Started my journey today on Northern line to Euston then changed to Victoria. There isn’t a number 10 bus any more so I chose to go on the C10. Got on the bus at Victoria Bus station – it’s a single decker bus, first time that I’ve been on one since starting this adventure.
My first stop was St George’s Square (bus stop Pimlico Academy). It was built around 1835 and was London’s first residential “square” open to the River Thames. Famous old residents include Bram Stoker (of Dracula fame), Dorothy L Sayers and William Makepeace Thackeray’s daughter Anne Ritchie. There is a small garden between the two long sides of the square, with a pretty fountain in the middle.
Back on the bus, next stop was St Johns Gardens and St Johns, Smith Square. (Millbank bus stop). The Gardens are small with one of the main features being a Maidenhair tree (Gingko Biloba) which is believed to be sacred by Buddhists. Went round the corner to Smith Square and into St Johns where they put on regular concerts. It was originally a church built in Queen Anne’s time and is now a Grade 1 listed building.
Back on the bus and I got out at St George’s Circus to visit St George’s Cathedral. It’s a beautiful place with a great history. For the whole of the second half of the 19th Century, it was the centre of the catholic world in London. Much of the cathedral was destroyed during WW2 and was restored in 1952, with a visit from Pope John Paul II in 1982.
Next stop was the Hidden Beach (Drummond Road bus stop). This area is Wapping and it was once the home of the Execution Dock where pirates would be hanged for their crimes while at sea. The last executions took place in December 1830. I then walked along the walkway and stumbled upon a little gem – the original site of the manor house that Edward III had built in 1350. It’s thought he used it to practice falconry. There is just some wall left standing now.
Opposite this site, there is a memorial called Dr Salter’s Daydream. The doctor and his wife helped local working girls from 1900 and later. They had a daughter Joyce who sadly died of scarlet fever aged 8, from which her parents were forever inconsolable. There are brass statues of each of them – very poignant.
Quick trip to see the Swan Road Mosaic Mural of a lovely riverside scene made from mosaics, next to Rotherhithe station. Back on the bus and alighted at Nelson Dock Pier to visit Nelson Dock, a 17th-century dry dock which was used for shipbuilding until 1968. I went into the Doubletree Hilton which is served by the dock and provided a much-needed break in my busy day.
Final stop was at Surrey Docks Farm, which is a working farm. Sheep, goats, a Shetland pony, ducks and chicks there as well as bee hives so they are able to make their own honey. There’s an orchard and a vegetable area so they can sell produce to visitors. It was a lovely final stop today – calm and peaceful.
london routemistress 