The Thames Path: Woolwich Arsenal to London Bridge 18th October 21

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On Monday the 18th of  October I gor the train,tube and DLR to Woolwich Arsenal to begin my Thames Path Walk. The path starts at the Thames Barrier, but with no rail links there I decided to start at Woolwich.

I walk past the Woolwich Market and across the road to The Royal Arsenal Gatehouse.

Ordnance stores were first set up at the dockyard at Woolwich in the 16th century under a directive of Henry VIII. The Royal Naval dockyard was established in 1512 here and the Royal Arsenal in 1545. In 1886 some workers at The Royal Arsenal formed a football club first known as Dial Square, then Royal Arsenal and in 1913 moved to Highbury now known as Arsenal.

Next to the Thames in Woolwich are a cluster of steel men forever frozen in a meeting that is about to take place.

This is “Assembly” by the sculptor Peter Burke, and is intended to represent a group of people coming together. They’re partial body moulds, and are all men — there’s enough of an anatomy to check that.

The cast forms have been designed to be industrially produced and repeated to reflect the use of industrial production methods, and are bolted together using the convention for the joining of castings.

The brown weathering steel sits well in the partial heritage of the Arsenal with its heritage of industrial weapon making.

I walk on following the Thames now towards Woolwich Ferry.

I now follow the Thames path towards The Woolwich Free Ferry. The three ferries in use today were built in 1963 and the current terminals were opened in 1965. A charge was applied until 1889 when pressure from local residents resulted in the charge being dropped and has been free since.

Todays Ferries were Ben Woodicott and Dame Vera Lynn.

On 3 August 2011, 19-year-old ferry worker Ben Woollacott died after falling off the boat into the River Thames. The MAIB report published in August 2012 blamed "unseamanlike working practices" during the unmooring operation for the death. When two new ships were bought to update the service in 2018, one was named after him.

I now pass a gun drill battery, where the canons still point out over the Thames. This area for 400 years was the area of The Royal Dockyard.

Across the water is Tate and Lyle in Silvertown.

The company was formed in 1921 from a merger of two rival sugar refiners: Henry Tate & Sons and Abram Lyle & Sons.

Henry Tate established his business in 1859 in Liverpool, later expanding to Silvertown. He used his industrial fortune to found the Tate Institute in Silvertown in 1887 and the Tate Gallery in Pimlico, Central London in 1897. He endowed the gallery with his own collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings.

Abram Lyle, a cooper and shipowner, acquired an interest in a sugar refinery in 1865 in Greenock and then at Plaistow Wharf, West Silvertown, London. The two companies had large factories nearby each other – Henry Tate in Silvertown and Abram Lyle at Plaistow Wharf – so prompting the merger. Prior to the merger, which occurred after they had died, the two men were bitter business rivals, although they had never met in person. In 1949, the company introduced its "Mr Cube" brand, as part of a marketing campaign to help it fight a proposed nationalisation by the Labour government.

In July 2010 the company announced the sale of its sugar refining business, including rights to use the Tate & Lyle brand name and Lyle's Golden Syrup, to American Sugar Refining (owned by sugar barons the Fanjul brothers) for £211 million. The sale included the Plaistow Wharf and Silvertown plants.

Now there are views down to The Thames Barrier, The O2,Canary Wharf and the Emirate Airline cable cars over the river. The Thames Barrier is one of the largest movable flood barriers in the world and was first used in 1982.

The path turns away again from the river and I walk through an industrial Estate and a derelict looking building with a hoarding that showed the past industries and occupants.

Now after re-joining the river I approach The Thames Barrier.

The Thames Barrier is a retractable barrier system that is designed to prevent the flood plain of most of Greater London from being flooded by exceptionally high tides and storm surges moving up from the North Sea. It has been operational since 1982. When needed, it is closed (raised) during high tide; at low tide, it can be opened to restore the river's flow towards the sea.

The Start (or end) of The Thames Path, just 180 miles to the source!

The Environment Agency receives information on potential tidal surges from weather satellites, oil rigs, weather ships and coastal stations. They can forecast dangerous conditions up to 36 hours in advance, and will close the barrier just after low tide, or about 4 hours before the peak of the incoming surge tide reaches the barrier.

They get information from a range of mathematical computer models that forecast expected sea and river levels. This is supplemented by data from the Met Office and real-time information provided by the UK National Tidegauge Network. This hydrological and meteorological data is fed into the control room every minute from a wide network of tide, river, pressure and wind gauges.

The decision to close, or not, is based on a combination of 3 major factors:

• the height of the tide (usually a spring tide) measured at the Thames Estuary
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• the height of the tidal surge, which naturally accompanies each tide
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• the river flow entering the tidal Thames, measured as it passes over Teddington Weir.
• 
  

The Thames Barrier spans 520 metres across the River Thames near Woolwich, and it protects 125 square kilometres of central London from flooding caused by tidal surges. It has 10 steel gates that can be raised into position across the River Thames. When raised, the main gates stand as high as a 5-storey building and as wide as the opening of Tower Bridge. Each main gate weighs 3,300 tonnes.

The barrier is closed under storm surge conditions to protect London from flooding from the sea. It may also be closed during periods of high flow over Teddington Weir to reduce the risk of river flooding in some areas of west London including Richmond and Twickenham.

The Thames Barrier will then remain closed over high water until the water level downstream of the Thames Barrier has reduced to the same level as upstream. This is a managed process to provide for different circumstances, and takes about 5 hours. The Thames Barrier is then opened, allowing the water upstream to flow out to sea with the outward-bound tide.

I walk on pass The Thames Barrier and away from the river briefly passing The Anchor and Hope Pub, built in the 1830s.

I pass by a large Tarmac plant with the smell of tarmac hanging in the air.

Then shortly afterwards the industrial scene changes to money scene with the Greenwich Yacht Club on my right.

I pass the Ecology Park that marks the beginning of the Greenwich Peninsular development.

I pass an unusual sundial. Research reveals that it was designed for the Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers who wanted to give a present to the City of London to mark the third Millennium. Designed by Piers Nicholson, it is one of three Polar Sundials.

I pass the Emirate Air Line.

The Emirates Air Line is a cable car link across the River Thames in London, England, built by Doppelmayr with sponsorship from the airline Emirates. The service opened on 28 June 2012 and is operated by Transport for London (TfL). In addition to transport across the river, the service advertises "a unique view of London". The duration of a single crossing is ten minutes (reduced to five minutes in rush hour as the service speed is increased).

