The Marathon Route: North of the River

Last week I wrote about the London Marathon route
south of the river. This post continues the course for the second half of the race.

Once runners have crossed the Thames from south to north via Tower Bridge, they turn right, heading towards a circuit of the Docklands. Sadly I haven’t nearly enough time to go into all the stories connected to this area of London, let’s just say it’s one of the most intriguing parts of the Capital.

First up is The Highway, formerly the Ratcliff Highway, which takes runners into Wapping. Historically this road is known for two high profile murders in December 1811. First a young linen draper and his family were killed in their own home. Then, less than two weeks later, the landlord of the Kings Arms on what is now Garnet Street, along with his wife and a servant, were murdered in the pub.

What shocked people the most was that both attacks happened after the buildings had been locked and shuttered for the night, suggesting whoever carried them out had been hiding inside the properties.

A lodger at the nearby Pear Tree pub in Wapping became the principal suspect for the first murder. John Williams hung himself in prison while awaiting trial. The Kings Arms attack remained unsolved.

The Ratcliff Highway Murders became a subject for national fascination thanks to the burgeoning newspaper industry, ironic then that the area would become infamous for the somewhat messy move by News International from Fleet Street to their new Wapping printing plant in 1986, with the Highway being a focal point for protestors to meet. 6000 members of the National Union of Journalists went on strike, protesting against the relocation and the threat to their jobs News Internationals plans posed.

The marathon continues into Limehouse, once the location of Chinatown, populated by people working in the shipping trade who came to London on boats carrying opium and tea. After the area was devastated during World War 2, many from the Chinese community moved to Soho.

Those that have run the London Marathon over a number of years tell me that this part of the route has improved enormously. A decade ago this section of the course was like a ghost town compared to the vibrant atmosphere south of the river or in the last few miles in Central London. With the regeneration of the docklands comes an increase in the amount of residencial properties on this part of the course, meaning there is little let up in the numbers out to support the runners.

The route through the Isle of Dogs takes the marathon through Mudchute, which takes it’s name, predictably enough, from being the location for the dumping of mud and silt dredged to create Millwall Docks in the 1860s. The fertile nature of the land led to it becoming a wildlife park and adventure sports spot. A sailing and water sports centre is based at Millwall dock and one of London’s
inner city farms can be found here.

If you want the definition of successful Docklands regeneration, you only need to take a look at the
My Canary Warf website. After there, the tour of this part of London ends with Poplar, before the route of the Marathon heads back toward Tower Bridge and the City along Commercial Road. Having worked in Whitechapel for nearly two years, this section of the course is familiar ground to me. Were you to take a right at Aldgate East tube onto Whitechapel High Street, you’d soon come to my favourite pub in these parts called The White Heart. A little rough round the edges perhaps, but the food is good and people watchers can observe a varied mix of clientele, with city workers mixing with students from London Met, traditional cockney folk and scene types that have strayed from, or are on their way to nearby Shoreditch. The alley way next to the White Heart is part of the
Jack the Ripper walk, and a short distance further on, past the Whitechapel Art Gallery is a left turn taking you to Brick Lane where another collide of cultures can be found, those come for a vibrant music and art scene mingling with the large Bangladeshi community that has made Brick Lane the curry capital of London.

Given that by now we’re a good distance into the race, the thought of what delights lay to my right is not what I’ll need, so getting back on track, runners continue back to Tower Bridge, passing under it to follow the river along Lower and Upper Thames Street, with the City of London on the right.

Many an ancient tradition is retained in the square mile, my favourite being Beating the Bounds, which still takes place at All Hallows in the City of London on Ascension Day.

Beating the Bounds is an ancient custom still observed in many English parishes. Its roots go back to mediaeval times when parishes reaffirmed the edge of their land by walking round them during Rogation Week, stopping to beat each boundary mark with sticks, praying for protection and blessings for the land. Rogation Day, for those who didn’t pay attention during R.E class, ahem, was traditionally a period of four days of Solemn procession to invoke God’s mercy, and is the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before Ascension Day.

The All Hallows' Beating Party is made up of students from St Dunstan's College Catford, who return to their roots in the parish of St Dunstan-in-the-East to take an active part in the ceremony. The south boundary of the parish is mid-stream of the Thames and the Beating Party, together with the clergy and the Masters of the Livery Companies associated with the parish, board a boat which takes them out onto the river where one of the students beats that boundary mark.

Excitingly, every third year the ceremony includes a 'confrontation' with the Resident Governor and Yeomen Warders of HM Tower of London at the boundary mark shared by the Tower and the Church. During the middle ages the divide was always in dispute, and this meeting commemorates a rather feisty occasion in 1698 when a riot took place between the people of the Tower and those of the parish.

I include this story since the Beating the Bounds tradition also exists in South West London, where every summer members of the Stragglers complete a full circuit of Bushy Park (about seven miles), marking their territory by stopping for a pint at seven pubs along the route - the church would be so proud!

