Walking with family and friends: London Bridge to Bermondsey... and beyond

New prisoners in an old gaol.

Saturday January 31, 2026:

Cloudy with sunny spells, winds at 4 mph, 10°C (50°F)

Erin is really into art, often designing dresses and fashion items.

So, I decided that we should visit the Fashion and Textile Museum, where an exhibition celebrating sixty years of Cosprop was being held.

''Cornerstone' by Austin Emery.

Erin invited our friend, Steve, and, after meeting at Watford underground station, we set off. We changed trains at Finchley Road and took a Jubilee line train to London Bridge. The museum was just a few minutes walk from the station, so we stopped at Chapter 72 for some drinks, before exploring this part of Bermondsey. 

Just before 11:00 we joined the queue for the museum and waited to go in. A sign had been affixed to the door, stating that the next two visiting times were fully booked, requiring some in the queue to book timed slots for later in the day. We, fortunately, had pre-booked our tickets.

On entering the museum we were each handed a booklet containing almost 50 pages of detailed information on each of the items on display, how Cosprop was formed and a brief history.

1820s wedding dress for Miss Havisham from Great Expectations (1967).

The first item of clothing, on display, was Miss Havisham's dress from Great Expectations (1967), followed by uniforms from The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) and War and Peace (1972).

We then moved along the corridor, passing two outfits from A Room with a View (1985), and made our way into the main hall. Here there were costumes from film and television of all sizes and styles. Erin was loving it, deciding on what she liked from some dresses and saying how she would have changed others. Poirot, The House of Eliott, A Passage to India, Indian Jones and more were all on display. Steve and I were really enjoying it, too, as we got up close to costumes that we had grown up with, or recognised from photographs.

We walked around the room, taking in everything, returning to the booklet to check who had worn an outfit and from what production it was from.

1830s suit for Anne Lister from Gentleman Jack (2019-2022).

We then made our way upstairs, where more costumes from various productions were all displayed. Some of the costumes were in display cases, along with design sketches, swatches, photographs and more.

We then headed to the gift shop, for a peruse, before we all sat at some tables, where we drew our own designs for outfits on plain paper, using the wide variety of pens and pencils that were available.

Costume Couture Exhibition: Gallery

On leaving the museum we headed back towards London Bridge station, stopping at Vinegar Yard Flea Market, where Erin spotted a ring with a butterfly on it. It was only £6, but the lady that owned the stall let Erin have it for £5. We then headed through London Bridge station to Tooley Street, where we stopped at Londoner Kebabs, where I bought Erin a large cheeseburger. Steve and I decided that we would eat later.

Erin with the remains of the original Clink prison wall.

We then headed through Borough Market, with its myriad stalls selling food and drinks from all over the world to the waiting crowds. We meandered our way through the masses until we made our way out of the market on to Dirty Lane. This we followed until we reached Clink Street. I had visited The Clink Prison Museum, with Emma and Keilyn, back in October, but Erin had never been and neither had Steve. So, in we went.

It was another place that Erin and Steve both enjoyed, with them both reading the information boards and Erin handling the various torture instruments, manacles, swords and such. After we made our way through to the gift shop area, we all went individually into a cell where we had our photograph taken, before deciding to have a photo taken of the three of us. I then bought Erin a pen and two pencils.

Suitably entertained we headed out of The Clink and made our way westward, along Bankside. The Globe Theatre, Tate Modern and the Oxo Tower were all passed as we made our way towards the Southbank Centre. 

Erin enjoying the view of St Paul's Cathedral.

We then turned down Theatre Avenue, which took us to Belvedere Road, which we followed to the rear of the Royal Festival Hall, where the Southbank Centre Food Market was in full swing. 

Not much meat left on this carcass.

After checking out the various stalls, Steve and I decided on a pulled pork sandwich, with the pork spread over a bed of rocket leaves with the sauce of our choice. It was delicious. Once we had eaten Steve and Erin had a cookie each, before we grabbed a drink, Tango orange for Erin and mulled wine with Kraken rum for Steve and myself.

Sandbag art.

With us all fed and refreshed we made our way back towards the River Thames, which we crossed via the Golden Jubilee Bridge. We then dropped down onto Victoria Embankment, where we all explored Tyburn Quay, with its sandbag sculptures.

From here we headed along Northumberland Avenue and visited a souvenir shop to see if there was anything Erin wanted. There was nothing, so we left the shop, crossed Whitehall and headed through Admiralty Arch onto The Mall. Filming equipment and production vehicles were parked along the north side, with crews in high-visibility jackets talking into radios or grabbing cables and the like from various vehicles.

We reached Green Park and made our way to the station, descended to the Jubilee line platforms and waited for a northbound train. Three minutes later we were zipping beneath the streets of London towards Baker Street. Arriving at our destination we took the escalators and then stairs to Platform 1, where our train was due to leave in a few minutes. We hastily entered the Treats kiosk, where snacks and drinks were purchased, before we boarded our train with just a minute to spare.

The journey back was spent discussing the day and checking out the various photographs and videos that we had taken. It was a truly great day out, where everyone enjoyed themselves.

Distance travelled:

• Bus - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Cable Car - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Car - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• DLR - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Ferry - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Overground - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• River Boat - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Taxi - 1.7 miles (2.73 kms)
• Train - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Tram - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms)
• Underground - 38 miles (61.15 kms)
• Walking - 5.6 miles (9 kms)