Rotherhithe to The Barrier,
Back at Rotherhithe I had time to look round St. Mary’s Church where Christopher Jones, the captain of The Mayflower, is buried. There is a commemorative statue to him. The Mayflower set sail from Rotherhithe on its voyage to America with the Pilgrim settlers in 1620 and returned the following year. The Mayflower Pub, one of the oldest on the Thames, is near the departure point.
Canary Wharf on the north bank is a glistening financial area rising phoenix like from the wastelands.
The naughty bit –
I was being diverted more and more into the streets away from the river which was frustrating. I was thinking to myself it would have been easier to have hired one of those Boris Bikes but I didn’t have the app. Round the next corner was parked one of those bikes, I was looking at it out of interest and realised it hadn’t been locked, there was no one in sight [honest I double checked] it had been abandoned. So for the next couple of miles I rode the rather unwieldy beast through the streets of Deptford towards Greenwich.
I cycled on to Cutty Sark, the famous clipper, where I locked up the bike which will be located by satellite. Greenwich was a tourist trap and there was too much to visit on my short transit. I’ve marked it down for a future visit. A former royal palace Greenwich developed as a naval college and is notable for the Meridian 0° longitude. It is here that the footway under the Thames resurfaces in a small dome – another place to explore.
There was a pleasant cafe in the Old Brewery where I relaxed before the final stage around Blackwall Point and the Millennium Dome [the O2 arena]
The O2 arena is being swamped by high rise apartments each tempting you to riverside luxury living.The river itself is busy with high speed ‘taxis’ plying between various quays. The far bank is all high rise banks above dockside buildings, so this is where our money goes. Above us the Emirates Cable Cars go back and forth from here to the Royal Victoria Dock on the north side. In the water at this quay is a Gormley installation ‘Quantum Cloud’. Meanwhile there are fairly regular planes taking off from London City Airport.
The barrier comes into view around the bend and a further dreary mile, including a gravel extraction plant full of noise and dust, is accomplished to be alongside it.
*****
Well done but I reckon you’ll be glad to get back “Up North.”
Watch this space.
Congratulations!
Thanks, quite a varied walk. Off up to Scotland next.