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A Yearful of London Week 13 A self-guided walk through the Docklands
I've got a wonderful friend called Heather. Some reasons (but not all because there are hundreds):
1. She dressed up as a medieval wench for Secret London Runs' murder mystery launch event. And she's agreed to do it again for the Prison Break Run in October! Here's Foxy Toogood in action:
Yep, she's the one in the bonnet, not the sports gear.
2. Heather wheeled me around King's Cross in the cold for hours in my wheelchair - I wanted to visit the Lumiere Festival for my second Yearful of London blog and refused to let a broken leg get in the way.
Ok...it looks like she had a good time too!
3. When I asked her to come to a vigil for the forgotten dead as part of my research for a running tour (In the Shadow of the Shard), she unquestioningly came along. And whilst we were having our pre-vigil tipple, she gave me a lovely gift to say congrats for setting up a wee business.
And this is what my lovely friend Heather has to do with A Yearful of London Week 13.
On a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, Josh and I trotted off to Canada Water to the start of a hidden walk from the book.
"A trip through Tesco car park to kick things off?" Don't mind if we do.
Soon enough we were at Greenland Dock which is very pretty.
"Why 'Greenland'?" you may ask. Well, I think Joshua is about to tell us.
It's called Greenland dock because it was used by the whaling ships from Greenland in the 1700s.
You would have found blubber boiling houses all along one side of the dock.
There were lots of cool things along the walk...
A statue of the famous engineer, James Walker.
Cannons remaining from the days when Deptford was a naval base, initially started up by Henry VIII.
Skulls at the entrance of the church of St Nicholas - to remind visitors of the inevitability of death.
Did you know St Peter the Great of Russia lived in Deptford for 3 months?
Many more revelations on the way that I'll leave to you to discover with your own copy of London's Hidden Walks. The walk is a reminder that every area of London - even those you might not expect like Deptford - is absolutely crammed with history.
Better keep exploring...
Thank you for the gift and for all the support, Heather! So much love!
A Yearful of London is my New Year's Resolution to do something-you-can-only-do-in-London every week in 2016. Loving suggestions, comments and recommendations.
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