The service comprises a 0.62-mile (1.00 km) gondola line that crosses the Thames from the Greenwich Peninsula to the Royal Victoria Dock, to the west of ExCeL London. The cable car is based on monocable detachable gondola (MDG) technology, a system which uses a single cable for both propulsion and support, used also on the Metrocable in Medellín, Colombia. The MDG system was reportedly cheaper and quicker to install than a more complex three-cable system which would have allowed larger-capacity cars.[10] The total cost of the project was around £60 million.

Quantum Cloud

The Quantum Cloud is a contemporary sculpture, designed by Antony Gormley, located next to The O2 in London. The sculpture was commissioned for the site and was completed in 1999.

At 30 metres (98 ft) high, it is Gormley's tallest sculpture to date (taller than the Angel of the North). It is constructed from a collection of tetrahedral units made from 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) long sections of steel. The steel sections were arranged using a computer model with a random walk algorithm starting from points on the surface of an enlarged figure based on Gormley's body that forms a residual outline at the centre of the sculpture.

In designing Quantum Cloud, Antony Gormley was influenced by Basil Hiley, quantum physicist (and long-time colleague of David Bohm). The idea for Quantum Cloud came from Hiley's thoughts on pre-space as a mathematical structure underlying space-time and matter, and his comment that “algebra is the relationship of relationships.” The comment was made during a conversation between Gormley, Hiley and writer David Peat at a 1999 London gathering of artists and scientists, organized by Peat.

The sculpture's structural design was by Elliott Wood Partnership while the foundation design was by Beckett Rankine. Fabrication was by Tubeworkers (Structures) Ltd.

Gormley's Quantum Cloud is part of The Line, a series of public sculptures that follow the Greenwich Meridian, through the London Boroughs of Greenwich, Tower Hamlets and Newham. On 5 August 2020, it, and Gary Hume’s Liberty Grip were joined in Three Mills Green, Stratford by Thomas J. Price's Reaching Out showing a black woman looking down at her mobile phone.

I stop by the O2 and grab myself a meal deal from Tesco here before walking on.

Following the closure of the Millennium Experience at the end of 2000, the Millennium Dome was leased to Meridian Delta Ltd. in December 2001, for redevelopment as an entertainment complex. This included plans for an indoor arena.

Construction of the arena started in 2003, and finished in 2007. After the interior of the dome had been largely cleared and before building work inside began, in December 2004, the dome was used as the main venue for the annual Crisis Open Christmas organised by the London-based homelessness charity Crisis.

Owing to the impossibility of using cranes inside the dome structure, the arena's roof was constructed on the ground within the dome and then lifted; the arena building's structure was then built around the roof. The arena building, which houses the arena and the arena concourse, is independent from all other buildings in the O2 and houses all the arena's facilities. The arena building itself takes up 40% of the total dome structure.

The seating arrangement throughout the whole arena can be modified, similar to the Manchester Arena. The ground surface can also be changed between ice rink, basketball court, exhibition space, conference venue, private hire venue and concert venue.

The arena was architecturally built to reduce echoing, a common problem among London music venues. 

I walk thinking who I have seen play here, I can recall Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Meatloaf and Australian Pink Floyd.

Last year my son and I climbed over the dome too!

I follow the Thames pass the O2 Arena.

Created in 2008, Hume modelled Liberty Grip in three discrete sections using the arm of a mannequin as a template, and it was exhibited at White Cube gallery in Bermondsey, London in 2013. In describing the work, the gallery said "Hume ... positioned the three arms into an evocative group of forms that suggests both a bundle of limbs or a contorted hand."

In 2014, it was one of nine works chosen from over 70 submissions for the inaugural year of The Line, an art project distributed along a three-mile route following some of London's waterways between Stratford and North Greenwich.The route opened in 2015. The five Greenwich elements of The Line also form part of an art trail across the Greenwich Peninsula.

As I walk around Canary Wharf comes into view across the river.

Slice of Reality by Richard Wilson.

A Slice of Reality is a work of modern art by Richard Wilson sitting by (and commissioned for) the Millennium Dome on the north-western bank of the Greenwich Peninsula. It consists of a 9-metre (30 ft) sliced vertical section through the former 800-ton 60-metre (200 ft) sand dredger Arco Trent and exposes portions of the former living quarters of the vessel to the elements (such as a visible pool table in the lower decks).

The work is one of the sculptures on The Line sculpture trail in East London.

Bullet from a Shooting Star” – Alex Chinneck

Alex Chinneck
A Bullet from a Shooting Star, 2015
Galvanised SteelHeight 35 m

Commissioned by Greenwich Peninsula as part of the London Design Festival, A Bullet from a Shooting Star is an ambitious outdoor sculpture by British artist Alex Chinneck . The work takes the form of an upside down electricity pylon, balancing on its tip, leaning at a precarious angle as though shot to earth from the sky. At 35 metres tall, the structure is composed of 466 pieces of steel with a combined length of 1,186 metres. Over 1,000 engineered connection points and 25-metre-deep foundations have been used to anchor the 15 tonne structure. Greenwich Peninsula was once home to the largest oil and gas works in Europe and the pylon looks to evoke this industrial history of power generation and supply. The latticed steelwork reflects the visual and material language of multiple structures on the Peninsula, particularly the neighbouring redundant gas tower and the tilting structural elements of the Millennium Dome (The O2). Illuminated at night, the sculpture projects a maze of latticed light.

 

I continue along the river and stop at The Cutty Sark Pub at Ballast Quay for a beer, built in 1695.

I have a Meantime Brewing Co, Yakima Red, a American Red Ale.

I walk on passing a power station, Greenwich Power Station is a standby gas and formerly oil and coal-fired power station by the River Thames at Greenwich in south-east London. Originally constructed to supply power for London's tram system, since 1988 it has been London Underground's central emergency power supply, providing power if there is partial or total loss of National Grid supplies.

Greenwich Power Station was a location used to accompany the track "Heartland" in Infected: The Movie, a 1986 music video collection featuring The The.

Almost 20 years later, the power station appeared in the music video for "The Importance of Being Idle", a song by the English rock band Oasis which reached number one in the UK charts in 2005.

Under the shadow of the Power Station is the Alms-houses of Trinity Hospital.

Trinity Hospital, is a group of almshouses between Greenwich Power Station and the Old Royal Naval College on the south bank of the River Thames at Greenwich, London, England.

