunnel [2]. The ferry offers some interesting views -
especially if you stand on the top of either of the exit stairways on
the level of the car deck.

The tunnel meanwhile is an atmospheric (and damp!) experience. There's
manned lifts at either end until 6pm (4:30pm sunday) - I remember a
burly lift operator who was most jovial but also obviously kept an eye
on the tunnel (via CCTV) and kept things under control.

So you could go under/over one way and back the other.

I think - but I'm not certain - that there is a riverside walk all the
way from the Woolwich ferry approach to the Barrier. This streetmap -
http://tinyurl.com/jcef3 - shows the location of King George V DLR
station, though the mapping used is not new enough to feature it.

Both Woolwich and North Woolwich are a bit rough and ready, but you
know the deal - just be a little bit aware of yourself.

Potentially an interesting day out me thinks. If you do go perhaps you
could report back here next week, tell us what you thought and whether
you found a nice pub - one without rotting windowsills and grimey
windows!

-----
[1] Woolwich free ferry
http://www.greenwich.gov.uk/Greenwic...lwichFerry.htm

[2] Woolwich foot tunnel information at bottom of page
http://www.greenwich.gov.uk/Greenwic...el/Walking.htm

kytelly wrote:

Tom Anderson wrote:
On Thu, 5 Oct 2006, mcf wrote:

If you go to see the Thames Barrier, you might to wait until Sunday,
when I believe it will be closed.

Heh. One of the few attractions that's better when closed than open!

tom


Ok Next question is where is the best place to veiw the Barrier? From
the park itself?

One thing I failed to mention in my post elsewhere was that the Thames
Barrier Vistors Centre is/was on the south bank. However from
information online I can't work out if it's still open to the public,
or I'm desperately out of date and it's now just a facility for school
visits or perhaps it's closed altogether.

The Envornment Agency's Thames Barrier pages don't mention any visitors
centre at all:
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk...335688/341764/

Greenwich council's website talks of an Information & Learning Cent
http://www.greenwich.gov.uk/Greenwic...r-content1.htm
and
http://www.greenwich.gov.uk/Greenwic...ningCentre.htm

If you click on the link below you'll conduct a Google search of the
Envirnment Agency website - clicking on the first link to a page about
the "Information and Learning Centre" leads to a 404 error of sorts,
but if you click on the cached page link from the Google results you'll
see a page about the centre.
http://tinyurl.com/j43t8

So maybe it is no more. You could always call the Env. Agency Thames
region enquiries line on 08708 506 506 and ask. So could I, I guess,
but I haven't!
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk...22828/?lang=_e

The way I remember things is that there's a better view from the south
bank. The Thames Barrier Park is the only way you can get up to the
riverside on the north bank - there's no riverside walkway on the north
side, unlike on the south (though I can't remember how complete the
riverside walk is on the south - there may be breaks where you have to
come 'inland' as it were).

Mizter T wrote:

kytelly wrote:

(snip)

Ok Next question is where is the best place to veiw the Barrier? From
the park itself?

The way I remember things is that there's a better view from the south
bank. The Thames Barrier Park is the only way you can get up to the
riverside on the north bank - there's no riverside walkway on the north
side, unlike on the south (though I can't remember how complete the
riverside walk is on the south - there may be breaks where you have to
come 'inland' as it were).


However I'm roundly contradicted by Rob in these two older threads on
the topic...

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk....60c05f acafba
and
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk....b9c9a2 4ce895

The park is defintely prettier than the south side of the river - I
just seem to remember that it was interesting approaching the barrier
on the south-side riverside walk. To be honest I can't recall how
extensive the southern riverside walk is though - I think I'll get
along there on sunday when the barrier gets tested and remind myself.

Apologies for the extensive electronic noise my ramblings have caused.

Rob's idea about walking over the Victoria Dock footbridge is a good
one - you get a great view of the ExCel exhibitons centre.

Mizter T wrote:
..

The Barrier is indeed worth a visit, it's impressive even if it's
not closed.

You could also experience the Woolwich free ferry [1] and/or the
Woolwich foot tunnel [2]. The ferry offers some interesting views -
especially if you stand on the top of either of the exit stairways
on the level of the car deck.

The tunnel meanwhile is an atmospheric (and damp!) experience.
There's manned lifts at either end until 6pm (4:30pm sunday) - I
remember a burly lift operator who was most jovial but also
obviously kept an eye on the tunnel (via CCTV) and kept things
under control.

So you could go under/over one way and back the other.

I think - but I'm not certain - that there is a riverside walk all
the way from the Woolwich ferry approach to the Barrier. This
streetmap - http://tinyurl.com/jcef3 - shows the location of King
George V DLR station, though the mapping used is not new enough to
feature it.

The new satellite view (though not the map itself) on
http://maps.google.co.uk is recent enough to show the DLR's King George
V branch. If you enter Burt Road,London in the search box and zoom in a
bit on satellite view, you'll see Pontoon Dock station immediately south
of Burt Road, with Thames Barrier Park and the barrier itself south of
the station. As far as I can see, there's no access to the downstream
side of the Barrier from the north bank.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)