Tuesday Was Diana's Day Off For This Week,

so glad rags on,

time for a quick pose,

and we were out to Beckenham Junction station,

'Ah!',

we both had a coffee each,

whilst we waited for a train, the one we wanted for London Bridge had just left,

so we had plenty of time to wait for another one,

when our train did arrive we had the whole carriage to ourselves,

we were soon hurtling towards London,

with familiar landmarks coming into view,

off at London Bridge,

by the Shard,

a quick pose,

and we were on our way,

we had decided to take a walk along the South side of the river towards the Houses of Parliament, so we cut through Hays Galleria,

 

where the sculpture known as The Navigators is on display,

the last time we were here the display did not seem to have this much water coming from it,

or maybe I did not notice,

in any event we did not linger here as we had taken a number of photograph of the galleria on our last visit here,

but we did stop for a pose by H.M.S. Belfast, which we had great fun in, when we went onboard way back in September in 2010,

looking across the river at the Walkie Talkie building,

looking back towards H.M.S. Belfast,

we had not made this walk before,

so it was all new to us,

as were the buildings,

we were by now almost opposite the Walkie Talkie,

we went past it, happy memories indeed when after a day in London we meet up with Steve and Kai for a meal and a drink on the 35th floor back in July 2016,

and past the landing stage this side of the river, we noticed that from here we can catch a boat all of the way to Putney, so we will keep that in mind for a future trip, may take a boat there and walk back or vice versa,

the sunlight falling on to the Thames reflected from one of the buildings opposite,

we were soon nearing the bridges, 

the weather was really kind to us today,

nearly blue skies and not too chilly,

and here we were at the legend about the old London Bridge,

and the relatively new one,

I was still fascinated by the reflected sunlight,

whilst Diana was taking a few selfies,

the stone says it all,

with the Griffin atop, or as some might say dragon,

looking back towards the Shard, we did in fact have a meal planned there, but it was cancelled due to the lockdown, maybe next year,

a strangely name public house, if only it were open!

we found our way into a number of small courtyards,

and a few churches,

the good news was that there were not many people in this area,

but as we neared the Golden Hind, we were not alone,

we passed Winchester Palace,

the legend, next we were on our way to the clink, which is another way of saying going to prison,

and there is number 1 Clink Street,

a quick pose from Diana,

as we go to jail,

I am not sure if the phrase has been adopted in other countries, but in the UK going to the clink has one and only one meaning, going to jail, but why? the origins of the name "The Clink" are possibly onomatopoeic, deriving from the sound of striking metal as the prison's doors were bolted, or the rattling of the chains the prisoners wore, what ever the reason the name has become slang as a generic term for prison or a jail cell,

here is the museum dedicated to the jail site, The Clink Prison,

I am sure I have seen him hanging around somewhere else before,

an old map of the area,

and the legend,

we passed a nice piece of street art,

suitably Oriental as it was on the wall of Wagamama,

dotted along the river there were a number of pubs,

like this one, so inviting but now sadly closed,

next bridge,

and under Southwark Bridge we went,

a quick pose,

before walking past The Globe,

these look like the ones we see in Kelsey Park, Egyptian geese, (Alopochen aegyptiaca),

so a quick pose,

we continued,

towards the foot bridge,

where I had to have a pose as well,

as did Diana,

exactly,

in the middle, it is photographs like these I like playing around with in black and white,

another pose,

and we were on our way,

looking back,

and to the side of where we were waking,

we were getting close to the next bridge,

I really like the reflection of the next doors building's crane,

which I think looks strange if the building is cropped out,

we are now next to Blackfriars railway bridge,

looking towards Waterloo Bridge,

we now went under Blackfriars bridge, and had a look at this mural by JIMMY.C (bottom right),

it is not until you get up close,

you can see it is made up of small single squirts from an aerosol can of paint,

many will have noticed these red pillars on the other side of Blackfriars bridge,

these were once the supports of the original railway bridge, which was built in 1864, in 1985, it was declared that the old bridge was too weak to support modern trains, but the supports were left,

by the side of the bridge,

the Invicta sign, which was a part of the bridge that the red pillars supported,

under the bridge we went where there are a number of murals depicting the bridge in days of old,

looking back,

and forwards,

as the aroma of fresh coffee filled the air,

it was a Nero coffee shop,

Diana popped in to buy a couple,

we found a riverside seat,

coffee and a mince pie,

well it is nearly Christmas, that is my excuse and I am sticking to it!

and for Diana,

a ginger bread man, named Gino,

it almost seems a shame to eat it, I did say almost,

a selfie of both of us,

in the distance a Christmas tree, so it is not just us getting ready for Christmas early,

looking down river, 

coffee finished, time for a pose by the tree,

and one from Me,

I should have mentioned it before, we had passed the OXO building and gallery, 

if I had not eaten the mince pie,

I might have had an ice cream,

this must look nice at night, the trees have lots of lights on them,

looking across the river,

as we come up, to the Hungerford and Golden Jubilee Bridges,

in the distance, the London Eye,

looking back,

a mulled wine anyone?

getting close to the eye,

one more pose,

or two,

I just had to do it!

what a marvel of engineering, and great views too,

one more for the album,

the Houses of Parliament in the distance,

unfortunately still covered in scaffolding,

I thought the London Dungeon was in Tooley Street, perhaps it has moved?

looking back to the eye,

we made our way across Westminster bridge,

what was the L.C.C. building,

Westminster bridge and not a car in sight, a great time to visit, so long as you do not mind the attractions being closed!

the eye,

and Diana,

my turn!

as I mentioned a shame about the maintenance,

one more for the album,

we decided to make a move for home, as an aside if you like bridges there are 9 secrets here you may or may not know about some of London's bridges, 

so past Boadicea,

and the totally unused road and cycle lanes that go past the river that have made other parts of London even more congested, what a great move that was by who ever thought it up, not,

a look over the road to Westminster Abbey, which we had a closer look at in July 2016,

 down to the tube station we went,

this one is ours! on the way home Diana said she had treated herself to a pair of Pandora earrings, 

when we arrived home I commented I never knew the earrings would have a box for each one, and that the boxes would be so big!, apparently Diana forgot to tell me that the earrings come as a set, with a matching dress and coat, so now I know,

time to relax before our evening meal, but before that Diana had made a short video of our walk,

and here it is, 

for our starter tonight, a scallop shell filled with prawns and salmon,

'Cheers!',

for her main course Diana had a spaghetti dish,

we lit the Christmas candles,

and for myself,

a huge steak pie,

which we followed with a crème brulee, next feet up for tonight's film,

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which we both thoroughly enjoyed, I am only making one post today, as it has taken an age! so with the end of the film we were off to bed.