The Thames Path at Vauxhall’s St George Wharf has now opened.
The eastern section adjoining Vauxhall Bridge has been open since 2003 but it has taken a decade to complete the residential development at the upstream end.
Now the need to turn inland via Tesco and cross a main road twice has vanished. You avoid traffic by walking under Vauxhall Bridge and along the front of the Wharf building to find yourself on Elm Quay.
What some may regret is that the Thames Path will cease to pass the lovely 18th-century Brunswick House which has held out against developers. It’s worth taking the old diversion just to have lunch there.
The new riverside path is across the site of a timber yard run by the occupants of Brunswick House.