• Start: Start from Cutty Sark in Greenwich at 11am.

• Finish: Finish at Woolwich Foot Tunnel at 1.45pm.

About the Relay

The Thames Path National Trail is celebrating its 30th anniversary this summer with an extraordinary 24-day walking relay in June involving hundreds of ramblers, community and river-user groups, with residents from towns and villages along the 185.2 mile route. The Thames Path Relay will start on Friday 5 June from the source of the River Thames in a Cotswold meadow near Kemble, Gloucestershire, and finish on Sunday 28 June at the Woolwich Foot Tunnel in east London.

We encourage EGRA members and local residents to come out and welcome the walkers! The final leg passing through our neighborhood highlights the deeply intertwined history and connection between Greenwich, Woolwich, and the river.

The West London Ramblers leading this final walk share a deep and enduring connection with David Sharp, widely regarded as the founding father of the Thames Path National Trail.

Our Local Connection

When the Thames Path National Trail was declared open in July 1996, the Thames Barrier in Greenwich was the start or finish point. In January 2022 the route was extended to Woolwich Foot Tunnel where it links up with the King Charles III England Coast Path. Greenwich has recently undertaken a Thames Path review highlighting the benefits the trail brings to both local and wider communities.

A Vision for the River

The Thames Path Relay is a collaboration with the Drinkable Rivers Foundation, whose founder, Li An Phoa, walked the Thames Path from source-to-sea in 2023. Li An Phoa and James Manthel, co-initiator of the Mayors for a Drinkable Thames, invite people to join the walk and local community events to take place during the Thames Relay.

Other 30th Anniversary Celebrations Include:

• 30 wonderful poems by Poet-in-Residence Robert Seatter. The poems can be read and heard via QR codes on waymarker posts in 30 locations between the Source and Woolwich, and on Visit Thames website.

• ‘Thames Path at 30’ photo-competition and exhibition hosted by the Thames Festival Trust to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Thames Path National Trail and the completion of the Thames Tideway Tunnel in London.

Find Out More: Each section is published on the National Trails website: Thames Path - 30th Anniversary - National Trails