Sign marking the Ridgeway where it meets the Thames Path

The Ridgeway is a 3.5-mile (5.6 km)[1][2][3] "cycling permitted pedestrian priority" footpath owned by Thames Water in southeast London. It runs between Plumstead and Crossness on an embankment that covers the Joseph Bazalgette Southern Outfall Sewer.

Route

Ridgeway footpath, London
Plumstead National Rail
Pettman Cresent A206
Elizabeth line depot[4][5][6]
HM Prison Belmarsh
White Hart Avenue
Nathan Way/Sewell Road (East)
Sewell Road (West)
Thamesmead
Harrow Manor Way A2041
Greenwich
Bexley
border
Green Chain walk[7]
The Link Thamesmead[8]
Southmere lake
Lakeside Centre[9][10]
Southmere Boat Club[11][12]
Bazalgette Way
Eastern Way A2016
Crossway Park
Sporting Club Thamesmead F.C.
Crossness Pumping Station
Thames Path[13]

The Ridgeway runs ENE/WSW:[14] the western two thirds between Plumstead railway station and The Link Thamesmead, home of the London College of Performing Arts,[15][16][17] is in the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

The remainder of the Ridgeway towards the Thames Path and Crossness Pumping Station is in the London Borough of Bexley.

A similar path called the Greenway covers the Northern Outfall Sewer.

History

The sewers were installed after an outbreak of cholera in 1853 and the "Great Stink" of 1858.[18][19]

Development

The pathway at the Greenwich end of the Ridgeway was refurbished in 2010[20][21] and the pathway at the Bexley end of the Ridgeway was refurbished in 2017.[22][23][24]

The Ridgeway is incorporated in to the Thamesmead 5K and family 1 mile runs organised by the Thamesmead running club and Peabody Trust.[25][26]

The Ridgeway and several surrounding areas have been recognised by the Mayor of London and the London boroughs as a site of importance for nature conservation (SINC) since 2016.[27][28][29]

In 2018, the Plumstead entrance to the Ridgeway was refurbished, with public art work installed by local artist Sam Skinner and Ninth Seal.[30][31] Further changes to the Plumstead entrance and surrounding public realm are planned in 2024 as a result of issues highlighted in the Plumstead Area Framework conducted by Greenwich council in 2016. [32][33][34][35]

A petition was created by local users of the Ridgeway for litter bins to be installed along its length. The petition was rejected by Greenwich council in January 2018.[36][37][38]

In 2018, the American artist Duke Riley installed a temporary art installations at the end of the Ridgeway, on land previously used as the driving range for the Thamesview Golf centre. The event organised as part of the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT) 2018 was called 'Fly By Night' and featured 1,500 LED-lit, trained pigeons flying above the River Thames.[39][40][41]

In 2023, the Ridgeway featured in the 'Thamesmead Light Festival: Light The Way' which incorporated a number of light sculptures on a walking trail between the Lakeside Arts Centre, Crossway Park and Sporting Club Thamesmead.[42][43] That year, the Ridgeway was also included as one of the 22 sites selected by the Mayor of London for the second round of his Rewild London Fund.[44] The funding aimed to create a 'Thamesmead Pollinator Corridor' and was led by the North West Kent Countryside Partnership in collaboration with the BumbleBee Conservation Trust, Bow Arts, University of East London and the Ridgeway Users community group.[45][46][47]

In 2023, the Belgium artist and film-maker, Elise Guillaume held a 'Listening to the Bees' workshop on the Ridgeway organised as part of the Three Rivers Bexley Alliance with the BumbleBee Conservation Trust and the Ridgeway Users community group.[48][49][50][51][52]

Between 2023 - 2028 the Ridgeway Biodiversity Project will be undertaken. It is funded through a biodiversity offsetting agreement between Thames Water, the landowner and Cory Riverside Energy. It will involve 'removing denser areas of scrub and non-native species, while restoring and extending the areas of more open habitats such as grassland, wildflowers and bare ground' and will take place in two phases over five years.[53][54]

There is a Facebook group,[55] Instagram page,[56] and Twitter page [57] for Ridgeway Users.

Future proposals

There is an option to extend the Royal Arsenal Narrow Gauge (RANG) steam railway [58][59][60] from Crossness car park to Plumstead railway station via the Ridgeway.[61][62]

At the western end of the Ridgeway, the housing association Peabody Trust have applied to build 930 homes adjacent to Plumstead bus garage.[63][64] Improvements to existing public spaces around the development will include improvements to pathways that pass the Ridgeway.[65] Proposals have been put forward by the Pharaoh Project to create a 'biodome' within the underpass at Pettman Crescent adjacent to the Plumstead entrance of the Ridgeway.[66][67] Planning applications have been submitted for the construction of film studios opposite the entrance to the Ridgeway and Kellner Road,[68] and within the disused Plumstead power station on White Hart Road to the South of the Ridgeway.[69]

Peabody Trust have been working to open up access to the Ridgeway from the Thames Path and have partnered with Sustrans to work on proposals to develop a route from Southmere Lake via the Ridgeway through the former Thamesview Golf Centre to the River Thames.[70][71]

