Sunday June 8, 2025.
Keilyn and I decided that we should head to London to see the 'Nao Santa Maria', which was berthed at St Katharine Docks, as today was its last day, in London. So, we headed off.
A taxi to the station and we were soon London-bound. We changed to an Aldgate train, at Finchley Road, and alighted at Euston Square, which is a fair distance from St Katharine Docks, but there is nothing like a good wander.
We headed along Gower Street, passing the Grant Museum of Zoology and the impressive University of London buildings, before reaching Bedford Square and the throngs of people heading into the British Museum. A little further and Bloomsbury Street brought us out onto New Oxford Street, which we headed along until we reached our first stop of the day... the Post Building.
We entered the building, signed in and passed through the security arch. Keilyn then placed her rucksack in one of the lettered lockers, choosing 'K' to match her name. We then entered the lift and made our way up to the ninth floor and the roof garden.
On my previous visits the flowers and shrubs had not fully bloomed, but today everything was flowering and the trees had full canopies. Although cloudy it was a pleasant day and the views were clear all the way to the horizon. The Centre Point building, the BT Tower, the British Museum and around to the Renaissance Hotel at King's Cross. Then the unique skyscrapers of the City of London, with Canary Wharf in the distance. Tower Bridge, the Shard and 22 Bishopsgate and around to the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey and Cathedral to Battersea Power Station and beyond. The BBC Transmitter, at Crystal Palace, was clearly visible, too, as was the Wembley Stadium Arch.
Once we had seen everything, and Keilyn had used her 'Seek' app to discover the names of the various plants, we headed back down to ground level, retrieved her rucksack, and headed east along New Oxford Street.
New Oxford Street brought us onto High Holborn, then Holborn and Holborn Viaduct. Nearing St Paul's Cathedral, with its crowds of visitors, we headed along Cheapside, passing possibly the oldest tree in the City of London, before we joined Poultry and then Cornhill.
Always up for an adventure Keilyn kept peering down the countless passages and alleyways that were dotted along our route, deciding that Ball Court looked like a great alleyway to explore. So down it we went and arrived in a small courtyard with a tavern. Simpson's Tavern dates back to 1757 and is a wonderful looking building, that is, unfortunately, temporarily closed.
We continued out of the courtyard and found ourselves on Castle Court, with more old style buildings and the famous Jamaica Wine House, which stands on the site of London's first coffee house.
From here we headed along St Michael's Alley, which brought us to Bell Inn Yard and out onto Gracechurch Street. Since Keilyn had never seen Leadenhall Market we headed inside, dodging the photographers, who were snapping the parts used in the Harry Potter films, and the diners and other visitors.
We then crossed Lime Street and walked along Cullum Street, where Keilyn sat down and I took some photos of the amazing Bolton House, before we continued our walk to Fenchurch Street, which we followed towards Aldgate.
Various sculptures were dotted around, that we both took photos of, before we found ourselves on Mitre Square, former site of the Priory of the Holy Trinity and also the place where Catherine Eddowes was murdered by Jack the Ripper, in 1888.
We left Mitre Square via St James's Passage which brought us to Duke's Place and St Botolph Street. It was here that I lifted Keilyn up, so that she could see over the wall and look down at the platforms of Aldgate station.
We then headed south, along Mansell Street, turned west along Shorter Street and arrived at Tower Hill Garden. Snacks, drinks and sandwiches were all pretty much devoured, before we used the underpass to reach the south side of Tower Hill. Here we got to see the meadow that has been created in the old moat. We then followed the path onto St Katharine's Way, which brought us nicely to St Katharine Docks and Marina.
We walked along Cloister Walk, taking photos of the Rowbarge 'Gloriana', which was moored beside the Rotunda, before making our way around to the Rotunda. It was from here that we could get a better view of 'Gloriana' and also of the 'Nao Santa Maria'.
We then headed along St Katharine's Way, crossing the drawbridge, so that we could better see the replica of the ship that Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World.
After purchasing a badge and a couple of 'doubloons', from the gift stall, we headed towards the River Thames, passing the Wendy Ann Taylor's 'Timepiece Sundial' and David Wynne's 'Girl with a Dolphin'.
A rainbow bouquet arch caught Keilyn's attention, so the obligatory photo was taken, before we made our way beneath Tower Bridge Road and onto the Thames Path, in front of the Tower of London.
We stopped at Traitor's Gate, where we could see some of the 1,000 ceramic poppies that have been installed, to mark the end of World War II, eighty years ago. With the small area in front of Traitor's Gate reflooded, with fresh water, the poppies cast wonderful reflections, contrasting bright against the black wood of the gate. The poppy installation is running from May until November.
From here we headed to Gloucester Court, where we explored the gift shops of Tower Vaults, before crossing Tower Hill to Trinity Square.
The impressive building to our left, with its great carved nautical statues, was the original offices of the Port of London Authority. Today, it is the 'Four Seasons Hotel London at Tower Bridge'. We waited patiently, at the bottom of the red-carpeted steps, for some guests to leave, before we walked along the carpet to speak to the two concierges.
I enquired if it was possible to visit the Tower Liberty marker, which was somewhere within the hotel, to which we were told 'yes'. One of the concierges took us along the corridor and through a door into the lobby, where the brass marker lay just inside the door. An information panel, affixed to the wall, gave the history of the marker and the 'Liberties of the Tower'. These markers marked the distance of an arrow's flight from the Tower walls. This particular marker is roughly 500 feet (150 metres) from the Tower of London walls.
Suitably impressed that we had seen the marker, and get a photo of Keilyn standing on it, we headed north, up Savage Gardens, along Pepys Street and onto Cooper's Row and then onto Lloyd's Avenue. Lloyd's Avenue is a great place to get a clear photo of the 30 St Mary Axe, aka the 'Gherkin'. Then we were back on Aldgate High Street.
We headed into Aldgate station, stopping at the top of the stairs to take a photo of the interior, before we caught an Uxbridge-bound, Metropolitan line train, to Baker Street. After grabbing drinks from Starbucks we made our way to Platform 4 and caught a train for home.
It was yet another great day exploring the streets and alleyways, while taking in the views from one of the most underrated of London's roof gardens, and seeing so many wonderful things.
Distance travelled:
- Bus - 0.0 miles
- Cable Car - 0.0 miles
- Car - 0.0 miles
- DLR - 0.0 miles
- Ferry - 0.0 miles
- Overground - 0.0 miles
- River Boat - 0.0 miles
- Taxi - 0.8 miles
- Train - 0.0 miles
- Underground - 40 miles
- Walking - 7 miles
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