It was originally built in 1613-14 by Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, on the site of Lumley House (childhood home of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester). Howard set up his charity in 1613 for 12 'poor men' of Greenwich and eight from his birthplace in Norfolk, hence the name Norfolk College by which the almshouses were also known (it is, for example, shown as Norfolk College, on William Faden's Fourth Edition of Horwood's Plan, 1819). It was one of three Trinity almshouses founded in the last year of Howard's life, the others being in Clun, Shropshire and Shotesham, Norfolk.

It was rebuilt in 1812 in Gothic style.

It is a Grade II* listed building

I pass The Yacht Inn and turn back to the river and up to Trafalgar Tavern, built in 1837. 

This looked an amazing pub so I decided to stop for a pint.

I buy a pint of Brixton Brewery's Low Voltage. I got the shock of my life when the barman asked for £7.55!

Still I was glad it was a cracking pint, tasted amazing.

Built on the site of The Old George Inn in 1837, the year of Queen Victoria’s ascension to the throne, this Grade II-listed building has taken many forms. Through Victoria’s reign it was frequented by Charles Dickens who chose the Trafalgar Tavern as the setting for the wedding breakfast in Our Mutual Friend, his final novel. It was around the same time that politicians decided to host the ministerial ‘whitebait dinners’ here; where they would dine on whitebait caught fresh from the Thames. This became an annual tradition for ministers who would travel across from Westminster by barge. Following WWI the Tavern became home to aged seaman and during WWII it was used as flats for naval officers. Finally, in 1968, this inspiring venue was restored to its Victorian grandeur; a pub and a tribute to old London.

 

The inn was named the Trafalgar Tavern in celebration of Nelson’s great victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, after which Nelson’s body was returned to Greenwich and laid in State at the Royal Naval College; a stone’s throw from the Trafalgar Tavern.

I reach the Royal Navy College.

The Old Royal Naval College is the architectural centrepiece of Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site in Greenwich, London, described by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as being of "outstanding universal value" and reckoned to be the "finest and most dramatically sited architectural and landscape ensemble in the British Isles".  The buildings were originally constructed to serve as the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich, now generally known as Greenwich Hospital, which was designed by Christopher Wren, and built between 1696 and 1712. The hospital closed in 1869. Between 1873 and 1998 it was the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.

This was originally the site of Bella Court, built by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and subsequently renamed Palace of Placentia by Margaret of Anjou upon its confiscation. Rebuilt by Henry VII, it was thenceforth more commonly known as Greenwich Palace. As such, it was the birthplace of Tudor monarchs Henry VIII, Mary I, and Elizabeth I, and reputedly the favourite palace of Henry VIII. The palace fell into disrepair during the English Civil War. With the exception of the incomplete John Webb building, the palace was finally demolished in 1694.

As I walked through there was piano and violin music coming from all directions as I passed the music section of the college.

Now the Greenwich university campus, I could see the two wings of the college built from 1696 onwards as a hospital for disabled seamen, carefully protect the river view from the Queens House, the little Palladian Villa further back. This was designed by Inigo jones for King James I. With wings and colonnades added later it now forms part of the National Maritime Museum. Behind I can see Greenwich Park with the Royal Observatory up top, through which runs the Prime Meridian Line dividing East from West.

I walk on through Greenwich and reach The Cutty Sark,

Cutty Sark is a British clipper ship. Built on the River Leven, Dumbarton, Scotland in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period of design development for this type of vessel, which halted as steamships took over their routes.

After the big improvement in the fuel efficiency of steamships in 1866, the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 gave them a shorter route to China, so Cutty Sark spent only a few years on the tea trade before turning to the trade in wool from Australia, where she held the record time to Britain for ten years. Continuing improvements in steam technology meant that gradually steamships also came to dominate the longer sailing route to Australia, and the ship was sold to the Portuguese company Ferreira and Co. in 1895 and renamed Ferreira. She continued as a cargo ship until purchased in 1922 by retired sea captain Wilfred Dowman, who used her as a training ship operating from Falmouth, Cornwall. After his death, Cutty Sark was transferred to the Thames Nautical Training College, Greenhithe in 1938 where she became an auxiliary cadet training ship alongside HMS Worcester. By 1954, she had ceased to be useful as a cadet ship and was transferred to permanent dry dock at Greenwich, London, for public display.

Cutty Sark is listed by National Historic Ships as part of the National Historic Fleet (the nautical equivalent of a Grade 1 Listed Building). She is one of only three remaining original composite construction (wooden hull on an iron frame) clipper ships from the nineteenth century in part or whole, the others being the City of Adelaide, which arrived in Port Adelaide, South Australia on 3 February 2014 for preservation, and the beached skeleton of Ambassador of 1869 near Punta Arenas, Chile.

The ship has been damaged by fire twice in recent years, first on 21 May 2007 while undergoing conservation. She was restored and was reopened to the public on 25 April 2012. On 19 October 2014 she was damaged in a smaller fire.

I walk on and reach the statue of Peter the Great.

This oddly proportioned and somewhat disturbing statue of Peter the Great with a throne and a Court Dwarf stands in a pocket park near the Millenium Quay housing development in Deptford.
It was installed here in 1998 to commemorate the tercentenary of Peter the Great's time studying shipbuilding at the Royal Shipyard and the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich.

Peter and a Dwarf with a throne stand on a platform of granite, framed by two plinths. The plinths are engraved with inscriptions, topped with bronze cannon, and fronted with grinning chimeric figures.

Peter the Great appears to be about 2 times life size, and the dwarf may be 1 1/2 times life size. The figures are cast in bronze, and wear fine period costumes with elaborate hats, the curly wigs that were in fashion at the time, and buckled shoes.

The dwarf is dressed elaborately in fine clothes that he might wear in a court visit with the Tsar. He wears a topcoat covered with bug beads, over a buttoned best and short knee-length breeches. His oval hat is lined with ribbon and is festooned with a flower. A cherub playing the flute sits on his shoulder, the dwarf holds an armillary sphere and what appears to be part of a scale.

Peter wears breeches that end at the knee, under a long 3/4-sleeve coat festooned with his badge of rank as Tsar. Underneath the coat, he wears a fine garment with what looks like studs or beads in the shape of crowns and tails. The garment is belted at the waist with a large buckle. Underneath that, he wears a blouse with ruffled sleeves, and a ruffled collar that cascades down his chest. he holds a curved pipe with a small bowl in his left hand, and a ship's spyglass in his right. His three-cornered hat is lined with ribbon and bears a badge of rank and a ribbon extending.

