Tower Bridge to Greenland Pier

I got back on the Thames Path yesterday morning for a walk around Rotherhithe, from Tower Bridge to Greenland Pier (about four miles). I started at the Tower Hill tube station and crossed Tower Bridge to the south bank of the Thames. Above shows the view back to the bridge from the waterfront neighborhood known at Shad Thames.

It was a good day for walking, sunny enough to be pleasant without being broiling. I saw so many towering hollyhocks in gardens and along streets. Our hollyhocks are, as usual, just little tiny things with a handful of leaves and no flowers. I don't know why we don't have better luck with them in our garden.

The path took me through part of Bermondsey -- "the filthiest, strangest and most extraordinary of the many localities that are hidden in London," according to Charles Dickens. I passed through a bone-dry little riverside park ironically called Fountain Green Square, and past the ruins of a 14th Century house built by King Edward III. It was little more than a rocky foundation protruding from the ground.

This riverside sculpture is called "Doctor Salter's Daydream," by Diane Gorvin (1991). Alfred Salter and his wife Ada were pacifist reformers who both served in government and worked to improve the living conditions in Bermondsey, then a notorious slum. Their daughter, Joyce, died of scarlet fever at a young age, and this sculpture is meant to represent Salter remembering his family in earlier years.

My walk took me past the Mayflower Pub, said to be the oldest riverside pub in London, and offered views of the gasometer (above) through some of the housing developments along the water. The river was at my back when I took the photo above.

I crossed the bascule bridge over the channel leading to Surrey Quays (above). This was among many familiar sights as I'd been in this area before.

The path stuck mainly to the river all the way through Rotherhithe, occasionally veering inland where it passed sights like this scenic pub.

At Surrey Docks Farm, a riverside attraction with animals, gardens and a cafe, I found a display case featuring bits of antique animal-themed pottery that had been found on the Thames foreshore. You know I'm a sucker for interesting old bits of china.

Meanwhile, the gleaming towers of Canary Wharf shone across the river like the Emerald City. Even here a hollyhock was happily growing and blooming, having seeded itself in a crack in the pavement!

This section of the path ended at Greenland Pier, so named because it served whaling vessels back in the day. From there I walked inland to the Surrey Quays overground station and caught the tube home.