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Walk no.: 1
Submitted by: Liz
Title of walk: Bermondsey Blues
Location of walk: Bermondsey, South East London
How did the writer discover, or come to be walking in this area?: 'I live nearby in Elephant and Castle and I am fascinated by Bermondsey because in the nineteenth century and into the twentieth, it was one of the main centres of trade and industry in London. A lot of the old factories, breweries, warehouses and street signs are still here'
What map could I use for this walk: London A-Z / www.streetmap.co.uk
Is the walk linear or circular?: Linear
How many stopping-off points will there be?: 11
Click on each of the photographs to see the full-size image
 Introduction: This walk made me think that no particular era had its own exclusive stamp on this area. At very different times the workhouses (vanished), the fur, paper and vinegar factories, the many mission houses, the medieval abbey (vanished), the town hall, the leather market, the tanneries (vanished), the 'Time and Talents Settlement', the many derelict pubs, the wharehouses, stables, the spa (vanished), were all functioning, and often clearly stating their function to the street.
I was fascinated by all the signs on buildings - the very clearly labelled 'catholic church', the number of buildings from 1897, the sad text on the 'Rose' pub. There is a lot of evidence of the very close-knit communities that have lived here.
The Walk:
Exit London Bridge Tube Station and turn left into Tooley Street, turn right into Weston street, through the tunnel, and then left into Melior Street.
Building no. 1
'Catholic Church' - Our Lady of La Salette (1861)
I like the label on the side of this church, which looks like an advertisement. The legend is that, after the priest visited the shrine of the Virgin Mary in La Salette, France, and prayed for her to help him build it, 'a large sum of money was found in the church box of the old chapel in Webb Street'¹. The new church was opened in 1861, at a time when the population was expanding greatly. It became 'the Gate of Heaven for poor Irish exiles who had been driven from their native land by famine and persecution, and had come to London and settled near the river'.
 Building no. 2 & 3
First right into Melior Place then Snowsfields
The Horseshoe pub and the Guinness Trust Buildings (1897)
1897 was the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, and there is a whole cluster of buildings from that date in this area. The Guinness Trust was a housing block to built to re-house people living in unsanitary conditions . The buildings have flat roofs. The horseshoe pub round the corner from these buildings was also built in the same year.
 Building no. 4
Snowsfields
Arthur's mission house
One of the many mission houses in this area built at this time, when the population was increasing rapidly.The text on the building reads 'Feed My Lambs'.
 Building no. 5
Corner of Snowsfields and Weston Street
Rose pub
The sad text written on this pub reads 'cut is the branch that might have grown full straight'.
 Building no. 6
Turn back right into Weston Street towards the catholic church
Warehouses
One of the many old Bermondsey warehouses. Some of the warehouses are now lived in by artists, and the cranes can be useful for hoisting canvases. Many of the warehouses were no longer needed for storage when the Surrey Docks at Rotherhithe closed in 1970.
 Building no. 7
Turn around and walk down Weston Street away from the catholic church
Leathermarket
This is one of the great market buildings in London - tucked away among backstreets. Leather-making has been part of this area for centuries - it was a very strong-smelling trade (along with brewing and, presumably, vinegar making) that would be unacceptable in wealthier areas.
 Building no. 8
Walk through the leathermarket back into Weston Street - continue along Weston Street and left into Long Lane
Development site
There is so much development in this area. Go now while some of the old 'marked' derelict buildings are still standing, before the area changes completely. There are also an amazing number of boarded up pubs that you will pass on the walk.
 Building no. 9
Turn left from Long Lane into Bermondsey Street and up towards the church
Time and Talents settlement (two houses along from the church, adjacent to the 'Old Rectory')
This building looks very clean and sensible, and I thought it might have been a temperance society. In fact, it was set up by Time and Talents 'ladies', who cared for 500 factory girls and aimed to make them fit for 'service', which was considered a 'happier and more healthful environment'².When it opened, in 1899, there were 12-15 factories in Bermondsey parish, each employing up to 400 girls, Bermondsey street contained 20 gin palaces and public houses, and policeman always patrolled the street in pairs. The building had previously been a tailor's shop, and was said to be haunted.
 Building no. 10
Turn around and walk back down Bermondsey Street and at the bottom turn left into Grange Road. Continue further along and the factory is behind gates on the right.
Alaska Factory
The old brick entrance gates are an interesting contrast to the clean white 1950's main factory, perhaps they were kept as a reminder of the factory's illustrious history. When it opened, in 1869, it was designed for working Alaskan furseal. It had a staff of 'clerks, shavers, blubberers, fleshers, dyers, tubbers and top-hatted wing-collared aproned craftsmen'³. As working techniques and demands changed, the factory was continuously added to or rebuilt. It was also bombed twice in the second world war. In the fifties it had its first canteen, organised sports teams and new regulations about working hours , all of which seem to be reflected in the clean white scientific new building. In the old victorian factory, people would work endless shifts, and play impromptu games of football during lull periods. There were barrels of beer rather than canteens. Only the brick gates, with the carving of an Alaskan seal, remain of the old factory.The pub on the other side of the road is called 'the final furlong' which may be a pun.
 Building no. 11
Continue along Grange Road and go left into the park
The Park that used to be Bermondsey Spa
Thomas Keyse discoved a spa in the grounds of his tea gardens in the 1770's. He opened a spa in this area, along with a picture gallery. In the evenings there were concerts and firework displays. I love coming across very green quiet unexpected spaces in a densely urban area, and this is a very good place to rest at the end of the walk.
Sources
¹ Fundraising pamphlet for 'Our Lady of La Salette' 1932
² From 'By Peaceful Means - The Story of Time and Talents 1887-1987' Marjorie Daunt
³ From 'Under Eight Monarchs - The History of Martin's'
General: 'The Story of Bermondsey' by Mary Boast
The Borough of Southwark archives are situated behind the John Harvard Library of Borough High Street.
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Have you been on this walk? Tell us what you think:
Micky, Bermondsey:
"I live in the guinness trust buildings mentioned in this walk... I think it worth mentioning that although the Guinness buildings now have flat roofs, until the late 70s they had high gabled roofs. Why it was changed i don't know, I have only managed to uncover one photograph of it the way it was."
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