BOW ROAD and BROMLEY-BY-BOW
Hammersmith & City /District line (Upminster)
Three Old Mills and a Cathedral of Sewage
From Bow Road Tube station turn right and walk down the main road. On the opposite side of the street spot the reliefs of working men on the side of the building on the corner. A little further on look for the beehive adorning the front of the old Stratford Co-operative and Industrial Society, another reminder of the value of hard work. Time now to feel sorry for St Mary’s Church trapped on its island in the middle of the busy road.
At the ghastly Blackwall Tunnel junction turn right and gritting your teeth (I promise you it will be worth it) go on about 500 yards until you come to a subway opposite a Tesco superstore. Cross the bridge and suddenly you have entered a different world. This has been a trading site for over 900 years. When fully operating, Three Mills was the largest tidal mill complex in England. The mills you see today were built in the 18th and 19th centuries. Now restored as a working museum the House Mill (1776) was last used in 1941 to make flour, but in earlier days gunpowder was manufactured on the 
Now for Abbey Mills Pumping Station (1886)- the ‘Cathedral of Sewage’, so nicknamed partly because its Italianate design is in the shape of a cross and partly because of the grandeur of its architecture. For a view of this amazing building walk to the left past the mills. You are now next toThree Mills Wall River, the name of the path being 'Short Wall'. You cannot walk along the towpath immediately, as the way is currently blocked while a new bridge is constructed, so go through the gates of Three Mills Green and turn left. Almost immediately you will be able to access the towpath. Continue parallel to the park. At the end is a monument commemorating men who lost their lives working on the canal - in particular four who died in an well accident in 1901. Cross Prescott Channel by a footbridge and then turn right into (unmarked) Bisson Road. At the end go left into Riverside Road which curves to the right into Gay Road. You will pass the pedestrian entry to the pumping station (pre-booked tours only, via Thames Water). At Abbey Lane continue right and go under a bridge. There are some tall, forbidding cottages here which were built for Abbey Mills employees. Ahead on the right you will see an archway which leads to the Greenway path. Go through this and up the grotty steep steps. You are now at the Northern Outfall Sewer which is covered by a broad grassy embankment with plenty of vegetation and wildlife. To the right you will find the Abbey Mills Pumping Station. Its correct name is a reference to the abbey that stood here in the twelfth centur
y. Victorian Londoners were justly proud of Joseph Bazalgette's great engineering works that saved them from 'The Great Stink' which had made the city such a nightmare in summer. It seemed entirely appropriate to them that the machinery that was so vital to their welfare should be housed in such a splendid building. There's another similarly elaborate one at Crossness for the Southern Outfall Sewer.
You may be puzzled by a huge shining metal-clad building behind Abbey Mills. This is the successor to the Cathedral of Sewage, a state-of-the-art pumping station (Allies and Morrison 1997). As far as I am concerned, it’s a rather beautiful object and I like to think that Bazalgette would have appreciated the modern engineering techniques that made it possible.
At the moment you have to return to the Tube station the way you came. Hopefully when the current construction of the new Prescott Lock is finished there will be scope for other routes, at present inaccessible because of the various works being carried out. The paths should re-open at the end of this month (June 2009), but it's best to check the situation at http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/olympics. I gather a new bulletin will be issued 'very soon'.
(Last updatedJune 2009)
MAP
This is just one walk from the many to be found at London Tube Rambles. There are architectural gems, beautiful country views, historic places and whacky buildings to be found, even in the most unpromising areas covered by the Greater London Underground stations. Usually the places listed are within a mile of the Tube - often only five minutes walk away. If you reached this as an individual page via a search engine, you might like to go to www.londontuberambles.co.uk to see the other destinations explored . You'll be amazed at what's out there!
© DR2006