The northern tip of the peninsula is known as Blackwall Point, and it is here in the 17th century that the bodies of executed pirates were once hung in cages as a warning to would-be pirates on passing ships. By the 1690s a gunpowder magazine had been established where freshly milled gunpowder was stored before being shipped elsewhere. This was closed down in the 18th century after local residents petitioned parliament for its removal.
By the 19th century the peninsula had become home to a wide selection of industrial complexes including chemical works, steel and iron works, cement works, an iron boat building yard, the Blakeley Ordnance works and Blackwall Point Power Station. It was home to rope making, soap and linoleum production, and cable making, including the production of the first transatlantic cable. Amazingly undersea cables are still produced here. Dwarfing all of these was the East Greenwich Gas Works which occupied the central and eastern sections of the land. In 1965 the gas works produced 400,000,000 cubic feet of gas, making it the most produced at any single site in the entire world.
In 1897 the Blackwall Tunnel opened, giving the peninsula its first significant transport connection to the centre of London. As the 20th century progressed, the industrial premises gradually started to close down until all that was left was a contaminated, barren wasteland.
In the 1990s the redevelopment of the peninsula began with the headline feature being the Millennium Dome (The Dome) which originally contained an exhibition called The Millenium Experience. Since 2005 it has been known as 'The O2' and this will continue until at least 2027 when the current naming arrangement is up for renewal. Inside the dome you will find The O2 Arena which was the first purpose-built music arena to be constructed in London since The Royal Albert Hall, in 1871. Although not the largest, it is apparently the busiest music venue in the world. Those with a head for heights can buy a ticket for 'Up at the O2' which allows people to walk up to the top of the dome and experience the wonderful panoramic view.
A new riverside footpath was created and a large tube station constructed to provide a top quality transport link to the rest of London. Further development has continued with the construction of parkland, homes, offices, hotels and retail spaces. Permission has been granted for the construction of a new theatre, which at 3000 seats will be London's largest. The area became home to the southern terminal of the cable car in 2012 (currently called the IFS Cloud Cable Car) which links the peninsula to Royal Victoria Dock in East London. A second road tunnel, the Silvertown Tunnel, was opened in April 2025 and with its opening came the introduction of tolls for using it and, for the first time in its 129 year history, this now also applies to the Blackwall Tunnel.
29 November 2025 saw the peninsula become home to Greenwich Peninsula parkrun. This is a free, weekly, timed, 5km event which is organised by volunteers and is open to all abilities, including those who wish to walk the course, and to wheelchair users. The peninsula is pretty well-connected as far as public transport is concerned, however it does not have its own national rail station. Anyone using national rail would most-likely need to alight and change to a bus or tube to complete the journey. Saying that, the closest national rail station is Westcombe Park and the onward journey in a smidgen under 2 miles. This station is served by Thameslink trains which run between Luton and Rainham (Kent), and Southeastern trains which typically run from London Cannon Street via London Bridge, or from Chatham and Rainham in Kent towards London.
The main public transport option for most would be the London Underground's North Greenwich Station where the peninsula is served by trains running on the Jubilee Line - this of course offers good connections to other tube lines and to Stratford and London Bridge national rail stations. There are occasional line closures at the weekends for maintenance but you can check the London Underground's planned track closures webpage to make sure you don't get caught out. Right next to the station is the main bus hub and this is served by a generous number of buses which include the 108. 129, 132, 161, 188, 422, 472 and the 486. There is also a riverboat service which stops at North Greenwich Pier - the timetable on the Thames Clippers Uber Boat website shows that the RB6 service from Barking, calling at Woolwich and Royal Wharf docks at North Greenwich Pier at 08:13 and 08:43. The first service from the west (Central London) arrives at 09:39, so not a viable option for arrival, but could be used after. It is also worth noting that the IFS Cloud cable car services start from 9am, so again is not a viable option for arrival.