The monument is engraved in English on the left plinth and Russian on the right plinth. We will not transcribe the Russian inscriptions, but the English inscription reads as follows:

"Peter the Great

Russian Czar, Peter the Great, arrived in England in January 1698 and stayed in Sir John Evelyn's house, Sayes Court in Deptford for four months.

This monument is erected near the royal shipyard where Peter the Great studied the English science of shipbuilding.

The monument is a gift from the Russian people and commemorates the visit of Peter the Great to this country in search of knowledge and experience.

[Rear of left plinth:]
Sculptor Mihail Chemiakin, USA.
Architect Viacheslav Bukhaev, Russia."

Peter the Great ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from 7 May [O.S. 27 April] 1682 until his death in 1725, jointly ruling before 1696 with his elder half-brother, Ivan V.

Through a number of successful wars, he captured ports at Azov and the Baltic Sea, laying the groundwork for the Imperial Russian Navy, ending uncontested Swedish supremacy in the Baltic and beginning the Tsardom's expansion into a much larger empire that became a major European power. He led a cultural revolution that replaced some of the traditionalist and medieval social and political systems with ones that were modern, scientific, Westernised and based on the Enlightenment. Peter's reforms had a lasting impact on Russia, and many institutions of the Russian government trace their origins to his reign. He adopted the title of Emperor in place of the old title of Tsar in 1721, and founded and developed the city of Saint Petersburg, which remained the capital of Russia until 1917.

However, the formation of local elites domestically was not his main priority, and the first Russian university was founded only a year before his death, in 1724. The second one was founded 30 years after his death, during the reign of his daughter Elizabeth.

In 1698 he stayed at a house in Deptford belonging to the writer and diarist, John Evelyn. The house suited Peter because it was close to the dockyards, where he could easily visit ships being built. He was especially keen to study the drawing of ship plans.

King William III also gave Peter a ship, Royal Transport, as a gift. Used to carry important passengers to Holland and back, it was one of the king's most modern ships, with an experimental design and rig. The ship was altered and refitted for Peter, and given extra golden carved decorations.

Peter was also given free access to all naval and military bases, including the arsenal and gun foundry at Woolwich. He was also invited to review the naval fleet at Portsmouth.

Peter was interested in astronomy because of its link with navigation, so he visited the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, observing Venus with the first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed. He also visited the Royal Society and the Tower of London to view the Royal Mint.

When he returned to Russia, a large shipbuilding programme was established. In 1703, a fleet was founded in the Baltic Sea, and by the end of Peter's reign 28,000 men were serving there, on 49 ships and 800 smaller vessels. In the early years of the fleet, many Britons built, maintained and served in these Russian ships.

Before Peter became tsar, Russia had no navy at all. After his reign, Russian industry and armed forces were completely reorganised, and the country became a successful naval power.

I walk on and into Sayes Court Park, named after Sayes Court that stood in the dockyard here until 1729, the home of John Evelyn Diarist and keen gardener.

Sayes Court Park is the last surviving remnant of the beautiful gardens established by the Diarist Sir John Evelyn around his house, Sayes Court, in the 1650s. Evelyn was an expert on trees and in 1664 he published a very influential treatise on forestry: "Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesty's Dominions". In the park there still stands an ancient mulberry tree which is said by some to have been planted by Evelyn. Although now in very poor condition, it continues to bear fruit.

There is a story that the tree was given to Evelyn by Peter the Great (1672 – 1725), Tsar of All Russia from 1682 – 1725. Peter came to Deptford in 1698 to learn about British ship-building techniques as part of his initiative to modernise Russia. Peter stayed at Sayes Court and proved to be a rowdy and undisciplined young man – he vandalised both house and garden and after he left, Evelyn sought and was granted compensation from the British government for the damage Peter had caused. Whether the tree was Peter’s attempt at an apology is not known.

I rejoin the river and pass a pointless raised platform, the view was no better from aloft.

This global structure has been constructed from more than a mile of galvanised steel rod. The discs show the route of Sir Francis Drake's circum-navigational voyage around the earth which was completed at this waterfront in 1581. Circumsphere is mounted on a Dolphin which is the name given to many small mooring structures which sit out in the river Thames. These structures provided low-tide moorings for ships, barges, tugs and lighters.

I walk further along and reach Greenland Dock.

The dock dates back to the 17th Century and was originally known as Howland Great Wet Dock.
It was used as a shelter for ships ready to unload their goods at the nearby legal quays.
It was also twice the current size and one of the largest in the world.
It was later renamed Greenland Dock in recognition of the whaling trade during the 18th Century.
Many ships sailed from London to Greenland hunting whales for blubber and whalebone.
The blubber was rendered down to produce oil for lamps, to lubricate machinery and even for use in soap.
The bones were used in umbrellas and corsets. Boilers, tanks and whaling fleets would have been the busy scene along the dock where you stand today.

In the early 1900s Greenland Dock was expanded by engineer Sir James Walker, who also built Tower Bridge.

The whaling trade declined in the 19th century and gave way to timber and grain imports.
In 1806 the dock was sold to William Richie, a Greenwich timber merchant and founder of the Surrey Commercial Dock Company.
Timber, or deal, dominated Greenland Dock for over 100 years with huge warehouses and timber ponds.
The timber was imported from Scandinavian and Baltic countries and was unloaded by London's famous Deal Porters - athletic men who unloaded, carried and stacked the timber.

Bombing during WW2 devastated the docks but they did revive until the timber trade ceased and the docks closed in 1970.
A majority of the warehouses were demolished and rebuilt in the late 1980s as part of the LDDC plans. It is now mostly residential.

I turn left into Randall's Rents and right into Odessa Street, once home to some of Rotherhithe's shipyards and granaries.

I re-join the river once more.

I walk through the gates and into Surrey Gates Farm and some wonderful bronze animal statues.

There is a detour when these gates are locked.

Nelson House was built in the 1740s on a former shipyard and probably built for one of the shipbuilding owners.Unusually the front entrance faces Rotherhithe Street rather than the Thames, this leads to the possibility that it led to the shipyard.The roof has an octagonal cupola with stunning views of the river.
This Grade II* building is now in use as offices and not open to the public.
The buildings you see today are the surviving sheds of Mill's and Knight ship repairers who were based at Nelson Dock from 1886 until the docks closed.

