[Note: I wrote this post last Thursday after arriving back in Oxford. I didn’t have time to upload pictures before our group left for London, so I am only now posting. A complete set of pictures from leg 14 of the ramble may be found here<\/a>] <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When my oldest son Theo turned nine we bought him a Nintendo DS for his birthday. We also bought him a game he was desperate to play, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass<\/em>. One morning Theo woke Tara and me up. He was in tears because the game was over. The end credits had rolled. He was grieving that there wasn\u2019t any more of the game to play. As one who loves games myself, I was touched by Theo\u2019s feeling at the time. It\u2019s something extraordinary to find oneself so wrapped up in a story, to feel almost like you are part of what is happening, and to feel like you have lost something when you reach the end. Roleplaying games can do that. So can really good books. And, as I\u2019ve learned this semester, so can a 185-mile ramble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I left our house in Oxford at 4:30 AM today for the Oxford Tube. Weather reports called for rain through the morning. I arrived at Victoria Station with a steady rain falling, but the radar suggested that things would lighten up later in the morning, so I grabbed a cup of coffee and reviewed the plan for my final leg of the Thames River Path. The 10-mile stretch from Tower Bridge to the Thames Barrier traverses a part of London unlike anything I\u2019ve hiked to this point. Wharves, docks, and homages to London\u2019s seafaring past are everywhere. I didn\u2019t think this would be a thing, but on today\u2019s ramble I encountered the ugliest site on the entire 185 mile path, a one mile stretch through an industrial wasteland not far from the Barrier. For your viewing pleasure:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>

\n

East of Tower Bridge, the path wanders through once-blighted urban neighborhoods that are experiencing renovation and revival, with all of the mixed blessings that come with gentrification: wealthier residents bring economic revival, raising rents and contributing to London\u2019s affordable housing crisis. While hiking the path today I also came across individuals trolling the shoreline of the Thames at low tide, participating in \u201cmudlarking<\/a>,\u201d an activity first described to me by my friend, Dan McGregor. Apparently with some effort it is possible to wander in the mud and gunk of the Thames River and uncover extraordinary treasures, that is if one doesn\u2019t mind the fact that the Thames still receives occasional deposits of sewage. There are entire communities of mudlarkers in London, and apparently it is not too difficult to find artifacts on shore from nearly 2500 years of history along the Thames.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Between Tower Bridge and the Barrier, one also traverses land steeped in maritime history. My personal favorite: St. Mary\u2019s Church, Rotherhithe<\/a> is located a short distance from where the Mayflower launched from London in July 1620. The Mayflower Captain, Christopher Jones, is buried at the church, though the priest I visited with at the church told me that they are uncertain where on the grounds he is. A few miles east of Rotherhithe sits the Cutty Sark<\/a>, one of the last great tea ships ever built (1869-1895). The Old Royal Naval College <\/a>sits along the banks here as well. With so much history it is impossible to even scratch the surface on a ramble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n