Waterloo to London Bridge

3 Miles

Start at the War Memorial which is situated on the concourse of Waterloo Station.

There are four rolls of honour which contain the names of the men who died during World War 1 who worked for the London and South Western Railway Company. In all there are ten columns of names and they were taken from the St Paul’s Cathedral Service In Memory of Railwaymen who died in service of their Country 1914-1918. In all there are 527 names here.

You can download the walk here – https://www.bar-trek.com/crawl/712

Now exit via the main entrance under the Victory Arch and take the time to look back. The sculptor was the otherwise little known Charles Whiffen and the special significance of the monument within the post-First World War genre is that the LSWR staff themselves were, uniquely, consulted on its design.

Now head straight across and under the railway lines towards the IMAX BFI complex. It has the largest screen in the UK and the cinema was designed to float to lessen the noise of the underground and traffic and cross the roundabout, either under or over towards St John’s Waterloo on your right, a grade II listed building constructed in the early 19th Century as one of the 612 Commissioner’s Churches for the rapidly growing population of London at the time.

In 1877, Octavia Hill, later one of the founders of the National Trust, led a campaign to clear London churchyards of their graves and open them as gardens for the urban poor. She is said to have been delighted by the results at St John’s and to have paid for the inscription of a line of poetry by George Herbert along the church’s garden wall. Head through the Churchyard pass the War Memorial and exit turning left onto Secker Street.

Follow this round the corner to Cornwall Road and turn right to see our first pub.

1. The White Hart

29 Cornwall Rd, Greater, London SE1 8TJ

The White Hart - Cornwall Road — © Tripadvisor

This pub is tucked away from well-trodden streets and surrounded by some of London’s oldest workers’ cottages which provide a reminder of the South Bank of bygone times. This a traditional pub with vibrant atmosphere and vintage character in equal measure. A beer chalkboard in the left hand area describes current and future beers.

Upon exiting the pub, turn right and continue down Cornwall Road turning left into Roupell Street. This charming little pocket of history is an almost perfectly preserved street of late Georgian worker’s cottages. Miraculously it has survived the railway expansions, the Blitz and finally the appetites of developers/city planners. Thank goodness it did because it is a real London treasure. You feel very much like you’ve stepped back in time with the traditional-style lamps and occasional vintage car. It must have been a tight squeeze with, initially, up to 20 people living in each house of 4 rooms. Builders, blacksmiths, printers, nurses, bakers, butchers and teachers, i.e. ordinary Londoners, would have all been rubbing shoulders here.

Due to its pristine period look it features frequently on both the big and small screens. Doctor Who, the Kray twins film: Legend and Call the Midwife all filmed scenes here. When walking down the street keep your eyes peeled for small metal plaques on the sides of the houses. These are fire insurance plaques: a pre-1865 leftover, when the public London fire service was created. After the Great Fire of London in 1666, entrepreneurs spotted a business opportunity and set up fire insurance companies. Paid up clients would have displayed one of these plaques on the side of their house. Should they then have a fire, the insurance company’s private fire fighting team would put it out. If they didn’t, they would possibly leave, possibly try and sell you an insurance policy on the spot. There were apparently even occasions when they were known to have stayed to just watch as observers!

Keep walking down this wonderful street to our next pub.

2. The Kings Arms

52 Roupell St, London SE1 8TB

This corner pub is Grade II listed with its historic interior recognised by CAMRA as of regional significance. The narrow public bar at the front and small saloon at the side share a horseshoe-shaped bar top, with eight hand-pumped (four in each bar) cask ales from throughout the UK, and usually including at least one dark beer. Enjoy this wonderful pub but get there early because it can get really busy and you can see why.

When leaving the pub turn down Windmill Walk and under the railway line and keep going to the end of the road turning right at The Cut heading back to Waterloo Road. A boxing gymnasium situated above a pub on The Cut is alleged to be where the modern rules for the sport of boxing were penned.

Head across Waterloo Road into Bayliss Road passing Waterloo Millennium Green on your left. If you are lucky you might see a host of market stalls down Lower Marsh, a good spot to grab a bit to eat. Continue down Bayliss Road to Lambeth North Underground Station where opposite you there is the impressive building which is our next pub.

3. The Hercules

2 Kennington Rd, London SE1 7BL

The Hercules - Lambeth North — © Fuller, Smith and Turner

This building has done a number of stints as restaurants of one form or another and now the Hercules is back as a pub under the ownership of Fuller’s. The pub is split over two floors, with the ground floor bar being home to cask beer and a vast array of keg beer taps. Upstairs is another bar dominated by a large shuffleboard table.