I pass the Old Salt Quay pub , a Greene King pub on the riverside near the tip of the Rotherhithe peninsula.

A little further along there is a further reminder of the connection between Rotherhithe and the early settlers. The statue, “Sunbeam Weekly and the Pilgrim’s Pocket” stands on the walkway at Cumberland Wharf. The work is by Peter McClean, depicting a newsboy in 1930’s attire, reading a copy of the newspaper depicting the story of “The Mayflower” and all that has happened in the USA since those early days. The pilgrim is reading the paper over the boy’s shoulder, looking astonished at how the world has developed since he landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. The boy’s dog also appears to be trying to read the newspaper, standing on its hind legs.
I now re join Rotherhithe Street where it meets Railway Avenue. This is the location of The Brunel Museum on the site of the worlds first underwater tunnel on a navigable river.

I now pass the Brunel Museum, that I visited twice before. Once on my Brunel London Walk. This walk can be found here. 

I continued along Rotherhithe Street to the Mayflower PH, the site where the Mayflower left for America with the Pilgrim Fathers.

The Pilgrims were mostly a group of separatists who had broken away from the Church of England.
They decided to opt for a new life after hearing tales of earlier settlers to the New World.
The Pilgrims sailed to Southampton on 5th August 1620 where it was joined by the Speedwell.
This ship proved to be un-seaworthy forcing them to turn back twice before The Mayflower took on some of her passengers.
She finally set sail from Plymouth, south west England on 6 September 1620 with 102 passengers aboard.
Two months later they arrived along the east coast of America and landed in Plymouth Bay, Massachusetts, on 21st December.
They were the first permanent European settlers in America.

Just down the road is St Marys Church.
St Mary's Church dates back to the 12th century and was rebuilt by local shipbuilders in the Georgian era.
The nautical connections of the area are reflected in the construction of the church.
The barrel roof was made to look like an up turned ship and the supporting pillars are complete tree trunks encased in plaster.
The communion table and two chairs are made from wood from the 98-gun ship the Temeraire, second in command at the Battle of Trafalgar. The graveyard holds some interesting stories.

Three of the four owners of the Mayflower ship are buried here including Christopher Jones, captain when the ship sailed to America with the Father Pilgrims in 1620.
A statue by Jamie Sargeant for Christopher Jones was unveiled on July 2nd 1995 and paid for by The Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims.
You will also find the tomb of Prince Lee Boo.

In September 1782 three Rotherhithe men sailed to China aboard the East India Company's ship the Antelope.
It took Captain Wilson and his men nine months to reach China before returning a different route north east of the Philippines.
They passed a group of unknown islands, later called the Palau Islands, where they were shipwrecked after a storm.
They took refuge on the Island of Ulong and a friendly relationship was born with the chief, Abba Thulle.
Food was given to the English sailors and local trees were used to build a new boat to get them to China.
The King watched as the ship was built using grindstones, anvils and other tools.
Abba Thulle was so impressed by the skills he had witnessed, he hoped that his second son, Lee Boo, would learn what they knew.

Three months later the English set sail with Prince Lee Boo onboard.
Eighteen days later they reached China before the long voyage back to England.
The ship, Morse, arrived back in England on 14 July 1784 where Lee Boo was taken to the home of Captain Wilson in Paradise Row, Rotherhithe.
He settled in London where he attended church services, school, learned the language and dressed as an Englishman.
In mid-December, only months after arriving in London, Lee Boo contracted smallpox.
He died on 27 December and lies buried to the left of the church entrance.

Just across from the church is St Mary's Free School.

You will notice the two statues of schoolchildren wearing uniform from the 18th century.
The school was founded in the 1600s by Peter Hills and Robert Bell, two Elizabethan seafarers, to teach the sons of local seafarers.
They funded the school with the sum of £3 per annum and a brass plaque and other objects can be found in the church.
The original school was founded in 1613 and later moved in 1797 to the building you see today.
It is thought to be the oldest elementary school in London.

Next to the school is the Watch House from 1821.
This was used by the local watchman or constable to watch out for wrongdoers, particularly body-snatchers raiding graves.
Watchmen wearing white overcoats and carrying lanterns were meant to be seen and heard, they called the time and weather.
Watchmen wearing blue were 'silent' and checked dark corners of the local area.
This watch house consisted of 1 beadle, 1 constable and 14 watchmen.
Bodysnatching was common in this area as surgeons at the local Guy's hospital required fresh corpses and body parts for medical research.
his practice was common around London and 'Resurrection Men' would take bodies from graves and disguise them as merchandise.
Legally, only bodies of convicted criminals could be taken.

In 1832, The Anatomy Act was passed, making it an offence to rob a grave.
It was only legal to dissect the unclaimed bodies of people who had died in hospitals or poor houses.

I walk on and I walk inland from the river for a while and pass The Ship Pub.

Looking across the River to the Captain Kidd Pub and the Metropolitan Police Marine Unit.

Tea, coffee, sugar, rum, spices, silks, furs and tobacco were just some of the cargoes brought into Wapping during the 18th and 19th Centuries.Pirates and thieves also flourished. Pirates would ambush ships coming into the area and also steal outgoing cargoes.
Across the river you can see the Captain Kidd pub, named after the famous pirate executed at Execution Dock in 1701.
Execution Dock was located by the Thames near to this pub and dealt with convicted pirates for over 400 years.
Pirates who operated on the seas and abroad would also be tried back in London.
The gallows were located by the Thames so that the tide could wash over the body three times.
More notorious pirates, including Kidd, were left to hang in a gibbet, a type of metal cage, to deter other would be criminals.

I walk on and Tower Bridge comes into view.

Along a bit further by a pub is Dr Salters Daydream statues.

Dr Salter's Daydream - SE16 

SE16, Bermondsey Wall East, Cherry Gardens

The multi-part sculpture is called 'Dr Salter's Daydream' and shows the whole Salter family. The scene is poignant in that Joyce died at the age of eight. Sadly the statue of the doctor was stolen in 2011 (presumably to be sold for scrap) and following this, the statues of Joyce and the cat were removed for safekeeping. A campaign was set up after the theft to raise funds for a new statue. At the same time, Diane Gorvin, the sculptor of the original statue, drew up plans for the replacement group, which would also include a statue of Salter's wife Ada. In the group, ‘Dr Salter’s Daydream’ Alfred, in his old age sits imagining Ada, Joyce and her cat as they once were in happier days long gone by.

