Sunday, June 4, 2023

Westminster to Tower Bridge


Part of my "motivational speech" yesterday was to get more exercise. So I got back on the Thames Path -- which I hadn't walked in almost two months! I picked up where I left off in Westminster and walked to Tower Bridge along the South Bank.

I wasn't that excited about this portion of the walk, to be honest, because I've seen this stretch of river many times and I thought it would be same-old, same-old. But I should know that in an ever-changing city like London there are always new sights and experiences.

That's Westminster tube station, above, where I got out to start my walk. The station is right across the street from the Houses of Parliament.


I crossed Westminster Bridge and walked eastward past multiple bridges, the National Theatre and other landmarks, like this Victorian-era monument to the former London, Chatham and Dover Railway near Blackfriars.


This mural of the river by Jimmy C stands beneath one of the bridges...


...and this seemingly handmade wooden plaque pays tribute to the river from underneath another bridge. Those clay shards are pieces of smoking pipes from hundreds of years ago -- they're very common and easily found on the shores of the Thames.


I walked beneath the Millennium Bridge, once dubbed the "Wobbly Bridge" because when it first opened it needed to be stabilized. That's St. Paul's Cathedral across the river.


Here's an "immersive dining experience" I think I'd rather not have.


Saint Olave looked down on the path from his perch at the corner of St. Olaf House. Is he sitting on a skateboard?


Finally, the walk took me over Tower Bridge and past the Tower of London, where the moat is once again planted with wildflowers, making it look like an impressionist painting. I caught the tube at Tower Hill and came home, where I embarked on a long day of gardening. More about that tomorrow!


Here's a video featuring a couple of sights along my walk. I stumbled across a ceremony in progress near Southwark Cathedral that turned out to be a remembrance of the eight victims of a terrorist attack in 2017 near that location. I then passed the HMS Belfast, a military vessel that's now permanently anchored in the Thames and serves as a floating museum -- I've never visited, because I'm not really into military stuff, but I took a panning shot of the exterior. And finally, you'll see the view from Tower Bridge as well as the bridge itself.

Not only did I walk and garden yesterday, but I also read about 75 pages of "The Magic Kingdom," so I feel like it was a day well spent!

22 comments:

  1. Acres and acres of beautiful old stonework buildings and then a nice little video. Thank you. If I ever have the $$$ London is first on my list of places to visit.

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  2. Great video. Imagine visiting London and exiting the tube station for the first tine to that view of Parliament. It's a grand city. I love the mural and what the brick texture adds to the effect. There's no way I would visit Death Row Diner.

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  3. Great photos and interesting points of interest. The V&A new photography galleries are now open. They have 1000s of photographs in store and will begin showing them now. You may like to take a walk that way one day as you have said to me before that you do not go to museums and galleries very often but would like to do so. Perhaps the new V&A galleries would be a great start.

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  4. If there is a God, he or one of his angels will have been looking down upon you yesterday before giving you a big green tick in your record book "The Book of Steve".

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  5. Lovely tour, seeing things I'd seen before but from a different angle.
    I did see a short doc on the Millennium Bridge and it's wobbles; quite interesting.

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  6. What great weather for this section of your walk. Thanks for the trip, and for explaining the video.

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  7. Thanks for your pictures and writing about walking, as always very much appreciated.
    That's a stretch I used to know very well, over the years it has changed so dramatically. When I lived in London ages ago, you would not want to walk on the South Bank unless you really had to.

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  8. I love that photo of the Tower of London with all the wild flowers growing in the moat. Beautiful!

    And thanks for the tour of London, I haven't been there in years, probably since the early 2000s.

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  9. quite the busy day. I love the shot of the moat filled with wildflowers and the castle peel=king over the wall. and I think I'd have to at least walk into the Death Row Diner just to see the interior and menu.

    My gardening efforts are mostly at an end though I did buy one new plant for a pot on the deck and some firespike I rooted that needs to be planted. I didn't make much headway on my book as the main character just hasn't grabbed me.

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  10. What a beautiful city you live in! I read these historical novels about Britain's past and then compare my mental images with your photos and videos and it's pretty cool. Thank you!
    And you did indeed have a full and fine day.

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  11. What a beautiful walk you took there. I love all the views of London seen through your eyes, Steve. It's the closest I'll ever get to being there.

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  12. I love all the photos and the video very much! I need another trip to London! However, I will skip the Death-row dining experience. If I recall correctly, the Westminster station is one of the newer and more modern ones.
    I think on your next leg of the walk, you will be passing Butler's Wharf and Shad Thames. On one of my trips, I stayed in a flat in the Tea Trade Wharf building. It had a great balcony overlooking the Thames. That's where I got a view of the Queen of Denmark arriving with quite a ceremonial welcome going on. They even fired the guns at the Tower of London. It was just a lucky coincidence that I got to see all that.

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  13. You might not have been excited starting out, but I think you saw LOTS of interesting things on your walk. I love that homemade sign with the poem and pipes.

    Okay... I really want/need to know more about it. I think you and Dave should visit the Death Row Diner.

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  14. Oh please do go to the Death Row Diner. Your readers want to know!

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  15. Tourists would pay a lot of money to see those impressive (and unique!) sights along your walk. Love the pipes and the mosaic. I too am doing a lot of gardening AND watering. Suddenly our rain has completely and literally dried up!

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  16. Nice video, Steve. I especially loved the view of the Tower Bridge, altho, I would not want to be one of the bicycle riders going with the traffic across that bridge!!

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  17. What a gorgeous day! I gasped out loud when I got to the photo of the flowers - oh my heart!

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  18. You know, when I see things like this post, it always gives me a little thrill to think "I've been there! I've seen this with my own eyes!" A couple Britain magazines ago, I saw the very man that took us on our tour of the Tower Of London. And it made me happy to think "I know this man does a very good Chewbacca imitation!"

    Death Row Diner?! My gosh. I don't care HOW good the food is there, I don't think I'd like dining there.

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  19. The video is calling my name! This looks like a fun walk -- maybe in part because I recognize some of the places -- and some are new, which is always fun. A perfect day. Love that "impressionist" photo near the tower.

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  20. My god if you keep us these walks you'll probably live to be 200!

    I remember walking across the Tower Bridge back in 1985. I envy your closeness to all of these wonderful sights in London.

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  21. I loved reading about your walk. I’ve been dithering about a trip to London, and reading about your walk clinched it, I do miss
    England. I went over HMS Belfast many many years ago probably 42 now, with my then 11 year old son and my parents. My dad had been in the Navy during the war, and enjoyed going over HMS Belfast, I .found being inside it a bit confining.

    Your garden looks lovely very peaceful. One place I am keen to visit on my planned trip is the remains of the Roman villa at Fishbourne. Jean in Winnipeg

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