Route Canal

This new route to London takes me along country lanes to Bishop Stortford where I joined the River Stort Navigation. These canals creep into towns by the back door so finding the route out takes some investigation and a conversation or two with the helpful locals. 

Eventually you remerge into countryside and, though the path was bumpy in parts, this way you encounter green fields, narrow boats lining the banks and picturesque locks, with perhaps a café offering tea and cake.

Nearer London the architecture becomes industrial as you pass through the drained marshes and eventually exclusive canal side developments with a price to be paid for the river view. The Stort joins the Lee Valley, a green lung extending deep into London, and then past the Olympic Park and Canary Wharf to meet the tubulent Thames.