Dr Salter’s Daydream
One was a youth worker whose social clubs transformed the lives of Bermondsey’s toughest working girls. The other was a doctor who treated his poorest patients without charge. Together, they overcame personal tragedy to lead a revolution. Ada and Alfred Salter wee legendary, and beloved, figures in Bermondsey. They were also famous nationally, and each has a separate entry in the Dictionary of National Biography.

Ada Brown (1866-1942) was born in Northamptonshire. At 30, she left her well-off home in Raunds to do social work in the London slums as a Methodist ‘Sister of the People’. Alfred Salter (1873-1945), born in Greenwich and reckoned the most brilliant student Guy’s Hospital ever produced, was a bacteriologist with a great career ahead of him when in 1898, also stirred by social conscience, he arrived at the Bermondsey Settlement where Ada was working. In 1900 the two married, became Quakers, had a daughter, Joyce, were active in the Liberal Party and then the ILP (Independent Labour Party). They dedicated their lives to the impoverished people of Bermondsey and Rotherhithe.

Ada’s concern for working women led to her election in 1909 as the first woman councillor in Bermondsey and first Labour woman councillor in London. To counter dire conditions in some local factories Ada recruited women to trade unions. This bore fruit during the ‘Bermondsey Uprising’ of 1911 when thousands of women went on strike. After Ada organised food supplies for their starving families, she was honoured by the trade union movement and in 1914 elected National President of the Women’s Labour League.
Alfred believed the slums would never improve without political reform and set his sights on becoming MP. However, during World War One he and Ada, as pacifists, endured fierce hostility, even from stone-throwing mobs, especially after he wrote a pamphlet against the war acclaimed all over the world. But by 1922, now admired for his anti-war principles, he was elected MP for Bermondsey and, except for one year, remained MP until his death.

In the same year Ada was elected (at a time when borough mayors had considerable power) the first woman mayor in London and first Labour woman mayor in Britain. She and Alfred launched what was later called the ‘Bermondsey Revolution’, an experiment in municipal government that attracted attention throughout Europe.

Alfred promoted free medical treatment using modern methods: a health centre, a solarium for TB sufferers, and educational films about hygiene shown from vans on street corners. By 1935 infant mortality had fallen from 150 to 69 per year, and not one mother died in childbirth. This was his ‘NHS before the NHS’.

Meanwhile, Ada’s ‘Beautification Committee’ transformed the slums. She planted 9000 trees, offered prizes for best window boxes or gardens and filled all public spaces with playgrounds, musical events and sports. She was a ‘Green before the Greens’. The Daily telegraph said Ada’s work was “an object lesson in what can be done to beautify even the poorest neighbourhood”. In 1931 Ada was elected Chair of the National Gardens Guild, and in 1934 was deployed by the LCC to beautify all of London and establish London’s Green Belt.

The Salters destroyed the worst of Bermondsey’s slums, Alfred pushed through a vast slum-clearance programme admired all over the country, while Ada was in charge of designing the model council houses still to be seen in Wilson Grove.

The Salter Statues
The Salters’ lives were marred by a great personal tragedy. In 1910 their only child, Joyce, aged 8, died from scarlet fever. To win trust, and to avoid privilege, they had chosen to live amidst the disease-ridden slums and have their daughter educated locally, but the cost proved high. Though Joyce’s death bonded the Salters for ever with the people of Bermondsey, they were inconsolable.

The path takes me away from the river and the signs dry up, I'm at a loss where the path goes now, so I navigate the best I can back towards the River.

I pass Hop Studios, now apartments on Jamaica Road. A former brick factory built in 1887 by a using all the different bricks that he provided. I thought it would have been a hop warehouse!

I walk down the Circle and pass Jacob The Dray Horse Statue.

Jacob, the Circle dray horse
The famous Courage dray horses were stabled on this site from the early nineteenth century and delivered beer around London from the brewery on Horselydown Lane by Tower Bridge.
In the sixteenth century the area became known as Horselydown, which derives from 'horse-lie-down', a description of working horses resting before crossing London Bridge into the City of London.
Jacob was commissioned by Jacobs Island Company and Farlane Properties as the centrepiece of the Circle to commemorate the history of the site. He was flown over London by helicopter into Queen Elizabeth Street to launch the Circle in October 1987.

I walk on up to Tower Bridge.

Tower Bridge. associated engineer. Sir John Wolfe Barry Henry Marc Brunel. date April 1886

“This bridge is one of the most famous in the world, but the Victorians hated it. They thought it dishonest. The bridge is made of steel but clad with masonry to fit in aesthetically with the Tower of London. Tower Bridge is the drawbridge for London, but the Victorians thought if you build a steel bridge, it should look like a steel bridge. If you want it to look like a masonry bridge, build it out of masonry.”

The bridge was officially opened on 30 June 1894 by the then Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII), and his wife, The Princess of Wales (Alexandra of Denmark).

Passing Tower Bridge I reach City Hall. I visited here on an Open City Day and a tour inside this great building. Blog for this is here.

City Hall is home to the Mayor of London, the London Assembly and the 600 or so permanent staff who work for the GLA.
City Hall is part of the More London development located between London Bridge and Tower Bridge, on the south bank of the Thames. The GLA is leasing City Hall for 25 years.

View across to The Tower Of London.

It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new ruling elite. The castle was also used as a prison from 1100 (Ranulf Flambard) until 1952 (Kray twins), although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under kings Richard I, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site.

The Tower of London has played a prominent role in English history. It was besieged several times, and controlling it has been important to controlling the country. The Tower has served variously as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a public record office, and the home of the Crown Jewels of England. From the early 14th century until the reign of Charles II in the 17th century, a procession would be led from the Tower to Westminster Abbey on the coronation of a monarch. In the absence of the monarch, the Constable of the Tower is in charge of the castle. This was a powerful and trusted position in the medieval period. In the late 15th century, the Princes in the Tower were housed at the castle when they mysteriously disappeared, presumed murdered. Under the Tudors, the Tower became used less as a royal residence, and despite attempts to refortify and repair the castle, its defences lagged behind developments to deal with artillery.

