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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Friday 23 November 2018

Black Friday 2 For 1 Special Offer: Scandinavian Christmas Market plus Bermondsey Beer Mile

SWC 245 in reverse and with amended routing – Greenwich to Rotherhithe or South Bermondsey or London Bridge

Length: up to 10.0 km (6.2 mi)
Net Walking Time: up to 2 ½ hrs         

Take the 12.35 train from Cannon Street (12.38 London Bridge), arrives Greenwich at 12.47 hours; or meet up with the group 5 mins later at Cutty Sark DLR.
Finish is at Rotherhithe Overground (Hi & Is to West Croydon/Crystal Palace/New Cross) or  at South Bermondsey or London Bridge stations (on the Beer Mile extension).

This walk is a special pre-Christmas walk that combines a Thames side walk from Greenwich to Rotherhithe with a visit to the Scandinavian Christmas Market on Albion Street (turn left just before The Mayflower pub) between the Finnish  and Norwegian Churches (the market is open 12.00-19.00 today, and also over the weekend).
An optional extension then follows through Southwark Park to South Bermondsey where we will join the Bermondsey Beer Mile – a collection of small breweries mainly under the railway arches between South Bermondsey and London Bridge stations. Here is a short route description of the extension: Continue a short distance along the Thames Path, then through King's Stairs Gardens and Southwark Park to the Fourpure Brewing Company. This is the start of the Bermondsey Beer Mile.

A map (and further links to more detailed maps of the Beer Mile) can be found here (scroll down to bottom of linked page). For those not wanting to imbibe, South Bermondsey Station is nearby for trains back to London Bridge. 

Idea & Concept: John P, SWC Representative for Borough & Bankside
Administrative Assistance: Thomas G, SWC Representative for Bermondsey & Old Southwark

The walk will be led (the SWC does not have leaders, how many more times do I have to say this? – ed.) by the local SWC Representatives and we’ll attempt to rope in one or other volunteer who might know the Beer Mile even better.

Eat/Drink: Stalls on the Xmas Market, or The Mayflower or The Ship  in Rotherhithe. Then the micro-breweries on the Beer Mile.
For map, photos, and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.245.b

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is there an option to skip the walk and go straight for the beer? Richard

Thomas G said...

'tis the SWC, you can do what you like, when you like! but we'll be there ca. 16.00 hours...

Sandy said...

for reasons which will become apparent i won't be able to do any full-day walks for a while but may be up for some or all of this - just to clarify did you mean you'd be at the mayflower for 1600 or the start of the beer mile?

John P said...

I think Thomas is referring to the time that we should arrive at the first stop on the Beer Mile – Fourpure Brewery (though it may be a bit later than 4 pm).

If you would like to join us anywhere along the way, including those wishing to join us after work, I am happy to send you my mobile number so that you can call and check where we are.

Please send an email to john_c_powell AT Hotmail DOT com and I will send you my number. Additionally, if you are on WhatsApp, please send through your mobile number and I’ll set up a WhatsApp group to which I’ll endeavour to send out updates each time we move from one brewery to the next.

Thomas G said...

Post now updated with a link to a map of the Beer Mile. As clear from that map: anyone wanting to join for just the 'socialising' part of the walk (the drinking), pls make your way to Bermondsey South station and from there to Fourpure Brewery as per the map.

Sandy said...

thanks thomas and john - i've already got your number john. i may go to canada water and try to intercept you around the mayflower, if i don' make it to the start.

Paul A said...

(Unofficial SWC Representative for Pimlico & Belgravia, part time)

A map tracing a suggested route for the SWC Bermondsey Beer Mile stroll, from the Southwark Park exit to the Southwark Brewing Company, can be found here. (The map seems to work well in Google Maps on my Android phone.)

The route passes 9 breweries / brewery taps which will be open on Friday (and are listed in the directions), plus a distibutor, a bottle shop, a cidery & various other establishments (which are not listed due to constraints of space). From Southwark Park to Southwark Brewing Co it is a total staggering distance of some 2.4 miles (3.9 km)!

The first brewery - Four Pure Brewing Company - opens at midday, but the next few don't open until 5pm. The final destination, Southwark Brewing Co, closes at 10pm. Those needing something substantial to eat en route may be interested in Bone Daddies which is close to UBrew (the sixth brewery tap we get to) on the Old Jamaica Business Estate.

Happy staggering!

Thomas G said...

5 off the train at Greenwich, a further 6 met at Cutty Sark DLR, and 5 stragglers who must have been on the next train/DLR, as they caught up with us pretty quickly. So n=16 on the walk to Rotherhithe, about 12 of which had lunch at The Mayflower, the rest went straight to the Xmas market 2 mins away. A shoulder-injured walker joined us at the pub, 2 others joined up at the Xmas market, and a further 3 met the Beer Mile walkers (just more than half of the original 16 plus teh joiners) at one of the first two breweries. So, n=22 walked in total, at least some substantial part of the posted route, in w=dank-and-grey weather.
The food at The Mayflower was to everyone's happiness, as were the various food and drink offerings at the Scandi Xmas market. Lots of other wares on offer there, if you haven't been: it's on 'til Sunday.

We crossed Sothwark Park and made our way through South Bermondsey, but finding the Fourpure Brewery involved going deeper into a dark industrial estate than one would have liked to, but the brewery arches themselves are a sight to behold. And warm! And well frequented. And with about 20 different (keg) beers on sale, in thirds of a pint. And with some food options. We stayed there for quite a while, then moved on to Partizan Brewery, which - in contrast - was near empty and cold. And on the crowd went to the next site. They're probably still going...