For those wishing to travel by vehicle, there are no on-street parking options for visitors. There are however a few car parks. The most obvious option is to use one of the main O2 car parks (official O2 parking webpage). If going for this option, Car Park 3 is closest to the parkrun meeting point, with car parks 2 and 4 also being decent alternatives. At time of writing (February 2026) these car parks have a fee of £7 for 0-2 hours, rising to £11 for 2-4 hours (and so on). If you spend over £35 in the O2's outlet shopping stores, you can get four hours free parking in car parks 2, 3 or 4 (full details can be found on the link above).
Although it may sound tempting, it is best to avoid Car Park 1 as this is the main event car park and has a completely different pricing structure to the others. At time of writing it can be pre-booked or has a pay-on-the-day flat all-day fee of £40 and is mainly aimed at people attending events in the O2. There is also an official North Greenwich Station car park and this has a flat all-day fee of £17 for people that arrive before 6pm. If you happen to be arriving by coach, there is a bespoke coach parking area with current prices starting from £23.
The final local car parking option is one that may appeal to anyone that likes free parking. There is a retail park called 'Millennium Leisure Park' which contains an IKEA, B&Q, Odeon Cinema and a few restaurants. You can park here for up-to 5 hours for free, however it is about 2km from the parkrun meeting point. I used this car park and brought a scooter which I used to complete the journey. To be as close as possible to the parkrun, park at the cinema end of the car park. Finally, if cycling, the Thames Path is an official cycle route so the venue can be easily reached from both directions. There are also plenty of cycle racks dotted around with the closest being within Tide Square just behind the red 'Head in Wind' public work of art.
Should an overnight stay be required, Greenwich Peninsula has a few options. The obvious budget option would be to stay in the Holiday Inn Express, and there is also a Radisson RED. There is a pub / hotel called The Pilot which is very likely to be the oldest surviving building on the peninsula which is another option. It sits as part of a row of older houses which were featured as the backdrop in Blur's Parklife music video. For anyone looking for a top-notch experience, there is a five-star InterContinental Hotel right next to the O2. For fans of the purple palace, the Premier Inn Docklands (Canning Town) is just one stop away via the Jubilee Line. There is also a Premier Inn in Woolwich and the 180 bus is the quickest public transport option, however the 161 and 422 will also get you there (albeit via a slightly longer route).
The main public toilets can be found in North Greenwich Station, but other options are in Caspino Cafe (which is the official post-event coffee venue), and in the O2, however it is possible that the O2 toilets may not be open before 9am. The parkrun meeting area is located at Tide Square which is right next to North Greenwich Pier on the eastern side of the peninsula. The area underneath the raised walkway is used as a bag drop, but bear in mind this is at your own risk. Just before 9am a first-timers briefing is held within the square and shortly after this, the main briefing is held. Once the briefings have finished everyone moves onto the main riverside path facing to the south-east in preparation for the start.
The parkrun takes place entirely on the Thames Path which is 100% tarmac underfoot and is completely flat. It is suitable for all types of participants including those with buggies and wheelchair users. As for footwear, standard road type running shoes are perfect for the course all year round. The route is made up of three out-and-back legs taking in the whole of this riverside section of the Thames Path. parkrunners need to keep left at all times and also be aware that the route sometimes uses the bicycle lane, so caution is needed.
The first out-and-back is the shortest where the participants head off from the start line heading in a south-easterly direction with the river on their left-hand-side. This section of the path is split into an upper and lower path, and keeping to the left means the course uses the lower path on the way out. There was significant congestion here during my first visit, so be prepared to potentially have your rhythm interrupted. After 400 metres the first turnaround point is reached and the route switches to the upper path where the participants head back towards the start area.
Once back at the start line, the second out-and-back begins with the participants continuing straight ahead towards the O2. The route very simply follows the Thames Path as it works its way around to the northern and then western side of the O2, passing through the area known as Blackwall Point. For the entire 'out' section the parkrunners are technically in the bicycle lane. It is during this section that the course actually crosses the Meridian Line four times (twice in each direction). At time of writing this is one of only two parkruns whose course crosses the meridian line.