TfL rail proposals

In a presentation by TfL to the Greenwich Council, they proposed an extension of the Gospel Oak to Barking London Overground train service from the new Barking Riverside station to Thamesmead Central and via Plumstead to Woolwich Arsenal that would take a route along the eastern section of the Ridgeway or Belvedere station using the eastern section of the Ridgeway. However, other Overground and DLR options would not be using the Ridgeway.[72]

Media

The Ridgeway was the subject of a radio show on Resonance FM in 2011.[73] It also features in an app produced by London Borough of Bexley to promote heritage walking trails. To celebrate the launch of the Elizabeth line on 24 May 2022, the YouTuber Runderground Matt featured the Ridgeway in his run across the core section of the line from Abbey Wood to Paddington.[74] The Ridgeway is featured in the book, Everything from the Egg, by the British artist Stephen Turner and published by The Artist Agency in 2023.[75][76][77] The book describes the journey of his art installation, the Exbury Egg, including its residency at the Lakeside Centre in Thamesmead in 2019, next to the Ridgeway.[78][79]

References

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  2. "Relation: The Ridgeway (174515)". 20 December 2022.
  3. "Ridgeway".
  4. "Crossrail starts race for 30m sidings depot at Plumstead". Construction Enquirer News. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  5. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/781/made
  6. https://www.railengineer.co.uk/tso-completes-plumstead-maintenance-depot/
  7. "Thamesmead to Lesnes Abbey - Transport for London". Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  8. https://www.thamesmeadnow.org.uk/in-your-community/the-link/our-partners/london-college-of-performing-arts/
  9. https://www.architecture00.net/00projects/lakeside-centre
  10. https://bowarts.org/lakeside-centre-ace-grant/
  11. https://www.thamesmeadnow.org.uk/news/smooth-sailing-for-new-boat-club-on-southmere-lake/
  12. https://www.architecture00.net/00projects/southmereboatclub
  13. "The Thamesmead Grump: 08/19/16". Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  14. "Diamond Geezer". Diamondgeezer.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
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  16. https://www.londoncollegeofperformingarts.com/
  17. https://theatrestreet.squarespace.com/
  18. "SIR JOSEPH BAZALGETTE and LONDON'S INTERCEPTING SEWER SYSTEM" (PDF). Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  19. "View: London (Edition of 1894-96) XCV (Borough Of Woolwich) - Ordnance Survey 25 inch England and Wales, 1841-1952". Retrieved 30 May 2020.
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  21. "Royal Borough of Greenwich - Consultations". Consultations.royalgreenwich.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  22. King, Emily. "12 weeks of improvement works to Ridgeway path begin next week". Bexleytimes.co.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  23. "Improvements to deliver lasting benefit to Ridgeway Path". Corporate.thameswater.co.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
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  35. "Plumstead's dingy underpass could get pop-up markets in council revamp". 23 November 2023.
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  37. Users, Ridgeway (17 November 2017). "@Ridgewayusers hand in a petition to @tpearce003. Thanks go to all who signed. @LBofBexley @thameswaterpic.twitter.com/tH2jCkNYYy".
  38. "Agenda for Council on Wednesday, 31st January, 2018, 7.00 pm". committees.royalgreenwich.gov.uk. 31 January 2018.
  39. "8 shows you should see at this year's LIFT Festival". 22 June 2018.
  40. "1,500 glowing pigeons, a new Punchdrunk show, and a party in the Tower of London moat feature in the 2018 LIFT Festival". 28 February 2018.
  41. https://www.facebook.com/LIFTfestival/photos/a.10156164322959555/10156164345699555/
  42. https://www.thamesmeadnow.org.uk/whats-on/light-the-way-thamesmead-light-festival/
  43. "Thamesmead light festival returns with showstopping water screen : Thamesmead".
  44. "Mayor brings back beavers in Ealing, bees in Bexley and bats in Barnes as he sets out plans to rewild London | London City Hall".
  45. "The Rewild London Fund | London Wildlife Trust".
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  50. https://threeriversbexley.org/
  51. http://www.eliseguillaumeart.com/
  52. "Instagram".
  53. https://www.thamesmeadnow.org.uk/media/4414/thamesmeadnews_issueeleven_120_spreads.pdf
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  61. "New light railway approved for South-East London". Ianvisits.co.uk. 11 March 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  62. "Volunteers build 700-metre track to historic Victorian pumping station". Evening Standard. 25 January 2019.
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  68. "Thamesmead film studio set to replace church". 20 January 2022.
  69. "Film studio planned for Plumstead in power station redevelopment". 16 February 2022.
  70. "Pathways to the Thames : Thamesmead".
  71. "Thamesview Golf Centre, Thamesmead. (1991 – 2014)".
  72. Chamberlain, Darryl (15 February 2019). "TfL lifts lid on possible Thamesmead DLR extension".
  73. deeplibrary (13 January 2011). "Plumstead to Cross Ness along the Southern Outfall Sewer".
  74. "I Ran the Elizabeth Line! 🏃🏻‍♂️🚂". YouTube.
  75. "Stephen Turner - Everything from the Egg".
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  77. http://www.stephenturner.org.uk/
  78. http://www.exburyeggtour.com/
  79. "A good egg finds new home on Southmere Lake : Thamesmead".
  80. "More Plumstead murals appear - From The Murky Depths". 3 November 2018.
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Start and end points

51°29′48″N 0°06′29″E / 51.496686°N 0.1079209°E / 51.496686; 0.1079209

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