Grand Surrey Canal – Rotherhithe, Russia Dock Woodland, Greenland Dock

Grand Surrey Canal – Rotherhithe, Russia Dock Woodland, Greenland Dock Walk

All Hands on Deck!  Anchors away!

Christopher Jones and Mayflower and Brunel and Fighting Temeraire and old London Bridge and Cunard liners and the film “Whisky Galore” and Dunkirk Little ship and timber-laden barquentines and Thames sailing barges and Phoenix section of the Mulberry Harbour being built and floated out before D-Day and Operation Pluto and… 

Well, we could be in 1620. Or May 28, 1940. Or June 6, 1944. We’ve got an old canal here. And a dock. And memories – to be here is to stow away in the past. Decks heaving with history. Awash with memories. The tang of salt-sea air.

What a past. And with a sou’wester ripping the calendar pages off and carrying us way back – we’ve got to Greenland Dock (the earliest wet dock in London – it served the East India Company’s ships).

Arr! Shiver me timbers! Becalmed your historical imagination ain’t gonna be at the end of your watch. 1630 hours. Tea ration time. Steady as she goes. 

THE PRACTICALS:

The Grand Surrey Canal – Rotherhithe, Russia Dock Woodland & Greenland Dock walk Meeting place is at Rotherhithe Overground Station.

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE GUIDING