William Morris Gallery, Walthamstow

This is a train-assisted ride. We will start by taking the Elizabeth Line from Ealing Broadway to Paddington. At the end of our ride, we will use London Overground services from Highbury & Islington. This is a longer ride, time-wise, than our Friday rides tend to be, though the ride itself is not long and has few gradients.

*Please read the ride description carefully*

Our destination on this ride is the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow https://wmgallery.org.uk/, where we will spend approx. 1.5 hours, in order to have time to visit the gallery (free admission) as well as have lunch in the café https://www.deeneys.com/william-morris-gallery, or bring your own food to eat in the lovely gardens if the weather is fine.

Before we reach the Gallery, we have a few sights to see along the way, all related in some way to Morris’ vision of a better life for working people.

From Paddington, we ride through the Royal Parks and along the Embankment into East London, to reach our first sight, the Cable Street Mural https://lookup.london/cable-street-mural/ . Then we turn up to Bethnal Green, to see the rather strange and very sad Stairway to Heaven memorial next to the tube station https://stairwaytoheavenmemorial.org/home/images/.

Riding on through the East End, we see two memorials to the brilliant Sylvia Pankhurst- the steel sculpture on the Regent’s Canal https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/sylvia-pankhurst-steel-statue and the impressive mural on the side of the Lord Morpeth pub near to Victoria Park https://romanroadlondon.com/sylvia-pankhurst-lord-morpeth-mural/ .

Leaving the East End, we ride on to the Lea Valley which we follow through Hackney Marshes and on to Walthamstow. This is a lovely green space, skirting the Olympic Park and passing the Walthamstow Wetlands nature reserve.

After our visit to the William Morris Gallery, we have a short ride via Stamford Hill and Clissold Park, to reach Highbury & Islington, where we will use London Overground services for our return journey.

Ride from Paddington through the East End and up to Walthamstow, to visit the William Morris Gallery.

Segregated cycle tracks in Central London; quieter back roads where possible, some short stretches on busier roads; off road tracks through the Lea Valley.

Pauses to visit several sights en route in East London. Stop of 1.5 hours for lunch and to visit the Gallery.

Locks for your bike. Money/card for rail fares, and for cafe/shop. Water & snacks for the ride.

First-timers welcome!