For the ancient track in southern England, see The Ridgeway. For the pathway in east London that covers the Northern Outfall Sewer, see Greenway, London.
Sign marking the Ridgeway where it meets the Thames Path
The pathway at the Greenwich end of the Ridgeway was refurbished in 2010[20][21] and the pathway at the Bexley end of the Ridgeway was refurbished in 2017.[22][23][24]
The Ridgeway is incorporated in to the Thamesmead 5K and family 1 mile runs organised by the Thamesmead running club and Peabody Trust.[25][26]
In 2018, the Plumstead entrance to the Ridgeway was refurbished, with public art work installed by local artist Sam Skinner and Ninth Seal.[30][31] Further changes to the Plumstead entrance and surrounding public realm are planned in 2024 as a result of issues highlighted in the Plumstead Area Framework conducted by Greenwich council in 2016.[32][33][34][35]
In 2018, the American artist Duke Riley installed a temporary art installations at the end of the Ridgeway, on land previously used as the driving range for the Thamesview Golf centre. The event organised as part of the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT) 2018 was called 'Fly By Night' and featured 1,500 LED-lit, trained pigeons flying above the River Thames.[39][40][41]
In 2023, the Ridgeway featured in the 'Thamesmead Light Festival: Light The Way' which incorporated a number of light sculptures on a walking trail between the Lakeside Arts Centre, Crossway Park and Sporting Club Thamesmead.[42][43] That year, the Ridgeway was also included as one of the 22 sites selected by the Mayor of London for the second round of his Rewild London Fund.[44] The funding aimed to create a 'Thamesmead Pollinator Corridor' and was led by the North West Kent Countryside Partnership in collaboration with the BumbleBee Conservation Trust, Bow Arts, University of East London and the Ridgeway Users community group.[45][46][47][48] Subsequently, the rare brown banded carder bee has been recorded on sites that had been planted as part of the pollinator corridor project.[49][50] As part of the Thamesmead Pollinator Corridor project, the artist, Ellen Strachan was commissioned to create two interpretation boards on the Ridgeway.[51][52][53] These boards were unveiled by the Mayor of Bexley on 8 April 2024.[54][55]
In 2023, the Belgium artist and film-maker, Elise Guillaume held a 'Listening to the Bees' workshop on the Ridgeway organised as part of the Three Rivers Bexley Alliance with the BumbleBee Conservation Trust and the Ridgeway Users community group.[56][57][58][59][60]
In 2025, Gallery No. 32 will host a winter sculpture park at the end of the Ridgeway, on the former Thamesview golf centre.[61][62]
Between 2024 - 2029 the Ridgeway Biodiversity Project will be undertaken. It is funded through a biodiversity offsetting agreement between Thames Water, the landowner and Cory Riverside Energy. It will involve 'removing denser areas of scrub and non-native species, while restoring and extending the areas of more open habitats such as grassland, wildflowers and bare ground' and will take place in two phases over five years.[63][64]
At the western end of the Ridgeway, the housing association Peabody Trust in association with Berkeley Group have applied to build 1,750 homes adjacent to Plumstead bus garage.[73][74] As part of the planning process for this development, extensive archaeological excavations were carried out along Pettman Cresent adjacent to the Plumstead end of the Ridgeway. [75] Improvements to existing public spaces around the development will include improvements to pathways that pass the Ridgeway.[76][77][78] Proposals have been put forward by the Pharaoh Project to create a 'biodome' within the underpass at Pettman Crescent adjacent to the Plumstead entrance of the Ridgeway.[79][80] Planning applications have been submitted for the construction of film studios opposite the entrance to the Ridgeway and Kellner Road,[81] and within the disused Plumstead power station on White Hart Road to the South of the Ridgeway.[82][83]Devon and Cornwall Railways Limited have submitted plans to reinstate the Plumstead Goods Yard next to the Ridgeway as a fully active freight site to receive aggregate and other rail imported material to serve London. [84][85][86]
Peabody Trust have been working to open up access to the Ridgeway from the Thames Path and have partnered with Sustrans to work on proposals to develop a route from Southmere Lake via the Ridgeway through the former Thamesview Golf Centre to the River Thames.[87][88]
The Ridgeway was the subject of a radio show on Resonance FM in 2011.[90] It also features in an app produced by London Borough of Bexley to promote heritage walking trails. To celebrate the launch of the Elizabeth line on 24 May 2022, the YouTuber Runderground Matt featured the Ridgeway in his run across the core section of the line from Abbey Wood to Paddington.[91] The YouTube channel called 'Cripple Cruise' has featured the Ridgeway in several of their POV style videos taken from the perspective of a mobility scooter user.[92] The Ridgeway is featured in the book, Everything from the Egg, by the British artist Stephen Turner and published by The Artist Agency in 2023.[93][94][95] The book describes the journey of his art installation, the Exbury Egg, including its residency at the Lakeside Centre in Thamesmead in 2019, next to the Ridgeway.[96][97]
![Sign outside Ridgeway Plumstead lower entrance[98][99]](File:Ridgeway_sign_outside_Plumstead_entrance.jpg)
![Ridgeway interpretation board (on the left) at Cory Bridge by Abbey Wood based artist, Ellen Strachan[100][101][102]](File:Ridgeway_interpretation_board.jpg)
