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

Sunday April 26, 2026.

A sunny day with occasional clouds 20°C (68°F) with light winds of 6.8 mph (11 km/h).

The weather was promising to make for the perfect for a walk in London, so off we all set. 

A taxi to Watford Underground station, where we boarded a busy train to Finchley Road, with many of the passengers disembarking at Wembley Park for the football at Wembley Stadium. The Jubilee line train, which would take us to London Bridge, was just as busy, this time with people holding placards ready to support family and friends running in the London Marathon.

Our walk was to follow the route of London's first passenger dedicated steam railway, The London and Greenwich Railway. The walk would take us from London's oldest train terminus to London's oldest continually used station.

Alighting from the train at London Bridge we made our way out to Tooley Street, where the streets were busy with people heading for Tower Bridge, to watch the London Marathon. So, we went along Stainer Street, where Erin played a short piece on a Victorian pipe organ, which was installed in 2022.

From here it was on to St Thomas Street. Here the paths and roads were fairly clear, so we began our walk eastwards. Keilyn stopped at 'Greggs' to grab herself an ice-cold drink and a pizza slice, before our walk began in earnest.

St Thomas Street brought us onto Crucifix Lane, below the mainline south out of London Bridge, and onto Druid Street. We followed Druid Street, crossing Tower Bridge Road, which was sealed off as this was part of the Marathon route. Erin, meanwhile, was checking the progress of her school form tutor, Miss Talbot, who was running her second London Marathon. Erin would continue to check her progress throughout the day. Further along Druid Street there was a 'car meet', with all sorts of vehicles in attendance, many with furry wolf masks sitting on many of the bonnets.

Here we headed through one of the railway arches, of which there were 878 when the viaduct was constructed, and walked through Malty Street Market. This is a wonderful little market offering food and drinks from around the world, all at reasonable prices. We meandered our way through the growing crowds and found ourselves on Millstream Road, which we followed, back beneath the railway, back onto Druid Street.

"Which was London's first railway?"

There are two possible answers to this question as there are two companies competing for the title.

Also, by answering this question we can also answer some others along the way. If we can work out which railway came first we can work out which is London's oldest station, too.

The Surrey Iron Railway

The first Act of Parliament for the authorisation of a railway in the London area was granted in 1801, to the Surrey Iron Railway. This railway was built in stages, between 1802 and 1803, from Frying Pan Creek, on the River Thames at Wandsworth, to Pitlake Meadows at Croydon, mostly following the Wandle Valley.

The Surrey Iron Railway used trains of ten wagons, which were horse-drawn along a narrow-gauge, double-tracked line. This line remained in use until 1846, but was only briefly profitable. 

However, all of this railway was within Surrey, parts of which wouldn't become part of London until 1889.

The London and Greenwich Railway

In 1831, following the success of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which had opened in 1830 as the world's first passenger railway to connect two cities, retired Royal Engineer Colonel George Thomas Landmann and George Walter, an entrepreneur, had the idea for a passenger railway service in London.