Ripple Greenway, Thames Ward, Barking

The Ripple Greenway is a new path for people on foot and bicycle, connecting communities with green spaces in Thames Ward. The Greenway will link the Thames View with the Nature Reserve and the River Thames footpath. The idea for the Greenway came out of resident feedback from a series of led walks in partnership with the Sue Bramley Children’s Centre and Living Streets in 2017-18 in Thames Ward which explored how access to local green spaces could be enhanced. The Greenway will provide safer, healthier routes to schools and work for people on foot and bicycle, as it provides a traffic-free alternative to the industrial Thames Road, whilst creating a quiet and enjoyable destination.  

OUR JOURNEY

IP Surfaces have produced a series of wayfinding signage posts that will be situated along the 1.3km pathway along the River Thames at Thames Ward. The one-off ‘Interpretation Board’ is made up of a corten steel sheet which has a poem that has been waterjet-cut into it. This then has been bonded into large handcrafted wooden oak posts together with a 1.5m x 1m black polished acrylic stone board that has been laser-etched and painted with lettering, logos, and an illustration map of the path itself. There are also 5 smaller acrylic stone, laser-etched and painted, wayfinding boards and several wooden bollards with embedded stainless-steel 100mm diameter ‘badges’ etched and painted, interspersed along the route of the pathway. The project has community participation at its core. Local schools have been involved in tree planting workshops, and Sustrans has worked closely with school children to ensure that young people are considered at every step of the project. The Ripple Greenway serves as a link between Thames View Estate (1950s council housing) and the brand new Barking Riverside housing development.