A walk across London
On Saturday I travelled down to London on the train; I had booked a ticket to see the Holbein exhibition in the Queen’s Galley beside Buckingham Palace. My ticket was for entry at 3:15 in the afternoon. Arriving at Paddington Station with no plans for the morning and walking down into the underground to catch a tube train I was thinking of maybe going to Kensington and visiting one of the museums, but then I thought it is a reasonable day weather-wise, it’s not raining, which is a rarity this winter, it would be good to walk along the banks of the River Thames, so I took the tube to Tower Hill.
Emerging from the underground station, I walked around the corner passing the remains of London’s Roman wall and walked beside the Tower of London, recalling memories when I visited in 2014 on the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War when the moat was filled with poppies for the fallen. Approaching Tower Bridge, I descended the steps taking me down to the riverbank. I walked along the riverbank in front of the Tower of London, taking in the views of the Shard, the tallest building in western Europe. When completed in 2012, it was the tallest building in Europe, now in 2024 it has slipped to seventh. On the opposite side of the river is the unusual City Hall, designed by Norman Foster and built about twenty years ago. Today, I thought it was beginning to look a little dull and shabby. Perhaps it was just the light. To my left was the iconic Tower Bridge, one of the best known buildings in London.
Approaching London Bridge, looking across the Thames, I could see what I thought to be a church tower, almost lost in the buildings surrounding it. I then realised it was the tower of Southwark Cathedral, somewhere I had not visited for about fifteen years. I walked across London Bridge and then under the railway viaduct near Borough Market. It was packed with people, many eating at the food stalls. I entered Southwark Cathedral, and exploring I particularly wanted to find the memorial stone to Edmund Shakespeare, William’s youngest brother, who was also an actor and like his famous brother came to London. Also, in the cathedral is a memorial and effigy of William Shakespeare. This is not far from the original Globe Theatre and he probably worshipped in this church as it was in Shakespeare’s day, it became a cathedral in 1905. Above the memorial is a Shakespeare memorial stained glass window in the form of a Jesse window, depicting many of Shakespeare’s famous characters.
Stepping back outside I was now following the route of the Thames Path on the southern side of the river. I last walked here in 2011, when I walked this long distance path in its entirety. I walked past the replica, Golden Hinde, Sir Francis Drake’s ship in which he circumnavigated the world in the 16th century. Along Clink Street, I pass the remains of the medieval Winchester Palace, the London home of the Bishops of Winchester. Today, it is in the care of English Heritage. Emerging beside the river the sun has now come out lighting the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral and the glass towers of the city of London. Interesting to see how much this view has changed since I walked the Thames Path just over 12 years ago. From here I had a distant view of the BT Tower, which when built as the GPO Tower in the 1960s was the tallest building in London. This week it has been sold for a reported $347m and is to become a hotel.
Continuing along the riverbank, I pass the Globe Theatre. I really must attend a production there! Passing Tate Modern, the former Bankside Power Station, and the Millennium Bridge. The sunlight is highlighting St Paul’s Cathedral. I continue passing Blackfriars Bridge and walk by the Royal National Theatre. Here there is a Henry Moore-like sculpture by Frank Dobson called ‘London Pride’ and a statue of actor Sir Laurence Olivier as Hamlet. Beyond Waterloo Bridge I reached Hungerford Bridge, a railway bridge flanked by two footbridges named the Golden Jubilee Bridges. I cross the river here walking through Charing Cross Station and emerging by the 1860s replica Eleanor Cross. At Trafalgar Square I visit the National Portrait Gallery, probably my favourite gallery. When visiting London, I often visit it. I like wandering around looking at many familiar portraits. Today, I had a look at the Tudor portraits and having visited a memorial to Shakespeare in Southwark Cathedral I sought out the portrait of William Shakespeare. Known as the 'Chandos portrait', after a previous owner; it’s the first portrait to be acquired by the National Portrait Gallery, when it was founded in 1856. This portrait is one of three images thought to be reliably depicting Shakespeare, the other two being the Droeshout portrait which appears in the First Folio, published in 1623, and the bust of his wall memorial above his grave in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. A picture of a younger man has been identified as William Shakespeare in recent years. This is the Cobbe portrait which the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust identified in 2009, but this is disputed. There are so many questions about Shakespeare, there are the conspiracy theories that he never wrote the plays, and as I was looking at the painting I hear a young woman behind say, "a friend of mine believes he never existed".
Continuing my walk, I crossed Trafalgar Square and passed under Admiralty Arch which is currently shrouded in scaffolding and sheeting as it undergoes a major multi-million-pound refurbishment and conversion into a hotel. Walking along The Mall, passing familiar sites I turn right into Marlborough Road and have a closer look St James’s Palace. It was here that in September 2022 King Charles III was proclaimed King. Opposite is the Queen’s Chapel, originally built in the 1620s. Whilst standing there a London Green Badge guide arrived with a family he was guiding. Listening to him from a discreet distance I learn that it was in this chapel that Princess Diana’s coffin rested on the night before her funeral back in 1997.
Just a short distance now, I walked into St James’s Park and around to the left of Buckingham Palace and into Buckingham Gate where I visited the Holbein exhibition in the Queen’s Gallery. After my visit I walked down to Victoria, I took the tube train back to Paddington, concluding an interesting day.
You can see this trip plotted on a map on the Geo-trips page Link .
- When
- Sat, 2 Mar 2024 at 22:02
- Grid Square
TQ3179- Chosen Photo
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