Today I joined a group of people on a walk through Bermondsey. How lucky were we with the weather? Yes, it was a chilly wind, but the sun was shining and there wasn’t a rain cloud in sight!
I was particularly keen to do this walk as my grandfather’s family lived here. Actually, my grandfather four generations back was the first to live by the River Neckinger. The river has long since been built over but there are clues to the past, and if you know where to look (I do!) you can see where the river finally runs into the Thames.
The walk began from Bermondsey tube station. The road outside had barriers along it due to the Vitality Half Marathon taking place. Lots of runners (including someone dressed as a rhino) were being cheered on.
Our first stop, St James Church, is quite an imposing place with Roman pillars. (Since coming home I have discovered that my great-grandfather married here!). We carried on into Spa Road where Bermondsey Spa Road Station once stood. We walked under the bridge (rather nice pillars) and out the other side where there is a park where once the spa waters were. It was the place to come in those days. On the other side of the road is the council offices. Not the original as they moved along a bit, but on the pediment of the building you can see the Bermondsey Crest. The only part of the original council building remaining is part of the wall and gates, behind which is now Sainsbury’s Local!
Further down is the library, which is original. Above the windows are busts of writers. Inside there is Buddhist Prayer Room. Our guide showed us a photo of it and said that it was in use at weekends but they are very friendly people there, and if you go along in the week you can see it for yourself.
The area had many factories. Most of these have now been converted into flats. There is Hartley’s (the jam makers), a custard factory and a biscuit factory. However, there were also factories dealing in curing furs. One such factory Alaska cured seal furs, another cured goat skins, and in one road Christies hat factory used felt . Then women working there had to use a solution of mercury and some other acid to separate the fibres. This is where the saying ‘mad as a hatter’ comes from, because the mercury caused loss of memory, slowness, slurred speech and the shakes. It was only outlawed in 1912 in this country.
Tanning was also big business in this area. Of course central London did not want the smell so factories were downstream, where big open vats were used filled with dog poo and urine to cure the hides. People were paid to collect dog poo for this industry! My great grandfather started out as a boot maker. He was in the right place! The smell must have been dreadful, and all the effluence poured into the Thames. Street names, like Tanners Lane, show the past, along with old warehouses now turned into offices and apartments.
The railways seemed to build new stations at the drop of a hat only to demolish them and build another. We came across two very close by. The second one had nothing to remember it by except around the corner where the arches are. They were the former stables. As goods came in horse and carts were used to deliver them. The old houses were once places workers would have lived in. These days the two bedroom houses go for about £600,000!
Another highlight was discovering Bermondsey Abbey ruins, close to the now lost Neckinger River. The only way to see them is to go into the restaurant where you can see a small part through a glass flood. Our guide knows them in the restaurant so we were able to go in. Unfortunately they were given the wrong advice about the flooring so only you can only see part of a wall through one panel as the rest of the floor has frosted glass. To change it would cost £40,000!
Over the road stands St Mary Magdalene (where, in the graveyard, I believe one of my ancestors is buried). Let’s hope he wasn’t dug up because the people known as The Resurrectionists took bodies for medical research. There is a tower house (now a cafe) where watchmen stayed to keep an eye open for anyone hoping to dig up a newly buried body! Next we stopped at a row of buildings which are the oldest in Bermondsey. Over the arch of one is the head of a river god.
To finish we walked into Maltby Street, a narrow alleyway where there is a street market selling hot food from around the world. The aroma was wonderful. Some of our group went into some eating places to the side but I went off to explore and take a few more photos before walking to London Bridge station and the homeward journey.
My London+ 