Discover Greenwich's Maritime Development

The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)’s Discovering Britain walks are a series of self-guided free walks telling the stories behind Britain’s landscapes. We have previously reported on walks in Stourbridge, Birmingham, discovering seaside traditions in Weybridge, a mini mountain in Shropshire, along with a couple of their London walks: their guided ‘Tyranny and Treason’ walk and self-guided ‘The Strand Walk’.

Today’s walk takes us to Greenwich for a maritime tale of development along the Thames. From fishing town to royal seafaring centre, Greenwich’s proud history of navigation and exploration achievements has transformed the area into what it is today. This is a longer walk at 3.5 miles and will take you roughly two hours, but it packs in 24 stops along the way with plenty to see so there is no room for boredom!

Starting at the Discover Greenwich Visitor Centre, the main focus of the walk is to explore how Greenwich became such an important maritime site. Highlights of the walk include stopping at the Cutty Sark, still fresh from its £50 million restoration that finally finished in 2012, The Queen’s House, the National Maritime Museum and the world-famous Royal Observatory; home to the Prime Meridian marker of the world.

The walk ends on top of Observatory Hill with a view of many of London’s landmarks from the Shard to the Olympic Stadium. It is the perfect viewpoint to appreciate not only how Greenwich has developed, but also what is developing around it.
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Remember to keep safe and read our guide to Walking with Your Class in a City Environment.

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British schoolgirl assaulted on school trip to Iceland

hotel corridor

A viral video shows a black girl being assaulted by a white woman in a corridor.

Police in Iceland are investigating after a British schoolgirl was slapped and chased by a tour guide in a hotel corridor.

The schoolgirl, 13, who attended Harris Girls’ Academy, was assaulted whilst on a school trip to Iceland to see the Northern Lights. The incident occurred at Hotel Örk, Hveragerdi on 13th October.