Tag Archives: London Guided Walks

Two New Walks – The Strand, Thames Foreshore and Woolwich to the Royal Docks

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It has taken me some time, however I have finally organised some new walks. Two walks that are very different, but both exploring some fascinating London history, with the second walk exploring an area you may not have visited before, and includes a crossing of the Thames on the Woolwich free ferry.

Details for these two new walks are as follows, and all proceeds from my walks cover both the costs of the walk, and the costs of hosting the blog, so your support is much appreciated.

From the Strand to the Old Thames Shoreline – The Transformation of Grand Estates to the Alleys and Lanes of Today

The Strand forms part of an historic route between the City of London and Westminster, and ran along reasonably high, dry ground along the edge of the Thames. The land down from the Strand once formed the northern edge of the river, an edge which has been continuously pushed back, with the 1860s / early 1870s build of the Embankment separating the old shoreline from the river for good.

The area from the Strand to the old Thames Shoreline has been home to the palaces and grounds that belonged to the nobility of the country, one of which can be traced back to the 13th century, and is still marked today, with part of the original estate owned by the King.

There have been grand palaces and gardens, water gates and Thames stairs, slums, poverty, 18th century grand houses and the “Hospital of Henry late King of England of the Savoy”. The land down from the Strand has been threaded with streams, alleys, vaults and tunnels.

Lasting around two hours, this walk will start at Embankment underground station and end at Temple underground station, this walk will explore the area as it is today and find what remains of the long history of this unique place, as well as the people who lived, sheltered and worked here and made this long-lost foreshore to the Thames part of London’s long history.

The walk lasts about 2 hours and meets at Embankment underground station. Final meeting point details will be emailed in the week prior to the walk. Please get in contact if not received.

Click here for dates and booking.

In the Steps of a Woolwich Dock Worker – From the Woolwich Ferry to the Royal Docks

“The appearance of the electric lights at the new docks, seen from any eminence where a full view of the whole sweep can be obtained, is on a clear night very striking and beautiful, especially if a position is chosen from which any of the brilliant sparks are seen reflected in the river. In another sense beyond pleasure to the eye, they are beacons of satisfaction to the people of Woolwich, for they typify better days in store, increase in trade, and reduction of local burdens.”

This was how the Kentish Independent on the 16th of October 1880 described the view from Woolwich following the start of the electrification of the Royal Docks.

It must have been a stunning sight, and the new docks, the largest in the world when completed, were a major source of employment for the inhabitants of Woolwich.

In this walk, we will follow a dockyard worker from Woolwich, cross the river by the Free Ferry, and then explore the history of the Royal Docks, starting with the King George V, then the Royal Albert, and finishing with the Royal Victoria.

Although the docks closed in 1981, we can still see the sheer scale of what was the largest dock complex in the world, by the size of the body of water where ships once arrived and departed, loaded and unloaded travelling across the world to and from London, carrying all manner of goods.

On this walk, we will explore the Free Ferry, the Thames foot tunnel, (a look at the entrances, rather than walk the tunnel – the lifts are usually out of order), the old North Woolwich Station and Pier, Pleasure Gardens, Royal Victoria Gardens, King George V Lock and Dock, the Dock pumping station that still keeps the docks full today, the Royal Albert Dock, London City Airport, some of the impressive buildings that survive from the Royal Docks working life, and how the docks have been, and continue to be redeveloped.

Click here for dates and booking.

Crossing the Thames on the Woolwich ferry, with the Thames Barrier and the Isle of Dogs in the background. The ferry dances around the second ferry as they both cross the river at the same time. The ferry forms part of the walk.

Please note the following about the Royal Docks walk:

  • I will send an email in the week before the walk with final meeting point details. If you do not receive, please get in contact.
  • The walk starts from in front of Woolwich Station on the Elizabeth Line
  • The walk crosses the river using the Woolwich Free Ferry
  • This walk is around 3 hours long and roughly 3 miles in distance
  • The walk finishes at the Royal Albert DLR Station
  • There are two optional extensions, firstly to look at the Queen Victoria Dock and then continuing to London City Airport where there is also a DLR station

If there is sufficient demand, I will be adding more dates, so please check Eventbrite if the current dates do not work for you.

I look forward to seeing you on a walk.

alondoninheritance.com

Limehouse – A Sink of Iniquity and Degradation. A New Walk.

