EXPLORING LONDON ON FOOT

Our walks are bi-monthly starting in March each year and ending in November.
These are interesting walks, taking you through places that you might not normally find on a Tourist trail. There is always lots to see and to discuss.

We have worked with Mayfield U3A for a number of years so that we can establish a strong enough membership to allow us to branch off on our own but also to be able to provide enough people to lead our walks each year.
New members welcome, please contact via email.

We would very much like to welcome and encourage new members to our group.

I am always looking for new members who are prepared to lead a walk of course at some stage!

A recent walk explored lesser known areas in Westminster and Whitehall. Forget about the tourist honeypots, there is a lot more to see and understand. We met at Charing Cross Station at 11.30am and stopped for lunch.

Thames Path North from St Paul's Cathedral to Tower Hill - what we saw

Our final walk of the year (2023) took place on a cool but dry day in November which was most fortuitous. We met near St Paul’s Cathedral and immediately descended to the Thames Path, passing the national memorial to Firemen who have given their lives and also the Millenium Bridge (aka the ‘wobbly bridge’).

Our route passed the locations of the former medieval wharves, with names such as Oystergate, Three Barrels Walk, Fishmongers Hall, Fruiterers’ Path, and Hanseatic Path all giving us a good idea of some of the trades represented. We had wonderful views of buildings both sides of the River, including the Globe Theatre, Tate Modern, HMS Belfast, the Shard and of course Tower Bridge.
En route we visited the Church of St Magnus the Martyr, with its scale model of the original London Bridge and All Hallows by the Tower, a beautiful church that survived the Great Fire but which was severely damaged in the Blitz. Beautifully restored, it houses all sorts of treasures including a Roman Pavement, the original wooden crosses that marked the graves of WW1 soldiers, and a scale model of Roman London. Tubby Clayton, the founder of the TocH movement was the vicar of this church for 40 years after the War, and so you will find many references to this organisation.

There is a memorial to Clayton complete with his beloved dog at his feet in the form of a modern brass tomb in the Church . With so much more to see in this Church, our walk then took us past the Tower of London where we briefly looked at the Moat now green and muddy but which in 2014 brimmed with ceramic poppies. Branching inland now, we made our way back to St Pauls via Leadenhall Street, the Bank and Poultry. We passed but did not visit a number of city churches, commenting on the fact of their being dwarfed by the massive modern building that now dominates the area. With a nod to ‘Bow Bells’ at St Mary le Bow, we stopped to consider the statue of John Smith the leader of the expedition to Jamestown in Virginia.

We noted that there is an association with East Sussex, and in particular Old Heathfield, as the Vicar of Old Heathfield at that time became the Chaplain to the expedition and you can see stained glass memorials to this effect in the village church today.
Of course we saw and discussed much more, but this gives you a flavour of our walk, and of the range and variety of locations and history that we cover in our walks. We don’t walk that far, approx 4 miles or so and always make time for lunch and coffee. New members of our group are always welcome, the only requirement being that all members are prepared to offer to lead a walk, on their own or with a friend as back marker, at some stage - lots of help is offered of course!

This year we have also been to Rotherhithe, St Pancras, Fleet Street and the Strand. Normally we aim to achieve five walks a year on alternate months.

Kathryn Dewhurst Convenor

11th November 2023
St Pauls to the Tower of London

Join us on our walk along the Thames Path from St Paul’s to the Tower of London, and en route discover vestiges of Medieval London. Pass by the wharfs where traders unloaded their ships from Roman to modern times, names such as Fishmongers Hall, the Custom House, 3 Barrels Walk, Hanseatic Walk, and Oystergate Walk will provide some clues.
At London Bridge we will stop off to visit the Church of St Magnus the Martyr, one of the first to be destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 but rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren, which houses a fine model of London Bridge in medieval times, replete with houses on all sides and ready to burn down; and much more.
Then, arriving at Tower Hill we will stop for lunch before spending some time in the Church of All Hallows by the Tower which escaped the Great Fire but succumbed to the Blitz. Beautifully restored, the Church is host to numerous items of interest including a Roman Pavement, a Grinling Gibbons Font Cover, an altar from the Crusades, and much WW1 memorabilia as its Vicar from 1922-1962 was the founder of the Toc H movement.
We then wend our way back to St Paul’s via the Minories, Aldgate, Leadenhall Street, Cornhill, Poultry and Cheapside stopping at various churches and memorials as we go. Bell Ringers and Heathfield residents in particular will discover some surprising facts.............
The walk is no more than 4 miles, and there are opportunities to drop out at Tower Hill (Riverboat back to London Bridge), Aldgate (the tube or bus).