The zenith of the castle's use as a prison was the 16th and 17th centuries, when many figures who had fallen into disgrace, such as Elizabeth I before she became queen, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Elizabeth Throckmorton, were held within its walls. This use has led to the phrase "sent to the Tower". Despite its enduring reputation as a place of torture and death, popularised by 16th-century religious propagandists and 19th-century writers, only seven people were executed within the Tower before the World Wars of the 20th century. Executions were more commonly held on the notorious Tower Hill to the north of the castle, with 112 occurring there over a 400-year period. In the latter half of the 19th century, institutions such as the Royal Mint moved out of the castle to other locations, leaving many buildings empty. Anthony Salvin and John Taylor took the opportunity to restore the Tower to what was felt to be its medieval appearance, clearing out many of the vacant post-medieval structures.

In the First and Second World Wars, the Tower was again used as a prison and witnessed the executions of 12 men for espionage. After the Second World War, damage caused during the Blitz was repaired, and the castle reopened to the public. Today, the Tower of London is one of the country's most popular tourist attractions. Under the ceremonial charge of the Constable of the Tower, and operated by the Resident Governor of the Tower of London and Keeper of the Jewel House, the property is cared for by the charity Historic Royal Palaces and is protected as a World Heritage Site.

The 1,000 person sunken amphitheatre, The Scoop at More London stages events all year round, from our four month long More London Free Festival, through all the seasons of the year including Christmas when we also hold our popular Christmas market. Our own events are also complimented by those organised by charities and the local community.

A little further along was HMS Belfast. HMS Belfast is a museum ship, originally a Royal Navy light cruiser, permanently moored in London on the River Thames and operated by the Imperial War Museum.

Construction of Belfast, the first Royal Navy ship to be named after the capital city of Northern Ireland, and one of ten Town-class cruisers, began in December 1936. She was launched on St Patrick's Day, 17 March 1938. Commissioned in early August 1939 shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, Belfast was initially part of the British naval blockade against Germany. In November 1939 Belfast struck a German mine and spent more than two years undergoing extensive repairs. Belfast returned to action in November 1942 with improved firepower, radar equipment and armour. Belfast saw action escorting Arctic convoys to the Soviet Union during 1943, and in December 1943 played an important role in the Battle of North Cape, assisting in the destruction of the German warship Scharnhorst. In June 1944 Belfast took part in Operation Overlord supporting the Normandy landings. In June 1945 Belfast was redeployed to the Far East to join the British Pacific Fleet, arriving shortly before the end of the Second World War. Belfast saw further combat action in 1950–52 during the Korean War and underwent an extensive modernisation between 1956 and 1959. A number of further overseas commissions followed before Belfast entered reserve in 1963.

In 1967, efforts were initiated to avert Belfast‍‍ '​‍s expected scrapping and preserve her as a museum ship. A joint committee of the Imperial War Museum, the National Maritime Museum and the Ministry of Defence was established, and reported in June 1968 that preservation was practical. In 1971 the government decided against preservation, prompting the formation of the private HMS Belfast Trust to campaign for her preservation. The efforts of the Trust were successful, and the government transferred the ship to the Trust in July 1971. Brought to London, she was moored on the River Thames near Tower Bridge in the Pool of London. Opened to the public in October 1971, Belfast became a branch of the Imperial War Museum in 1978. A popular tourist attraction, Belfast receives around a quarter of a million visitors per year.

I walk on passing Hays Galleria.

Hay's Galleria is a mixed use building in the London Borough of Southwark situated on the south bank of the River Thames including offices, restaurants, shops and flats. Originally a warehouse and associated wharf (Hay's Wharf) for the port of London, it was redeveloped in the 1980s. It is a Grade II listed structure.

Sculpture by David Kemp called The Navigators.

I reach London Bridge where todays walk finishes. I walk to London Bridge Station for the journey home.

Distance of todays walk: 14.5 miles

Great Wakering Essex and George's Brewery walk 4th October 2021

 GPX File Here

Viewranger File Here

On Monday the 4th of October 2021 I drove to Great Wakering and parked up on the roadside on Common Road for free.

According to a medieval tradition, Wakering (probably Great Wakering) was the site of a monastery during the seventh century AD. Two Christian cousins of King Ecgberht of Kent, named Æthelred and Æthelberht, were murdered at Eastry, a royal dwelling in the Kingdom of Kent, during King Ecgberht's reign (664–673). They were prevented by a miracle from being buried at Canterbury, and were taken instead to an existing monastery at Wakering in the Kingdom of Essex and enshrined there as saints. Ecgberht's brother and successor, King Hlothhere of Kent, is said by William of Malmesbury to have ridiculed the idea of their sanctity.

I walked up to St Nicholas Church.

The village church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, dates back to Norman times and the board of rectors or vicars inside begins in the year 1200 with simply "Robert", and the next incumbent equally simply named "Peter". As well as the parish church, the village also has a United Reformed Church in Chapel Lane, a Methodist church, and an Evangelical (formerly Peculiar People) church on Great Wakering High Street.

I walk on back down Common Road and pass the Village duckpond and its sign warning me of Ducklings. How dangerous can ducklings be Ha Ha!

A little further down I take a footpath on my right, signposted for the England Coast Path, this takes me across Great Wakering Common.

Here is the new Golden Jubilee Community Wood planted November 2002. The wood has been planted with native broadleaf trees and shrubs.

Ten years later they are celebrating the Queens Diamond Jubilee with a bench.

I follow the path on towards Oxenham Farm.

Continue along the road which has open arable land to the left and rough grassland to the right.

Look out for kestrels hovering overhead and redshanks in the fields.

I see a Great Spotted Woodpecker fly in and land on a telegraph pole, but it nervously flew off as I tried to get a photograph.

I keep to the road as it turns right and pass through Oxenham Farm.

At the seawall I turn left and walk along the footpath on the top of the wall.

Note how many of the salt marsh plants such as Cord Grass, Glasswort, Sea Aster and Sea Blite have succulent leaves which are an adaptation to salty conditions. On the far side of the creek you can see Rushley Island once owned and farmed by Captain John Harriott founder of Thames River Police in 1800.

Above is the bridge over to Havengore Island.

This island is a marshy area which is linked to Essex by a secured bridge. Havengore bridge is the only means of crossing into Foulness Island but it can only be used when MOD Shoeburyness range is not active.

I pass the boathouses with the tip of Potton Island on the far side of the creek. At low tide the waders, herons and gulls can be seen feeding on the mudflats

I pass many Houseboats, I often wonder what it'd be like to live on the river.

What do they do for drinking water, sewage etc?