Opposite this pub is Christ Church and the impressive Lincoln Memorial Tower. It was opened in 1876 in memory of Abraham Lincoln, and paid for partly by Americans. Once part of a complex of nineteenth-century philanthropic institutions sited alongside a Congregational chapel, it is all that now remains of the original design. The Lincoln Tower is built on the site of an orphanage for females which was founded in 1758.

Keeping the tower on your right head down Westminster Bridge Road.

Between 1964 and 1994 the office block at 100 Westminster Bridge Road, then known as Century House, was home to the UK’s overseas intelligence agency, the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), or more commonly MI6. The building was refurbished and converted into the residential Perspective Building, designed by Assael Architecture.[3] in 2001. You will pass a pub called ‘Flowers of the Forest’ and I would suggest to keep on walking. Apart from the exterior the pub has nothing special to offer in terms of beer or atmosphere.

Head across St George’s Circus into Borough Road passing ‘The Duke of York’. This pub is famous for being the original David Bruce Firkin brew pub, the Goose and Firkin. Unless you are desparate for a drink then I would keep walking down Borough Road to the end and our next pub.

4. The Ship

68 Borough Rd, London SE1 1DX

The Ship has an attractive green tiled frontage and long, narrow, wood panelled interior. If downstairs is too noisy then the upstairs room is quieter. The attractive rear garden in the summer is a good place to sit. Fuller’s gave up their lease in early 2023 and the pub was reopened in June 2023 by London-based True Pub Co. I haven’t been in since the change of hands so unsure of the beer choices.

Now we need to walk up Borough High Street towards London Bridge. Then turn left down Lant Street to our next stop.

5. The Gladstone Arms

64 Lant St, London SE1 1QN

The Gladstone Arms - Borough — © CityStack

This is a small and welcoming pub tucked away down a side street around the corner from Borough underground station. A particular favourite with locals with a downstairs bar, upstairs lounge and small roof terrace plus a continuing strong commitment to live music. It was threatened with demolition and replacement with an apartment block in 2015, but a strong campaign by locals and the securing of Asset of Community Value status by the local CAMRA branch helped see off this threat. Closed in late 2016 but reopened in late April 2017 with new tenants offering three hand pumps and 10 keg taps.

Again, we need to backtrack to Borough High Street turning left at the end of the road to Borough Station. Turn right at the main junction and walk down Great Dover Street passing the National Probation Service HQ on your right. A little way down Great Dover Street turn left down Nebraska Street to our next pub.

6. The Royal Oak

44 Tabard St, London SE1 4JU

This Victorian corner pub is owned by Sussex brewer Harvey’s which, when it took it over was its first pub in London, restored it to how it might have been in the 1850s. There are 4 hand pumps in each bar, dispensing a range of Harvey’s regular and seasonal beers. There are also several additional Harvey’s bottled beers. The long-term tenant licensees, Frank and John, retired in January 2019 after twenty years here, after which Harvey’s elected to make it a company managed house. However, it may close early in the evenings when business is light. CAMRA SE London Branch SE1 District branch Pub of the Year 2023 and then Overall Branch Pub of the Year 2023, having been runner-up in 2022.

Now turn right down Tabard Street then turn right down Pilgrimage Street back to Great Dover Street. Turn left and continue walking a short distance to our next port of call.

7. The Roebuck

46 Druid St, London SE1 2EZ

This is a large, lovely, cosy and airy Victorian wedged shaped corner pub operated by the Parched Pub Company. The large oval central bars normally has 4 handpumps with usually 3 real ales plus 1 cider, mainly locally sourced. Now you can stop the walk here and grab some dinner because it is a short walk to Borough tube station.

Or we can continue on to our last stop close to London Bridge Station.

If you chose to continue then cross over Great Dover Street into Becket Street. Turn right at the end onto Tabard Street then left again cutting through Tabard Gardens passing the playground on your right. Tabard Gardens was opened in 1929 as part of the slum clearance program by the London County Council. It is named after the Tabard Inn which stood on Borough High Street (The George is of a similar design). Exit the gardens and continue straight crossing Manciple Street into Staple Street. At the end turn right along Long Lane and follow this to Bermondsey Street.

At the junction, cut through St Mary Magdalen Churchyard if it is open otherwise continue straight across down Abbey Street turning left down Tower Bridge Road. If the park is open then cross diagonally passing a small fountain on your right. This is the Bevington Fountain erected in 1882 in memory of Colonel S. B. Bevington, first Mayor of Bermondsey. Exit the park onto Tower Bridge Road turning left. Keep walking going under the main railway line to London Bridge Station. As you exit the bridge, turn sharp right onto Druid Street and our final stop.

8. Southwark Brewery and Taproom