11th September 2023
On Monday 11th September a small but select group of us met at Charing Cross Station for the start of our walk, ably led by Janet and Chloe.
Our first ‘stop’ was at the Eleanor Cross, directly outside the station. I had not realised that this was a Victorian replica of the original cross, to replace the original that was destroyed by the Puritans in 1647. Today the statue of Charles 1st in Trafalgar Square stands at the original location.

We then briefly took a detour to the nearest corner of Trafalgar Square where we were shown the smallest Police Call box in London.......built of stone it didn’t look like the familiar blue wooden boxes but it had a light on its roof which must have flashed to call the local constable in the days before personal radios.

We then made our way down towards Embankment Gardens via the Arches and were shown the York Water Gate, the original landing gate where the boats would unload in the days before the Embankment was built and the Thames encapsulated! Walking through the gardens it was clear that this would be an alternative car free route along the Strand........it was interesting to note a number of grand statues and memorials, including those of Robert Burns and Sir Arthur Sullivan and a memorial to the Imperial Camel Corps.

At the end of the gardens we made our way uphill back to the Strand for a brief look at the front of the Savoy Hotel which has the only road in the UK where traffic travels on the right............and a lovely topiary figure of a cat at the entrance!
Making our way east along the Strand we had hoped to visit the Churches of St Clement Danes and St Mary le Strand - but both were shut on a Monday.

However there was still plenty to discuss outside St Clement Danes, the RAF Church, including statues of Air Marshall Hugh Dowding and ‘Bomber’ Harris and Prime Minister William Gladstone.

The Strand at this juncture has been recently pedestrianised which provides space for eating and relaxing all the way along to Somerset House, the last remaining building of the massive Mansions that used to be right along the Strand: Salisbury Inn, London seat of the Bishops of Salisbury, Bridewell.

Palace once the main residence of Henry VIII, Exeter House, Essex House, Worcester House, the Savoy Palace, Durham House, Cecil House, York House, Northumberland House and Arundel House.

Somerset House is a stunning space now with multiple occupants including the small cafe where we had our lunch.
Then we were in Fleet Street. We stopped to look at the old Newspaper buildings and consider how they are being ‘repurposed’, and we cheekily had a look at El Vino, the wine bar used in Rumpole of the Bailey TV series and known to viewers as Pomeroy’s Wine Bar. It hasn’t changed.

Indeed we had a look at a number of pubs and wine bars as we made our way through the Squares behind Fleet Street. We were very interested to see the house of Dr Johnson and very taken by the statue of his beloved cat Hodge!
We discovered some Barristers’ chambers and looked at the outside of the Inns of Court, before ending our walk at St Brides Church, now dwarfed bythe surrounding buildings but at one time the second highest church in London after St Paul’s Cathedral. Both Wren churches of course.

We only walked 2.5 miles but so much to see, to discuss, and to reflect upon.
Dr Johnson said ‘when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford‘ so why not join our group and join our walks, and lead one of your own?

St Pancras/Kings Cross Walk. July 31st 2023. 'A Tale of Two train stations' or, 'An Architectural Abundance'.
What did the Victorians ever do for us?
Where do the Gothic and the Romantic Collide?
This walk is light on distance but heavy in interest - historical, mythological, architectural and scientific.
Join us on this walk to discover how the once downmarket area surrounding Kings Cross and St Pancras has been transformed into a vibrant 21st Century destination for travellers, businesses, diners and U3A walkers!
We will discuss the origins of the names of Kings Cross and St Pancras, we will touch upon some Greek mythology, and some Roman History; we will discuss an unpopular monarch, and consider a little story of the Victorian Railway systems.

Where does J.K. Rowling fit into this?
What did Anthony Gormley say about a certain public sculpture? (Talk about the kettle calling the pot black.)

We muse upon the energy of a certain Poet Laureate who we have to thank for so much of this.

Why might an aerial view make you think about shipping in the centre of London? Would we really like to return to British Rail?

2023
Our first meeting of the year will take place on Wednesday May 17th. It will be led by John Neal who will be leading us on an exploration of Rotherhithe and Deptford, although it does actually start on the eastern edge of Bermondsey. Some of our walk will be alongside the River Thames and hopefully it will be warmer by then. We will be meeting at 11am beside the ticket office in the downstairs area of London Bridge Station. We can then have a coffee in or near the station and then get the bus down to the start of the walk.
New members always welcome.
Our next meeting of the year will be in July, date and Venue tbc……but is likely to be in the St Pancras and Kings Cross area………watch this space!

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