I pass two classic cars, a Morris Minor and a Triumph Herald!

I pass Wakering Boatyard and as you'd expect numerous boats of all sorts.

Seen better days!

I follow the Potton Creek and see the bridge up ahead over to Potton Island.

Potton Island owned by the Ministry Of Defence is a sparsely populated island west of Foulness in Essex, England. It is connected to the mainland by a swing bridge with a traffic light system, and the road leads to Great Wakering.

Unlike some of the other nearby islands which were formerly marshland, Potton Island has been inhabited at least since the Neolithic era. It was home to several arable farms until it flooded in 1884, leading to its temporary abandonment and longer-term use as pasture. The island was reclaimed in the 1940s but some time after being acquired by the Ministry of Defence in 1955 it reverted to pasture. In June 2005, it was disclosed that Potton Island was considered by John Major's Conservative government in the 1980s or 1990s as a potential long-term storage site for high-level nuclear waste. Local government (Southend-on-Sea Borough Council) subsequently expressed their surprise and concern that they had not been party to any consultation on the matter.

I walk on until you come to a fence alongside the path and at its end turn left away from the sea wall. Cross the dirt road and walk straight ahead following the path as it crosses an area of grassland.

I walk pass Fleet Head and towards Halfway House Farm.

I walk out onto Common Road which I follow for a short wat before I turn right down another path.

Ahead St Nicholas Church appears on the horizon, then a very nice surprise. I'm walking the path and I see loads of kegs stacked outside a building. Its gotta be a brewery surely?

Yup, it's George's Brewery and its subsidiary Hop Monster!

HISTORY OF GEORGE‘S

The story begins with 21-year-young brewer, Mark.

His father, George Mawson had been a real ale fan for several years and was a tad concerned that his lad appeared to prefer Euro fizz in the style of Holsten Pils than our own home-grown English ale.

As an Abbot Ale fan George tried to get his son to follow in his footsteps and remove the yellow peril. In a bid to introduce a ‘proper man’s beer’ Mark was enticed with Greene King Abbot, however, Mark’s taste buds were somewhat different to that of his cigar smoking father and he couldn’t bear Abbot!

After much wailing and gnashing of the teeth the father and son gang happened upon a welcoming hostelry called The Guildford Tavern in Southend-on-Sea.

This local pub did sell the beloved Abbot of Mark’s father’s eye but also kept an ale known as Adnam’s Best Bitter. It looked brown, it smelled brown, by golly it was brown.

The misguided young Mark appeared to be able to keep this stuff down and indeed ordered several more pints. This was the point at which he couldn’t keep it all down but at least the penchant for yellow bubbles appeared to be in recess.

George had done it. He had converted his boy from a lover of the deviant yellow to a purveyor of the finest brown. Satisfied with a job well done, he promptly died. The love of beer and the path they took together to reach it was the driving force behind the weird ginger kid and his home brewing kit.

Christmas brewing was very prolific as Mark brewed recipe after recipe trying to match the beers that his father and he had tried together in the years they had.

In December 2008 Mark was working as foreman bricklayer on a site in Leytonstone. It was snowing and no one was allowed to work as it was too cold to lay bricks. The mobile phone rang (yes there were mobiles then) – it was an old workmate of Mark’s from their days of working at Matchbox. They’d both been made redundant along with everyone else when Matchbox toys packed up their Rochford factories and sailed off to take the whole thing to China. Mark had gone into bricklaying and his mate Stevie Mann had gone to London to brew for Bruce’s Brewery in one of the “Firkin Alehouses” that Bruce’s became so famous for. The brand name ‘Dogbolter’ is still a favourite with the more mature ale drinkers that can still remember it.

There was an entire brew kit for sale that had come out of The Pheasant and Firkin in London. Its current owner had set the kit up in Ramsgate and had outgrown it so needed a bigger kit. Did Mark want to purchase it? The whole thing, everything needed to set up and start your own brewery…

Mark purchased the brew kit and began the mindbogglingly crazy task of getting permission to brew and getting the kit up and running. This took nearly 2 years so the bricklaying had to continue. In 2011, Eddie Gadd, the previous owner of the kit came up from Ramsgate for the pilot brew and the first beer of George’s Brewery was brewed May 11 2011.

The beer was called Freak Show and was brewed under the Hop Monster Banner, the subsidiary of George’s Brewery. The first cask of that brew went to the Station Arms beer festival in Southminster, Essex.

Much beer has flowed under the bridge and through the vessels at George’s Brewery since then and they now supply around 15 Wetherspoons and over 60 other outlets around Essex and sometimes much further afield.

Years of crafting the beers and perfecting the taste have resulted in the production of 6 core George’s beers plus the house beer ‘Hilda B’ brewed exclusively for the East Anglia Pub company and 4 Hop Monster beers. As the team like to get experimental there are 3-4 specials brewed each year for the George’s and Hop Monster brands.

The award-winning brewery have CAMRA awards for several of their ales and have taken the ‘Beer of the Festival’ accolade on more than one occasion at local festivals.

With an exciting re-brand in 2019 George’s is set to grow and when the time is right, the intention is to move to bigger premises – the tiny cattle barn where George’s was born is getting a little cramped with their ever-expanding range.

You’ll find Mark, still very much hands on, happy to welcome tours of the micro-brewery, serve you in the shop or tell tales of the life of George’s.

I pop in, the smell is amazing as a full fermentation is going on! I shout for sometime before the brewer pops out and I buy some beers to try at home later!

HISTORY OF HOP MONSTER

George’s brewery was up and running and the team had perfected the taste but wanted to experiment with ingredients and hops to try and produce more funky ales than most drinkers would expect in their glass of traditional beer.

And so, Hop Monster was born.

The whacky idea behind the brand thought up by Mark was ‘Hendrix Hop Monster’, a long-dead ghost of a brewer that had returned from the grave to put vast quantities of hops back into the beer. A distinct contrast to George’s named after Mark’s father born out of the journey they took and the love they shared for real ale.

The first-ever beer brewed at George’s was, in fact, a Hop Monster beer. It was called ‘Freak Show’ as it featured bundles of freakishly new and expensive hops that had been coming into the country from America. The yeast and hops used pushed up the price but the taste was worth it.

Since then they have experimented and brewed with hops from Australia, New Zealand and across Europe to create different taste experiences.

I walk back up to the car at Common Road back pass the Duck Pond and off home.

Just under 5 and a half miles, a pleasant walk.