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(Dates for my new walk at the end of the post) The following photo was taken by my father from the eastern end of the King Edward VII Memorial Park in Shadwell. It is looking east along the Thames towards Limehouse:

Limehouse

The photo shows this stretch of the river as it was in the late 1940s. A busy place with docks, wharves and cranes, with barges and ships along the river.

The tall chimney is that of Limehouse (also called Stepney) power station. An electricity generating station that ran on coal transported along the river. The power station was built in 1907, however the tall chimney was added 20 years later in 1927 due to complaints about the amount of pollution that was being spread around Limehouse by the much smaller original chimneys. At the time of building, it was the tallest chimney in London at a height of 351 feet.

The power station was closed in 1972 and demolished soon after.

Just in front, and to the right of the power station chimney is the entrance to the Regent’s Canal Dock (now Limehouse Basin). Although the entrance is hard to see, the warehouses with the name of the dock, on the east side of the entrance to the dock from the river can be seen in this extract from the above photo:

Limehouse Regent's Canal Dock

The title for the walk “Limehouse – A Sink of Iniquity and Degradation” came from the book “Limehouse through Five Centuries” written in 1930 by the Reverend J.G. Birch of St. Anne’s, Limehouse. He used the phrase in his introduction to the book, and also added that he hoped that the book would help dispel this myth.

Limehouse has always had an air of mystery and intrigue, an exotic and dangerous place to those who did not live or work along the river.

The 1916 book Limehouse Nights by Thomas Burke featured a number of short stories centred on Limehouse, the opium dens and the Chinese community, which were also the background to the stories of Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer. The works by Burke and Rohmer featured appalling stereotypical views of the Asian community then living in Limehouse.

Stories about Limehouse exploited themes of violence, crime, sex and drugs and how the import of opium resulted in the exploitation of English women, often to sell opium in the fashionable West End.

The image of Limehouse as a place of intrigue and mystery continues to this day, with the 1994 book Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem by Peter Ackroyd, on which the 2016 film The Limehouse Golem was based.

Whilst there were opium dens, crime and violence, Limehouse was a hard working place, based around the trade and industry that grew along the Thames. The Chinese population were frequently sailors who had settled in Limehouse and married local women, along with a temporary increase in numbers when ships with Chinese crew docked. Their numbers though were relatively low, not as large as popular literature of the time might suggest.

Limehouse was an early site of ship building. From Limehouse, sailors and traders set out along the Thames to cross the oceans of the world. Industry, warehouses and docks lined the river, with cramped housing alongside polluting factories.

Limehouse provided access to the Thames for the inland waterways, with the Limehouse Cut and the Regent’s Canal providing access to the river from the rest of the country. In the Regent’s Canal Dock (now the Limehouse Basin), ships unloaded all manner of cargo, including coal, timber, fruit and ice.

There was technical innovation, hydraulic power and an electricity generating station running on coal delivered via the river. The London & Blackwall Railway cut through Limehouse on a brick viaduct, paving the way for the Docklands Light Railway.

The decades after the 2nd World War were not kind to Limehouse as trade along the river slowly declined and industry closed or moved away.

From the late 1980s onwards, Limehouse was transformed, with some major projects being driven by the developments on the Isle of Dogs just to the east.

I have long been fascinated by Limehouse, a place that for centuries was shaped by the relationship between the land and the river. Whilst today that contact is maintained by Limehouse Basin, the rest of Limehouse is now just a spectator to the activity on the river.

This walk will explore the history and development of Limehouse from the 15th century to the present day. The people, those who settled in Limehouse, the relationship with the River Thames, trade, waterways, tunnels, streets, pubs and church, along with some of the reality of the opium dens.

As with the Reverend J.G. Birch, my aim with the walk is to dispel some of the myths about Limehouse and focus on the real history of this fascinating part of east London.

The walk will start at Limehouse DLR station and end at Westferry DLR station. It will take around 2 hours 30 minutes and is a walk of slightly over 2 miles.

The schedule of walks is listed below. Click on each date to get to the Eventbrite booking page:

Just added a couple of new dates as the original set sold out:

Or for an overview of all the walks on Eventbrite, then click here.

I look forward to showing you around this fascinating part of east London.

alondoninheritance.com