Towards the end of this section the course reaches the drawdock and the path turns to the left which is where the turnaround point is found. This is at the 1.8km point of the course and the route then heads back along the path but now not in the cycle lane. In total the second out-and-back is 2km in length and by the time this section finishes the parkrunners have negotiated 2.8km of the course.
The 3rd and final out-and-back is 1.1km in each direction making it the longest of the three. It starts by following the same lower path as the first out-and-back, but continues all the way along the Thames Path until reaching the Greenwich Yacht Club where the final turnaround point can be found. An interesting feature about the yacht club is that its clubhouse is the only building in the River Thames that is raised on stilts above the water. Again there are sections where the course uses the bicycle lane. Once back at the original start area the finish line can be found on the left-hand-side. The post-finish-line funnel works its way up a ramp and into Tide Square where finish tokens are handed out and the barcode scanners can be found.
There were of course marshals out on the course, notably at the turnaround points with others positioned where the upper and lower paths merge. They did a fine job managing such a large number of people. The course is also quite sociable as you get to greet fellow parkrunners as you pass. I recorded the course using my Garmin and the GPS data can be found on my Strava account. That data was also used to create a Relive fly-by video which can be viewed on YouTube.
There are a few public works of art to look out for on the way round. The biggest and most striking is Damien Hirst's 'Demon with Bowl' which stands at 60ft (18.2 metres) tall which along with 'Hydra and Kali' and 'The Mermaid' form part of his 'Treasures of the Wreck of the Unbelievable' series. The series are the finds from a fictitious shipwreck and there is a mockumentary on it which can be watched on YouTube. Another one to look out for is Anthony Gormley's Quantum Cloud. I also quite like the quirky artwork called 'Here'. It takes the form of a standard UK road sign with the distance 24,829 miles written on it, which is the exact distance you would have to travel around the globe to return to this exact point. It is definitely worth taking some time to view them and all the others on the Art Trail.
The course also passes under the cable car plus there are views of the Thames Barrier, Canary Wharf, and even the ArcelorMittal Orbit at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Sadly, due to being so close to the O2 you don't get to take in a proper view of the entire thing, but it's pretty cool parkrunning past it anyway! If you are feeling nostalgic you may even be able to spot the roofs of the ExCel Exhibition Centre and City Hall (aka The Crystal) which are of course familiar landmarks for anyone that visited Victoria Dock parkrun before its closure was confirmed in early 2026. It is also on the flight path for London City Airport so low flying aircraft are a common sight.
In terms of numbers of attendees to expect here, this is shaping up to be one of London's destination venues so is likely to attract a fair number of tourists. This event was well-publicised long before it started and that led to event 1 setting a new UK parkrun inaugural record of 925 people (this record was taken by Nottingham's Holme Pierrepont parkrun seven weeks later). I first took part here at event number 8 which had a total of 760 finishers. Once the number of attendees settles I will update this section to better reflect the numbers.
As far as potential cancellations are concerned, I would imagine that the biggest risk is probably ice or snow creating a slippery surface during the winter, or some kind of closure of the path for maintenance or something similar. The event's first cancellation was on 3 January 2026 and the reason given was indeed icy patches, so be sure to keep an eye on the event's social media when icy conditions are forecast.
The official post-event refreshments venue is Caspino which is just next to the meeting area in Tide Square. However there are a large number of other options for a post-event breakfast including most of the major coffee shop franchises. The O2 itself opens at 10am and has a Wetherspoons (The Stargazer) which of course gives the option of a reasonably priced breakfast. It also now contains a selection of retail outlet stores, so that may be of interest to some. I will also note that the cable car is free-of-charge for parkrunners who present their barcode before 10.30am, so it's worth taking advantage of that if that sort of thing is your cup of tea.
I think it is safe to say that Greenwich Peninsula parkrun will remain a very popular parkrun venue. A big thanks goes out to all the volunteers who continue to support the event and made all the visitors feel so welcome on the day.
Related links:
- Greenwich Peninsula parkrun GPS data (event 8 / 31 January 2026)
- Relive course fly-by Video (event 8 / 31 January 2026)
- Meridian Line parkruns (blog7t page)
- The London parkrun venues (blog7t page)