Garden Museum via Battersea & Vauxhall

A steady ride across South London, staying close to the river, to see some sights, with an optional visit to an exhibition, and returning by train.

We complete most of the ride (25km/15.5 miles, fairly continuous riding) before our refreshment stop in Vauxhall Park. Afterwards, we have 5km of sightseeing around Lambeth, ie stop-start riding, to bring us to the Garden Museum at Lambeth Bridge. If you don’t want to visit the Museum, you can make your own way home from here. For those continuing with the ride, we have a short ride through back roads to reach Blackfriars Bridge and then Farringdon for Elizabeth Line or Metropolitan Line services.

This is the route and the sights in more detail:-

From Ealing, we ride down through Chiswick, Hammersmith and Fulham, to cross the river at Wandsworth Bridge, then follow the riverside path into Battersea Park. After viewing the recently redeveloped Battersea Power Station, we make our way to Vauxhall Park where we can have refreshments in the café or bring a picnic. We can also explore the Park which has a sensory Lavender Garden, a model village, and an historical association with the Suffragist Millicent Fawcett.

https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/fawcett-house-vauxhall http://www.vauxhallpark.org.uk/history/

We ride on into Lambeth, where we will see the spectacular building which once housed the Royal Doulton pottery factory, the elegant boat-shaped benches commemorating White Hart Dock, and the memorial to the Lambeth cholera epidemic.

https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/a-victorian-marvel-royal-doultons-lambeths-headquarters-65232/

https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/the-boat-benches-of-lambeths-white-hart-dock-65060/

We take a short detour towards Waterloo, to see the lovely mosaics created as a tribute to the poet William Blake, a surprising find tucked away under rather gloomy railway arches!

https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/a-tribute-to-william-blake-under-the-railway-arches-38416/

We then reach the Garden Museum on Lambeth Palace Road, where we have the option of visiting the exhibition about the gardens of women from the famous Bloomsbury Group, https://gardenmuseum.org.uk/exhibitions/gardening-bohemia-bloomsbury-women-outdoors/ (admission £15, some concessions; you can also buy a ticket for £4 just to climb the tower).

If you don’t want to visit the exhibition, you are free to make your own way home from here. For those who do visit the exhibition, we will then ride on to either Paddington or Farringdon, to take trains home.

Ride across South London to visit places of interest. Return by train from Farringdon.

Segregated cycle tracks. Shared paths through parks and along riverside. Quieter roads where possible. Some short stretches on busier roads.

Refreshment stop in Vauxhall Park. Pauses to view sights of interest. Optional visit to Garden Museum and exhibition.

Plenty of water & snacks. Money/card for cafe, museum, rail fare. Lock for your bike.

First-timers welcome!