The Thames Path National Trail is celebrating its 30th anniversary this summer with an extraordinary 24-day walking relay in June involving hundreds of ramblers, community and river-user groups, with residents from towns and villages along the 185.2 mile route.
The Thames Path Relay will start on Friday 5 June from the source of the River Thames in a Cotswold meadow near Kemble, Gloucestershire, and finish on Sunday 28 June at the Woolwich Foot Tunnel in east London.
When the Thames Path National Trail was declared open in July 1996, the Thames Barrier in Greenwich was the start or finish point. In January 2022 the route was extended to Woolwich Foot Tunnel where it links up with the King Charles III England Coast Path.
Hannah Gutteridge, the Thames Path National Trail manager, and her team are coordinating the National Trail’s 30th anniversary celebrations. “We’ve created 24 walks along the Thames Path, each walk will be led by an experienced leader from a community group, several of them from The Ramblers. We’re now inviting everyone to join us on the Relay.” Each section is published on our website: Thames Path - 30th Anniversary - National Trails
“We’re delighted to be collaborating with enthusiastic and experienced walk leaders from local Ramblers groups, regular Thames Path users and the Mayors for a Drinkable Thames.”
The Thames Path Relay is a collaboration with the Drinkable Rivers Foundation, whose founder, Li An Phoa, walked the Thames Path from source-to-sea in 2023. This walk gathered momentum for a movement, uniting mayors, councillors, river user groups, and local environmental organisations in the ‘Mayors for a Drinkable Thames’ action network.
Li An Phoa and James Manthel, co-initiator of the Mayors for a Drinkable Thames, invite people to join the walk and local community events to take place during the Thames Relay. “During this walk we hope to strengthen the connection between the people and communities along the Thames. Therefore, we hope local people and groups will organise community-based events during the Thames Path Relay to celebrate and deepen our love and dedication for our shared Thames.”
