Walking with friends: Borough Market to the Isle of Dogs... and beyond

With Covid-19 and the various lockdowns putting a pause on my walks with friends, around The Unfinished City, it is great to be able to start them up again.

Saturday April 2, 2022

After a breakfast of Pulled Pork Burger with apple sauce and sage & onion stuffing, from Hobbs in Borough Market, my friend Stephen and I began our first walk of 2022.

Borough Market is a food lovers paradise.

Heading towards the River Thames we made our way through the Contorted Tunnel, which Stephen had never seen, to the basement of Hay's Galleria. Climbing the stairs we headed out on to the embankment, by HMS Belfast, and followed the path to Tower Bridge. 

Tower Bridge and the Girl with a Dolphin.

Taking the eastern pedestrian path, across the bridge, we headed to St Katharine Docks Marina, where various yachts, barges, lifeboats and the Queen's Rowbarge 'Gloriana' were moored. As we rounded one of the buildings I pointed out Stanley Kubrick's original 'Monolith' from 2001: A Space Odyssey, which had been affixed to the wall of one of the buildings, back in 1977.

'Monolith' by Arthur Fleischmann.

From here we headed eastward towards Hermitage Basin and the Ornamental Canal, through Wapping Woods and on to Shadwell Basin. A small area of the basin was being used by Wapping Docklands Market, so we had a look around the different food stalls before heading in to the historic The Prospect of Whitby, for a well-deserved drink.

Our first drink in London together for a number of years.

Suitably refreshed we continued our journey by joining the Thames Path, at King Edward Memorial Park, which took us past the old converted wharf buildings to Limehouse. Beginning to feel a bit hungry we stopped at The Grapes on Narrow Street for a bite to eat and a drink. 

The Grapes is a narrow pub on Narrow Street.

With bellies full and plenty of photographs of the various 'Lord of the Rings' memorabilia taken, we continued along Narrow Street and rejoined the Thames Path, which took us to the Isle of Dogs. 

Looking towards The Shard, from where our walk had begun.

We continued along the Thames Path until we joined Westferry Road, in search of a watering hole. Fortunately, we discovered The Ship just as the Heavens opened and rain, sleet and snow cascaded from the sky for ten solid minutes. 

The Space Theatre and Bar

Once hydrated we rejoined the Thames Path and discovered the launch ramp for the SS Great Eastern, something that I had wanted to see for many years. The SS Great Eastern was the largest ship in the world, at the time of its construction in 1858.

Preserved for Posterity.

Continuing along the Thames Path we discovered The Ferry House pub, which, it turns out, is the oldest pub on the Isle of Dogs. As it was a historic pub and been serving the locals since 1722 we had to enter.

The oldest pub on the Isle of Dogs.

From here the Thames Path took us to Island Gardens, a 3-acre park which also houses the north entrance to the Greenwich Foot Tunnel. A short conversation ensued as to whether to stick to our route or use the tunnel and walk along the south bank. The latter won out, so we descended the 87 steps and started the 370-metre walk, 15 metres below the River Thames, to the south entrance and its 100 steps up to the surface.

The Greenwich foot tunnel, looking north.

Emerging into the late spring afternoon sun, with the sounds of a carousel, the smells of street food and the sight of the historic Cutty Sark made for a magical moment. 

The historic Cutty Sark.

Deciding to make the most of the afternoon we turned westward and made our way along the river, crossing Deptford Creek via the Greenwich Reach Swing Bridge, until we reached Deptford. One of the first statues we spotted was of Peter the Great, who studied shipbuilding here in 1698.

A statue of Peter the Great.

It was as this point that we thought that a drink on the south side of the River Thames was in order, so we stopped at The Dog and Bell, which was perhaps the busiest London pub that we had visited... ever. 

The Dog and Bell entrance.

With the evening drawing in we continued our journey towards Surrey Quays station, but were shocked to discover that we had reached The Black Horse pub. Now, a few years ago Stephen, Gary and myself had attempted to walk the south bank from Borough Market to Greenwich, but we only made it as far as The Black Horse pub. Realising that, in a way, we had completed a full circle Stephen and I stepped inside to celebrate, making sure to also call Gary to let him know of our achievement.

A wonderful selection from which to celebrate.

Suitably pleased with ourselves we continued our journey to Surrey Quays station and headed for home.

It is so much more enjoyable walking through London with friends, than it is by oneself, that I can't wait to see what we can discover and learn, before it is lost forever, on our next walk.

Distance travelled:

• Car - 0.0 miles
• Taxi - 0.0 miles
• Train - 0.0 miles
• Underground - 41.4 miles
• Walking - 9.9 miles