SE1 North Lambeth, South Bank, Waterloo, Borough, The, Bankside, Bermondsey, Newington, Southwark
LONDINIUMby Harry Yanos |
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MY friends in north London thought I was mad, moving south of the river, 'You'll be back,' they said, 'it's hardly even London.' But I knew different from my forays to the 'warm side'. |
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The history just jumps out at you. Borough High Street is probably one of the most walked on streets in London, used since roman times. Just think of all those centuries; kings and queens coming and going but the street remaining. |
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Borough High Street used to be thronged with pubs, when the area was the first/last staging post to cross to the City, or the other way - a pilgrimage to Canterbury perhaps or centuries before, back to sunny Italy after a stint on Hadrian's Wall. |
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Chaucer's pilgrims assembled at the Tabard inn here and Dickens's Mr Pickwick and co met in a pub that still exists, the George, one of the few remaining galleried pubs. |
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Another piece of history you can touch is near Borough tube, by the John Harvard library. Yes, THAT Harvard. He came from Southwark to found America's finest university. |
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Another writer with south bank connections is Shakespeare and his Globe theatre. It is the new Globe- and the awe-inspiring Tate Modern - which is again imbuing the area with energy. Pulling the crowds who flock over the now-no-longer Wobbly Bridge. |
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And at night, London now has the visual panorama it deserves. The view from Waterloo Bridge is splendid. The eye is taken from the towers of Docklands to the 'Gherkin’, Tower Bridge and then the delicate wedding cake spire of St Bride's church, picked out by subtle light near the imposing St Paul's. |
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Turn your eyes west, and the wonderful Hungerford Foot Bridge is highlighted by pretty blue lights. |
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What a change from the old bridge, usually dripping rain from the railway girders overhead as concert goers shuffled back single file to Charing Cross. |
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Now I can walk home, perhaps stopping at the Anchor, where I can watch the river traffic and remember that Dr Johnson was supposed to have written some of his dictionary here. |
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Five minutes' away is Southwark Cathedral, built from AD 852 by the Bishop of Winchester. Stroll down a narrow alley and you come to what survives of the Bishop's palace. |
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In those days the south bank was outside the jurisdiction of the City. The bishop had his own court and prison - the Clink. The south side was also home to the ungodly theatres - and brothels. |
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Nearby is one of London's visual treats - Borough Market. The variety of produce and the way it is displayed is stunning. Couple this with the railway running overhead and the Victorian-looking side streets and it's no wonder there is often a film crew there. I like the market on a damp and dark afternoon just before Christmas. |
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But it is one of London's oldest - and most recently discovered items - that has delighted me, and silenced my doubting northern friends. Near my flat, at the top of Tabard Street (see, Chaucer again), archaeologists found a roman sign. |
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It is believed to be from a vintners and it has the word Londiniensium on it - the oldest written reference to London. |
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So you see, my north London friends, this place has been London all along, while your suburbs were not even clearings in the forest of Middlesex. |
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