The final part of the London Marathon takes in the Embankment, past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, onto Birdcage Walk and The Mall, finishing in front of St James’ Palace. By this point, I imagine most runners couldn’t give a stuff about the history of the place, they just want to cross the finish line and find a pub. Although not on the marathon route itself, my personal recommendation would be the
Porterhouse in Covent Garden. The tired brain might find the vast choice of foreign beers on offer a little too much to handle though.

The Marathon Route: South of the River

Apart from some key points along the route, having never looked on a map of the course, I had no real idea of where the London Marathon goes until I looked it up this week.

I was aware it started at Blackheath and that one of the best viewing points is the
Cutty Sark.

I knew the river crossing was Tower Bridge, roughly the half way point, and that from there it goes east to the Isle of Dogs, before heading back, somehow, via the City to Central London, The Embankment and The Mall.

Unless you’ve run the marathon, or taken a keen interest, I expect a lot of readers to this blog would have a similar knowledge of the route, or lack of, to me.

Since to write about the London Marathon course in a way that would vaguely do it justice would take thousands of words, I thought I’d pick just a few highlights, splitting this introduction to the 26.2 miles into north and south of the river.

The marathon begins at three different points on Blackheath in South East London. You’re allocated your spot depending on whether you’re one of those elite types or not, with runners converging before the 5K point.

A host of high profile events have used the Heath throughout its history, from Suffragette marches and rallies for political leaders; to fairs dating from the 1700s through to what is currently London’s largest free fireworks display, with over 40,000 attending.

With the main road from London to Dover crossing the Heath, it was a notorious playground for highwaymen, not least
Dick Turpin in the 1730s.

Sport is a major part of the history of this bit of South East London.
Blackheath is England’s oldest rugby club (founded 1858), and hosted the first international between England and Wales in 1881. Blackheath is also the oldest Hockey club in the country, formed in 1861.

The race goes north for a short distance to Charlton, before turning west, heading in the same direction as the Thames, although not following the exact course of the river, sticking to main roads instead.

Put Charlton into Google and as you might expect, the first set of results all relate to Charlton Athletic. Other significant locations in this part of London are the
Thames Barrier and, further up the river towards Greenwich,
the O2 Arena.

Once through Charlton, the marathon course heads towards Woolwich, past the Royal Artillery Barracks and Old Royal Naval College, before reaching the Cutty Sark at around 6 miles. I’m told this is one of the most atmospheric parts of the course, the noise being similar to that of a football ground.

Launched to the water in 1869, the Cutty Sark had been built with the ambition of being the fastest of its kind at sea and in doing so, it was hoped, winning the race to be the quickest to bring the new season’s tea back from China. This dream was never realised though, the closest her crew got to success came in 1872. Spotting another vessel bound for Britain loading in the same port, the cutty Sark was able to build a 400 mile lead early on its return journey. A large storm meant significant damage to the ship’s rudder had to be repaired at sea, with their advantage being overhauled. The Cutty Sark eventually arrived home one week after their rival.

Via wool trade voyages to Australia, time spent under Portuguese ownership and a number of years in Cornwall as a naval training ship, the Cutty Sark spent nearly seventy years at sea, arriving at her current Greenwich home in 1951 after many years based in Kent.

Another key point in the early stages of the London Marathon is the Prime Meridian at Greenwich. If you’ve ever wondered why Greenwich, I mean, what’s Greenwich got that Charlton or Deptford hasn’t, then
this link will tell you.

Continuing West, the route passes through Surrey Quays and Bermondsey, along Jamaica Road, before the crossing from South to north of the river via Tower Bridge, one of the iconic points of the race.

The area of Bermondsey has experienced significant highs and lows throughout its history. Following the Great Fire of London, better off folk relocated here, resulting in the area taking on a leafy suburb persona. By the 19th century parts of the area close to the river had declined into inner city slums, including the notorious Jacob’s Island which was immortalised by
Charles Dickens in ‘Oliver Twist’.

Being an area heavily reliant on river trade, Bermondsey, like much of the Docklands, experienced grim days post World War 2. Significant regeneration to the whole docklands area has seen another turn around in the fortunes of Bermondsey, with many a sort after residential and commercial property now in the locality.

Bermondsey is notable for being the location of the first railway in the Capital, the London to Greenwich line. And then there’s
Millwall FC.

The area of Millwall is north of the river on the Isle of Dogs, the marathon heads that way later in the route. Millwall Rovers was founded in 1885 by working class men, many of whom earned their living at Morton’s food factory. There was a large Scottish presence in the side, but it was not exclusively made up of players from north of the border.

The club occupied four different grounds during their time on the Isle of Dogs, but a lack of space limiting expansion plans meant The Lions sought a new home south of the river in 1910.

The London Marathon won’t be my first physical challenge incorporating Tower Bridge. The picture with this post shows me at the end of a three day bike ride from the Eiffel Tower to the Tower of London. On April 17 Tower Bridge will only be half of the job done. I’ll write about the course north of the Thames another day.