GO TO JAIL

 

 

      An oddity of the many versions of the Monopoly board is that, irrespective of which city is featured, the policeman is always American cop Edgar Mallory as pictured in the original Atlantic City version.

      But I digress. I’ve contrived to use this square as an excuse to visit the area of the South Bank between Clink Street and Tower Bridge. The reasoning will soon become apparent.

Clink Prison Museum, Clink Street

Winchester Palace, Clink Street

The Golden Hinde, Cathedral Street

     This is actually a full-scale reconstruction of The Golden Hinde, the galleon on which Sir Francis Drake became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. When Drake first set off from Plymouth in 1577 the ship was called The Pelican. He renamed her mid-voyage and returned home in 1580.

     Launched in 1973, this floating museum has itself sailed more than 225,000 kilometres. She has done a circumnavigation – taking a short cut through the Panama Canal - not an option available to Drake.

     She also sailed from California to Japan to appear in the TV series ‘Shogun’, her sides painted different colours to play two parts.

Southwark Cathedral, London Bridge

     There is a whole page on the cathedral's website devoted to Doorkins - and another one for her successor Hodge. I'm wondering if Hodge was named after Samuel Johnson's cat (see Fleet Street).

     On June 20, 2024, my good friend Ken Goddard invited me as his guest for the Society of Authors' Awards* Party at Southwark Cathedral on June 20. Thanks to the copious amounts of wine available, we chatted to lots of nice people, mostly ladies of a certain age writing historical novels. I'm not sure how impressed they were by my Wetherspoons blog as they were all too polite to sound disinterested. 

* nice to see an apostrophe in the right place

    In the background is The Shard, Europe’s tallest skyscraper. Prices for the viewing platform start at £25. But why bother when the Sky Garden is free (you need to book online).

    The Roof Garden at 120 Fenchurch Street is also free - and there is no need to book.

The Mudlark, Montague Close

 The Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret, St Thomas Street

 

   This is one of the world’s oldest surviving operating theatres (1822-1862), in the days before all the fun was sucked out of surgery with the introduction of anaesthetics and antiseptics.

    The patients here were all women and medical students packed the gallery. The post-op survival rate was very low given that the instruments were rarely cleaned, bandages were reused, and the surgeons were more likely to wash their hands afterwards than before.

    Joseph Lister first developed effective antiseptic techniques in 1864 and by 1867 he had reduced the death rate in his patients from 46% to 15%.

    A scene reminiscent of my recent colonoscopy (left) and bloodletting equipment. I can personally vouch for the fact that leeches still thrive in the Malaysian jungle, dropping from the trees to feast on human blood.

John Keats plaque, St Thomas Street

                        Henry Stephens gained fame as an inventor and ink magnate.

Lunch beckons ….

The George Inn, Borough High Street

     Following a fire, it was rebuilt in 1676 and much of it still remains. It is now owned by the National Trust.  Charles Dickens mentions The George in both Little Dorrit and Our Mutual Friend. I really think he missed a trick by not writing a pub guide.

    Very close by are the former locations of two other famous inns ….

Talbot Yard, Borough High Street

    The plaque says it all, as did Chaucer: ‘Gentil hostelrye that highte the Tabard, faste by the Belle’ - whatever that means, says the guy who passed O level English Lit. without understanding a word of The Pardoner’s Tale. (As I’ve mentioned before, reading Robinson Crusoe and catching Julius Caesar at the Majestic cinema, Scunthorpe, saw me through).

Cross Bones Graveyard, Union Street

      The Cross Bones Graveyard is the site of an old pauper’s burial ground. For centuries it was the final resting place for many of the Winchester Geese sex workers who plied their trade in the brothels of The Liberty of the Clink. It was closed in 1853 Over 15,000 people are believed to be buried here. 

     The graveyard gates are permanently decorated by a changing array of messages, ribbons, flowers and other tokens. A short memorial ceremony is held at the gates at 7pm on the 23rd of each month. The garden of rememberence is run by volunteers so opening times vary.  http://crossbones.org.uk/

Walls and Trumpets, Maya House, Borough High Street

Borough Market

Film credits include Bridget Jones’s Diary and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Tooley Street Underpass

     Also .... it's very unlikely any remnants of Nancy's Steps that Dickens wrote about still exist, although this is where they would have been. In any case, in Oliver Twist she was murdered elsewhere. However Nancy did die here in the 1960 musical Oliver!

Hays Galleria, Tooley Street

 

     By the end of the 19th century 80% of dry produce imported into London passed through Hays Wharf which became known as The Larder of London.

    

HMS Belfast

     The cruiser's forward-facing guns are always trained on Scratchwood Motorway Service Station, 18.5 kilometers away, something to ponder on should you stop for a Starbuck's coffee or Burger King Whopper.

 City Hall

    Nicknamed the ‘Glass Gonad’, the Norman Foster designed City Hall was until recently the headquarters of the Greater London Assembly. But it was only leased and the GLA has moved to the Crystal Building in Canning Town. The bulbous shape is intended to reduce its surface area and improve energy efficiency. But this benefit is comfortably negated by the glass in a double façade (whatever that means). The helical staircase is interesting. It used to have a café open to the public but everything boarded up in March 2023.

    Bonus nicknames: The Snail, The Onion, The Woodlouse, Darth Vader’s Helmet.

    As much of the above is along the Thames Path, it makes for a great walk with plenty of places for sustenance. It’s probably best to go in the warm weather; in the winter much is in the shade so it can feel a bit nippy.

    The total walking distance is only around two miles and could be combined with my Electric Company (Tate Modern) guide, starting at Tate Modern …..

Bonus photos: 

         London City Hall, The Shard and HMS Belfast from Tower Bridge ....

         The Walkie Talkie and Cheese Grater buildings from London City Hall .....

                            ,,,,, and, mysteriously, an Egyptian Goose.

Thursday, June 2, 2022

    On Jubilee day Steve and I (Paul had covid) kicked off with a full English brunch in one of London’s most celebrated greasy spoons, Terry’s Café at Borough .…

 

      …. they do bubble and squeak, one of the “great peasant dishes of the world” according to food writer Howard Hillman.

     Whilst Terry’s prices are definitely not aimed at peasants, the food, atmosphere and service was well worth the £22pp.

      Despite our avowed intentions to do otherwise, there was really no way of avoiding the Jubilee. And, to be honest, it was great to see so many tourists out in the sunshine. Plus the flypast coincided with our stroll from Terry’s to the pub. 

     ..... before sampling Young’s Platinum Jubilee Beer at the Mulberry Bush ...