Vaalee

Bricklayers Arms Roundabout

Southwark · 1.9 miles

A complex road junction in south London merges a four-way green roundabout with an elevated flyover and a one-way bypass lane, linking the A2 and the London Inner Ring Road where Bermondsey, Walworth and Elephant & Castle meet. The roundabout sits at the convergence of Tower Bridge Road, Old Kent Road, New Kent Road and Great Dover Street, and can be reached from any of these routes. Pedestrians can cross the surrounding streets via pelican crossings that have been in place since 2009, while the former underpasses that once connected to a proposed Bakerloo line extension were filled and levelled in 2013, creating broader paved walkways around the green space. The site is recorded as a park on OpenStreetMap and falls within the Southwark area. The name derives from a coaching inn that occupied the location for more than six centuries, its sign displaying the coat of arms of the Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers. Excavations during the inn’s 1890s reconstruction uncovered very old foundations and a hoard of ancient coins. After the mid-18th-century construction of Westminster Bridge and New Kent Road, the inn served as a stop for coaches travelling between the City of London and the West End, particularly those heading to Kent’s brick-producing towns. The junction’s modern layout was authorised by the London County Council in December 1962, with construction commencing in 1967 and involving demolition of buildings on the three main roads. There is no admission charge, and the green central island provides a brief respite for motorists and walkers alike. The surrounding streets give direct access to local amenities, and the area remains a focal point for traffic moving between the south-east quadrant of the orbital motorway and the bridges west of London Bridge.

Southwark Park

Canada Water · 1.9 miles

Southwark Park is located in Rotherhithe, in central South East London, England, and is managed by the London Borough of Southwark. It first opened in 1869 by the Metropolitan Board of Works as one of its first parks. It was designed by Alexander McKenzie and covers 63 acres (250,000 m2). It takes its name from being in what was the old parliamentary constituency of Southwark at the time of its opening.

King's Stairs Gardens

Rotherhithe · 1.9 miles

Riverside walks and historic memorials give King’s Stairs Gardens a distinct character along the Thames in Bermondsey, just opposite Southwark Park and a short distance from Rotherhithe. The park is bounded to the north by the river and to the south by Jamaica Road (A200), offering views across the water and a direct link to the riverside promenade created in the early 1960s. Within the green space, stone markers commemorate the Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees of Queen Elizabeth II, the first unveiled by Her Majesty in 1977 and later additions presented by the Earl and Countess of Wessex. The site originated from post-war planning when the London County Council declared Bermondsey a reconstruction area in July 1947 and endorsed a riverside park in early 1948. After a series of objections and a compulsory-purchase order approved in September 1954, a design for the riverside walk was approved in 1960 and opened in November 1962, with the name King’s Stairs Gardens officially adopted the following January. Subsequent phases added grassy areas in the 1960s and, after a reassessment by the Greater London Council in 1968, three further green-space extensions were completed by 1982, establishing the layout that remains today. Protection of the area has been reinforced over recent years. A local campaign in 2010 persuaded Thames Water to abandon plans that would have affected the park, and the London Borough of Southwark granted village-green status in March 2012 under the Commons Act 2006. Fields in Trust added its own safeguard in 2013, and together with the nearby Edward III manor house the garden forms part of Southwark Council’s Edward III’s Rotherhithe Conservation Area.

Greenland Dock

Pepys Estate · 1.9 miles

A water-filled historic site in the Rotherhithe district of the London Borough of Southwark, Greenland Dock lies close to the Pepys Estate and forms part of the River Thames’s south-bank waterfront. Though originally constructed as a wet dock between 1696 and 1699, it now functions purely for recreation and is one of only two enclosed docks still operating on this side of the river, the other being the smaller South Dock, to which it is linked by the channel known as Greenland Cut. The dock began as Howland Great Wet Dock on land owned by the Russell family, built under the Howland Great Wet Dock Act of 1696 and designed by shipwright John Wells to refit East India Company vessels. From the 1720s it accommodated Greenland whalers, prompting the later name change, and by the early nineteenth century it had become a centre of the timber trade after its 1806 sale to timber merchant William Richie. A substantial expansion overseen by Sir John Wolfe Barry between 1895 and 1904 more than doubled its size and added a large lock, allowing ocean-going steamers to berth. The dock was incorporated into the Port of London Authority in 1909, suffered wartime damage, and after the 1970 closure of the Surrey Commercial Docks passed to Southwark Council. While much of the surrounding Surrey Docks were filled in, Greenland Dock survived and, in 1981, was transferred to the London Docklands Development Corporation for regeneration. Today the dock’s water body provides a venue for leisure activities such as rowing and waterside walking. Access is via the surrounding streets of Rotherhithe, with the dock forming part of the public open space network; no admission charge is mentioned, and basic facilities are supplied by the local authority.

The Cinema Museum

Kennington · 1.9 miles

Building name is The Lambeth Workhouse. Constructed in 1873. The building was eventually turned into a hospital. The workhouse's former master's house and chapel are now occupied by the Cinema Museum which is a grade II listed building.

Michael Faraday Memorial substation

Pullens Estate · 1.9 miles

A stainless-steel box sits on Elephant Square at the northern side of the Elephant and Castle gyratory, commemorating the Victorian scientist Michael Faraday. Designed by modern-movement architect Rodney Gordon in 1959 and erected in 1961, the structure occupies the centre of what was formerly a roundabout. Inside the metal casing lies a London Underground electrical substation that powers the Northern and Bakerloo lines, a fitting tribute to a pioneer of electricity. The original concept called for glass panels so that the transformer work could be seen, but concerns about vandalism led to the current metal cladding. The monument carries an inscription set into the surrounding concrete paving, identifying it as the Faraday Memorial. Since being granted Grade II listed status in 1996, it has been fitted with a series of lighting schemes: a school-girl-designed installation from a 1996 Blue Peter competition, and a “disco” theme introduced by Southwark Council in May 2012 that illuminates the box each evening after dark. Although early-2000s regeneration plans considered relocating the monument 400 metres to Walworth Road, the scheme was abandoned and the memorial remains in its original position, now more readily reachable after the roundabout was “peninsulised”. Visitors can view the monument at any time without charge; it is openly visible from the surrounding streets and pedestrian routes. Access is straightforward via the Northern and Bakerloo Underground lines, whose tunnels the substation serves, and the site is operated by London Underground as part of the public transport infrastructure.