Above Southwark Bridge

So I got my day in London.  Left early for my appointment and got to London Bridge in good time.  Afterwards I walked back through Borough Market, past Southwark Cathedral and the Golden Hind (or what purports to be..) and then walked all along the river back to Waterloo.  I spent so much time blipping and generally enjoying myself I never got to Covent Garden and I'd meant to walk up to Trafalgar Square possibly to blip the tree.  Oh well, another year perhaps.

Actually, I love the walk along the river.  I love the fact you can get down onto the foreshore when the tide's out (which it was), although when I lived in London years ago you never could.  For me it's a secret pleasure, though I was wearing entirely the wrong kind of boots and only went from one set of steps to the next.  Perhaps I feel a series of Thames blips coming on..

What you actually walk on - for those who haven't done it - though, is horrible.  There is some genuine Thames mud in there, but the whole surface is covered in 2000+ year old detritus.  Lots of broken glass, obviously, bits of brick, concrete and building stone worn completely out of shape, rusty links of chain, an old slipway or two, broken to pieces and spars of tarred wood.

There is also, of course, the treasure, which is why you always see people down there mudlarking.  Pieces of 17th and 18th century clay pipes are popular, I understand, but people have found keys, jewels, bits of weaponry and of course the really ancient stuff that lands up in the British Museum.

So I am tagging this blip for DerelictSunday9 as really the whole shore is a spread of dereliction.  The child and her father obviously aren't, I just thought they added a little humanity and a lovely touch of pink!

Have a fabulous weekend - isn't it brilliant it's here  xx